Retire in Style: The 4 States That Offer the Best Bang for Your Buck

Make sure you are absolutely retiring where you're excited to retire . Now some of you I recognize are like look , we're going to travel big the first few years of retirement or we're going to live overseas . So like , we just want a home base . And so we're just wondering , like , what's the most optimal decision ? I get that . That I'm 100% on board with .

But I have people that reach out that have 5 , 10 , $15 million and they're like optimally , I think I should live in Florida because there's no tax and it's going to be really attractive . And I said , great , like , do you want to live there ? They're like absolutely not .

It sounds terrible Like my friends are here in California but like the taxes are just crushing me . I'm like no , I get that and I live in California . I pay a lot in taxes . I would love to minimize my taxes , but I also recognize my friends and family are here . So it's almost like I pay that cost and I choose to do it .

So we just want to know if we're going to retire , are we optimizing where we're living ? And the factors I looked at were the following I looked at economic data , healthcare statistics and lifestyle factor . So we're going to go through the primary states we're going to be discussing today Florida , arizona , tennessee and North Carolina .

I've got a ton of different fun stuff I'm excited to go through with you . If you don't already know , my name is Ari Taubli , I'm a certified financial planner , I'm the host of this show , the Early Retirement Podcast , and I am the Chief Growth Officer at Root Financial .

If you get excited with any strategy I talk about before you actually execute , please , please , be smart about this . This should all be construed as no financial advice . It should not be construed as financial advice . That would be proper English and this is for fun , educational information of informative purposes . Only .

I cannot talk today , so not very helpful for a podcaster , but I get excited when I get to talk about certain topics and this is one of them , so I want to start going straight into it . Of course , I'm going to always have this be a podcast episode on the podcast applications and on YouTube as video format . So number one is Florida .

Florida is a big spot for retirees for a few reasons . Well , there's no income tax , so significant savings if you're withdrawing from retirement accounts . Social Security , the warm climate year-round , obviously . And then extensive healthcare infrastructure for aging population Some statistics around it . Population , some statistics around it .

No state income tax , 1,350 miles of coastline , over 1,000 golf courses , 2.8% lower overall cost of living compared to the national average and a high concentration of healthcare facilities per capita . Now those are the pros , the cons .

The state faces increasing property insurance costs due to natural disaster risks , and popular areas have seen sharp increases in housing costs . Of course , hurricane risk and humidity . Florida is the go-to for a lot of people . Totally recognize why . I do want you to always , though , take a step back before you actually retire somewhere and go .

Do I want to be there ? I know I mentioned that early on , but I don't want someone to go retire and go . Yep , I just saved 30,000 a year in taxes and I don't like my life anymore . That defeats the purpose .

I want you to live your dream life , and sometimes that's also for many of you like look , I'm living my dream life if I'm saving 30,000 a year in taxes . So that's Florida , no-transcript . He had a heart attack , flew him to Arizona , forever grateful . That state has a big spot in my heart the challenges it is crazy hot in the summers .

So I had a client that moved to Arizona and they were like it's because . So they moved from New Jersey to Arizona A lot of the reasons I mentioned there and they loved it for nine months , not from June to August . Not a fan . So in those months they're like look , we just kind of stayed indoors .

We didn't plan our retirement for also having a secondary home or traveling somewhere else . So consider Seattle Now only saying consider , because I had a client .

So when I went to college up in Seattle and I think that's the best place in the world for summers If you have a different thought or argue differently , let me know in the comments or leave a review , shoot me a note . In any way , you can , of course , go to my website , earlyretirementpodcastcom , to email me .

And I only say this because this couple not the one that moved from New Jersey to Arizona , but a different couple that went to Seattle for the summers they're like this is the best . And they did Vrbo , which I did not know about , but do you guys know this V-R-B-O ?

So not Airbnb , but like you , go get a place for a month or two months or three months or whatever you want long-term stays and they did that and they loved it . So their plan is now to do a different state each year . So they did Seattle Washington .

Now they're going to do I think it was like Minnesota , I don't know why Minnesota in the summer , but that's what they want to do . So consider that Tennessee .

Tennessee has emerged as a leading retirement destination and that is due to low cost of living , no state income tax , diverse geography you got mountain and urban and then the state central location , easy access to different regions . Once again , no state income tax , 10.3% lower cost of living than the national average . That's 2.3% better than Arizona .

Not the reason to go there , but important Four distinct seasons and the winters are moderate . I have clients that send me photos . Yes , it's still winter , but it is moderate . If you live there you can tell me otherwise . Strong healthcare system and then rich cultural heritage and music scene . Community is tough , not in Tennessee .

So something to consider the challenge that I've seen some areas they face healthcare access issues . I have a client that is in rural Tennessee so they had . It wasn't a heart attack , but a stroke of some kind , more complicated than that . If they're listening right now , trust me , I I know I didn't explain that well and they were fine .

But getting to a hospital took some time . It's like being I spent some time in the Adirondacks in New York , so up North New York , it was a hassle getting to a hospital . It was about three hours . You're going to all think I'm idiots after this , but I'll tell you anyway . So there was a big peanut allergy .

I worked at a camp called Brant Lake Camp and this was when I was in college , so I don't know 10 plus years ago , and I'm working there and I chose that job because it paid the most out of any other job I could find and I wanted to be a camp counselor and be away from . I just want to be on the East coast for that summer .

So I go to New York , gorgeous Adirondacks . I saw photos of the sunset . I was sold . I'm getting there . And these kids when I say these kids are stuck up .

So I grew up in Malibu and my parents did not have a ton of money , but my dad wanted to be near the ocean that's how we lived in Malibu and so he'd rather live in a shack but be able to surf than be in the valley where it's super hot . So we're living there . People around us super wealthy , wasn't us ?

My point here is I saw some brats okay , that's me putting it nicely . Some of these kids are driving Lamborghinis . They're talking to teachers in high school in a way that you're like look , they're still humans . It was like horrible . My point is that when I was at this camp , these kids were just attitude of the attitude .

So I don't know , that is not the direction I meant to go here . The direction I meant to go here was I had my duty , was like making sure peanut allergies were at a minimum . I'm Jewish . I don't have a peanut allergy , but this was a very Jewish camp . Okay .

So tons of allergies here , and you get there a week early and I was there a week early , and so they're like hey , if any of you guys have brought peanuts or almonds or all these different I don't think almonds applied , but a bunch of other nuts they named like , make sure to eat those , because we don't want this to be an issue in a week from now when

the kids arrive and we're prepping it . So I was trying to gain weight , so I'm having a lot of protein .

So I had all these walnuts and this is a longer story than any of you guys ever asked for and I don't blame you if you're skipping right now but I had all these walnuts and I'm just going to finish the story real quick and I was like I need more protein . Walnuts have good protein and it turns out I'm allergic to walnuts .

So all I ate was walnuts and I'm like , why is my throat hurting ? Maybe it's a lack of protein ? I mean , how stupid am I ? So I'm having more walnuts and so basically , my throat comes out to here and I go . I'm like I am sorry , I don't want to be a hassle , but like I'm whole neck is swollen .

Getting to a hospital was a pain Three hours away Hope that never happens to any of you guys and probably a story you could have lived without . Okay , next state , last state here North Carolina . North Carolina offers . If you have a good medical story , by the way , that will make me feel better than that let me know in the comments .

North Carolina offers a balanced approach to retirement , with varied geography mountains to beaches , moderate climate , strong healthcare . The state's tax treatment of retirement income is also favorable and cost of living is competitive . So social security income is tax exempt , meaning there's federal social security and there's state social security taxation .

So social security income is tax exempt in North Carolina state . 5% lower cost of living , the national average , top tier healthcare you've got Duke and UNC right there diverse recreational opportunities and apparently strong sense of community .

I only have like a few clients in North Carolina I don't know why , so I can't talk to it in great detail but growing popularity has led to increased housing costs , particular in the research triangle and coastal regions . So I want to go over that . Those are the four states to consider , and then I want to go over some stats .

So this was from an economic analysis . Florida sees an annual economic impact of $150 billion from retiree spending . Arizona's retirement communities contribute $12 billion annually to the state economy . So like this is big , north Carolina's retirement communities have created over 50,000 jobs .

In terms of financial considerations , the things that I tell my clients number one , evaluate total tax burden , not just the income tax . So if you're just going to Florida for income tax but you're actually going to have way more taxes because of all these other reasons like that defeated the purpose . Consider long-term healthcare and insurance availability .

Factor in property taxes . Are you going to rent in retirement ? The property taxes how do you want to structure that ? In California there's a few different options . So you can say I want to keep my house in my name and then if my kids inherit it , they keep my property taxes . You can say no , I want to put it in their name .

So defeats the step up in basis because it's now in their name . But property taxes at that point , you know , stay competitive . So it just depends what you're looking for A research cost of living trends over the past decade . So no matter where you're going to live , if you go to North Carolina , but you're in the wrong part obviously it plays a big role .

Lifestyle visit during different seasons before committing . You probably know this story , but I have a client that loved Hawaii so much for a month , not forever . Well , they bought a home , big financial hit . So like go to Hawaii at different times of the year . It's gorgeous literally almost all of the year .

But year it's gorgeous literally almost all of the year . But it's worth considering especially Kauai . It rains a lot there . Research , healthcare facilities and specialists evaluate proximity to family and travel hubs .

I have a couple that moved from I think it was Sacramento , I think it was Elk Grove , anywhere right near Northern California , and they moved there and they were living in , I forget , but somewhere in Arizona , and they were like we're going to be with grandkids , but not that much , once every few months . They wanted to be with them all the time .

So they're paying for these plane tickets , constantly moved to Arizona for the weather , but also because of state tax reasons , and they're like look , I don't even know if we're coming out on top because we fly to see our grandkids all the time and because our backs hurt , we fly first class only .

So , like , if they're flying every week , you defeated the purpose . So consider family and , hey , if you think you're gonna really wanna be around them , consider amenities and social opportunities . So we'll call this ROH return on hassle , for I live right next to my brother . My brother lives right next door . We own a semi-professional soccer team .

We would argue our team would not play as well if we did not live next door . Because if I have an idea of like , hey , I think we should play this new system . I want to be able to walk over right now and tell him versus , save it for later , and then I never get it to him .

If you guys are like , hey , we want to play a lot of card games in retirement , or it turns out we want to be part of a golf community or whatever it is , if you're not walking distance from that community , like you will just see it less often , it will not be as fun .

I have couples that have no desire in any way to be in a retirement community and they're like we want to live on our own and we make food at home .

I have others that are like I never considered it , but the fact that I could have food made for me and I don't have to do anything , and it's a cafeteria , that's my style , I get to talk to people Great , you guys get to choose Future outlook things to think about .

Is technology , infrastructure so eminent domain and things like that is not something to worry about in retirement . It , of course , could occur if you own any home , but mainly like hey , is this going to Austin , Texas , becoming a very tech forward town ? Is that a community you want to be in ? Are you in a community with mixed ages ?

I have retired couples that are like I like being with young people only because they think more you know whatever for me . I have couples that say that . I have other couples that are like I want to be around people like me in my stage of life . So it depends , I would argue . You can find people anywhere .

The conclusion Florida , arizona , tennessee , north Carolina on paper , the best states to retire to . There are , of course , benefits . If you're going well , should I be in South Dakota because of the way I can set up my business and my income if I'm overseas ? Or what other benefits exist if I go to Washington ?

Should I go buy a camera in Oregon because no sales tax ? Like , yeah , we could go through this all day and maybe I'll do if you guys want a future episode on , just like , the absolute financial benefits of every single state , but for today this is just retirement , how to think about retirement in a certain state . So hopefully this was helpful .

I don't think it was my best episode , I will admit , because I'm doing some research on these different states and I try to bring in my client stories , but I'm always trying to do my best . So , guys , appreciate you guys , as always , listening and tuning in . I appreciate any reviews . That's what helps this grow .

So leave comments , leave a review if you want other people to retire with confidence , and I don't take it lightly when you share this with coworkers and friends . So , thank you guys . Thank you all , as always , for listening to the Early Retirement Podcast . I love getting to host these shows and make different content for you guys every single week .

I've not missed a single week in years and that is because I love getting to do this . Now , please be smart about this . Before you actually execute any strategy that you see me talk about or hear me talk about , should I say Please talk to your financial advisor , your tax preparer , your estate attorney . Please be smart about this .

None of this should be construed as financial advice . This is for fun , educational , informational purposes only . Once again , just quick disclaimer here guys , please be smart about this . Appreciate you listening , as always , and you can , of course . Guys , please be smart about this .

Appreciate you listening , as always , and you can , of course , submit a question on my website , earlyretirementpodcastcom , if you , of course , want me to address a specific case study or topic .

I will not promise I can get to it , but I respond to every single person and if I find it will be helpful for a lot of people , I will absolutely make an episode on it , at the very least give you some insight . That's it , thanks .