Good news for one soon-to-retire Delaware enthusiast: The small mid-Atlantic state known for its beaches and its friendly tax code is the best state to spend your golden years, according to a recent study.
OK, so you’re not Joe Biden and don’t have a strong affection for Delaware. But maybe you’re one of millions of Americans planning for retirement, and with it, a relocation. The study, by Bankrate, analyzed financial and quality-of-life metrics in all 50 states to find the best ones in which to retire.
If the rankings seem all over the literal and theoretical map, here are the factors Bankrate used to reach its conclusions, and how they were weighted: affordability (40 percent), overall well-being (25 percent), quality and cost of health care (20 percent), weather (10 percent), and crime (5 percent).
Do you care about year-round sunshine, or want to avoid extreme weather, and with it, higher homeowners insurance bills? Which state has quality health care, or low housing costs? The ratings allow you to search for the winners in each category. Most affordable were West Virginia, Mississippi, Indiana, Alabama and Georgia. The best weather — accounting for temperatures, tornadoes, hurricanes and earthquakes — was in Hawaii, Arizona, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi (as long as you’re into heat).
Though Delaware came out on top, its rankings were mixed. It scored well for overall well-being and weather, with its temperate climate. The cost of living can be higher there, but it also has no state or local sales tax, and doesn’t tax Social Security benefits. It didn’t perform especially well for crime, ranking 36th, nor for quality and cost of health care, coming in 39th.
But of course there are factors that will never show up in rankings — like how easy it will be to visit friends or grandchildren.
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