Best places to retire...

From a recent news story in U.S. News and World report comes this story on low tax places to retire. When one is retired and living on a fixed income, spending the least amount possible on taxes is smart money-saving strategy.

To find the most tax-friendly places to retire, U.S. News & World Report sifted through more than 2,000 U.S. locales to find spots with low taxes and the amenities that are important to retirees like an economical cost of living, good recreational opportunities and attractive cultural amenities.

Here are the magazine’s top 10 communities:

1 - Billings, Montana
2 - Cheyenne, Wyoming
3 - Doral, Florida
4 - Henderson, Nevada
5 - Juneau, Alaska
6 - Manchester, New Hampshire
7 - Nashville, Tennessee
8 - Sioux Falls, South Dakota
9 - Spokane, Washington
10 - Stafford, Texas

There are a couple on the list that were real surprises to me and some that are just in places that I wouldn’t want to live in retirement. Of course that wasn’t the point of the article or the research. Having low taxes is important; but, the quality of life that one can lead with the money that remains is important also. The little short piece that I saw about this story didn’t detail the cultural amenities that are available in each community, but a few of them hopefully have more than the local weekend rodeo to offer.

Certainly retirees are looking for more than just warm weather these days, although that is still high on the list of preferred attributes for many. Things like theaters and sports teams and art museums and other cultural attractions are important, too. That’s why college towns in many states tend to be attractive to retirees. They are just so much more vibrant and intellectually challenging that places that offer nothing more than “go to the beach” as activities.

Today’s Baby Boomer retirees don’t fit the walkers and shuffleboard image from years back. They are much more likely to out on the links or even out surfing than they are to be at the local bocce ball court. Still, saving on taxes is important to them, too; so maybe they’ll end up in some of these places, although I venture to guess that most won’t be heading to Alaska or North Dakota or Wyoming to save a few shekels on taxes.