Poor fiscal health lands Illinois at the bottom of TopRetirements.com's list.
Worst States for Retirement
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Why You Should Think Twice
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1) Illinois | Poor fiscal health |
2) California | Expensive, and its finances are in disarray |
3) New York | Very high taxes, including property taxes |
4) Rhode Island | Worst-off state in the Northeast from a financial viewpoint; high taxes |
5) New Jersey | Highest property taxes in the United States; has pension funding issues |
6) Ohio | High unemployment and cold winters |
7) Wisconsin | High property taxes and frigid weather |
8) Massachusetts | High cost of living and high property taxes |
9) Connecticut | Taxes Social Security and has high property taxes
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10) Nevada | Foreclosure capital of the world
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Visit TopRetirements.com for more details on why it ranked each state as low as it did. The information can be illuminating. Illinois, for example, is under such dire financial stress that it was forced to borrow money to fund its pension obligations. The state, however, doesn't tax retirees' Social Security income, which is a plus. The cold winters are inescapable.
You can also compare TopRetirements.com's choices to a similar list of the 10 worst-rated states for retirement that was compiled by Money-Rates.com, a finance website. Illinois didn't even make Money-Rates.com's list, which was topped instead by Nevada. Money-Rates.com gave significant weight to crime and unemployment rates.
Here are the 10 worst states for retirement, with No. 1 being the
lowest-ranked, according to
Money-Rates.com :
10. Arkansas
9. Missouri
8. North Carolina
7. Ohio
6. Tennessee
5. Maryland
4. South Carolina
3. Alaska
2. Michigan
1. Nevada
Money-Rates.com also issued a list of the
10 best states for retirement.
1. New Hampshire
2. Hawaii
3. South Dakota
4. North Dakota
5. Iowa
6. Virginia
7. Utah
8. Connecticut
9. Vermont
10. Idaho
Use this checklist from TopRetirements.com as you evaluate potential retirement states. Give the most attention to the factors that you think will matter most to you in retirement: