How To Pick The Best Place To Retire For You
Theres more to it than just tax rates and proximity to family.
Most of us have major plans for retirement, and for many that includes a new place to call home. Maybe you think you have that destination locked in place, or perhaps you have a vague idea of the kind of climate and location you’re looking for, but nothing is set in stone.
In the end, it comes down to making emotional and financial decisions. Whether you think you know or you need help deciding, these retirement planning and lifestyle experts have a few tips on how to arrive at your decision for where to retire, while factoring everything from cost of living to local nightlife.
Retirement In Canada Has Changed
Retirement isnt how it used to be when our parents retired. The workforce has changed, lifestyles have changed, and many other factors need to be taken into account for Canadians retiring in 2022:
As you can see, the retirement landscape in 2022 has changed, and with the pandemic affecting us all, there are rules and other factors changing on a regular basis that can have a big impact on your retirement plans.
Below youll find resources and explanations to a lot of questions we get asked about frequently at Pension Solutions Canada. If you have any questions about what you read on this page, to book a 15-minute Zoom call with us.
Get Involved In The Community
Youve accumulated a lot of experience during your career, and you may want to continue to expand your skill set. Whether that means working part-time or increasing your volunteer hours, there may be a variety of opportunities for you to stay engaged.
Consider this:
- How much longer do you want to work? Are there part-time or flexible options available?
- Does your location offer a mentoring program where you could share your skills and wisdom with colleagues and/or students?
- What volunteer opportunities may be a good fit for your interests?
As you plan for retirement, use this checklist to help determine when entering retirement may be right for you, as well as how you might like to spend your time once you retire. We all have a somedayits up to you to decide what yours will look like.
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How Much Money Do You Need To Retire In Canada
Knowing how much money you will need to retire can be tricky, but its important to get a handle on this before you retire. You dont want to find yourself in a situation where you are completely dependent on others for your income.
Think about how youre going to be able to pay for your lifestyle without working.
A lot of people have the misconception that they need to live a certain lifestyle in order to retire happy and enjoy the freedom it brings. But, in reality, retirement is about being able to enjoy your time off without having to work full-time.
Canadians estimate, on average, theyll need $756,000 in personal savings for a comfortable retirement, according to a survey by the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce .
It is also recommended that when planning for your retirement, you should always aim higher because its better than not having enough money when you get there.
to read our blog post about how much youll need to retire comfortably in Canada.
How To Decide Where To Live In Retirement
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Talk about a weighty and also very personal question! All the way back in my very first post, I mentioned that my family relocated just a few short weeks after I left the workplace. How did we decide where to live? This is certainly an important question for all retirees, whether early or at a more traditional retirement age. For some, this answer was decided long ago whether to stay in their current home, turn a once-vacation property into a primary residence, or some other predetermined path. But for others, its a decision made much closer to when they achieve FIRE and that was the case for my family. We made our final decision on where to live just six months before the big move! How? Read on
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Tell Marketwatch What You Want In Retirement And Well Tell You Where To Live
You finally get to choose where you want to live. Not somewhere because of work. Not because of the kids and school. Its time to retire and pick a place to enjoy for a few decades.
Now you need to find the metro area that will make you happy.
We know this is a big decision. Other best places lists set the rules on what makes a place best. Its their criteria, their dollop of subjectivity. With MarketWatch, you decide whats most important to you. Select everything from your desired weather, cultural amenities, financial considerations and the size of the metro area with our new tool, and well give you 10 spot-on, customized suggestions of metro areas that fit you best.
In response to user feedback, weve just expanded the choices among outdoor activities to include national wildlife refuges, national forests and national parks, which can offer places to walk, hike, bike, birdwatch and more.
Wondering where everyone else is retiring? The reality is that while many people might fantasize about a big move, most stay within their own state. The Census Bureau estimates that only 348,000 people moved last year for retirement reasons.
Those that do go elsewhere, however, tend to go to the South and West. According to personal finance site SmartAssets analysis of Census Bureau data on where people 60 and older moved, the net migration of those 60 and older is highest to Florida.
10 most popular cities in the U.S. where retirees are moving
1. Henderson, Nev.
Affiliate Marketing The Best Path For Me
Since Ive worked from age 14, I really have no interest in working a job for the rest of my life. Especially one where Im trading hours for dollars.
Affiliate marketing offers so many benefits that I couldnt possibly choose a different path.
- Flexible work from home hours
- Portable office needs
- Residual income opportunities
All you need to work in the affiliate marketing industry is an internet connection and a computer or phone. Education and marketing tools are provided by the company for which you promote at no charge. In fact, the program I chose to start with provides all the needed tools and training for FREE. How could I miss?
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Can You Retire Now
Using the tools and information outlined above, calculate exactly what you will need during your retirement. If you are like over 50% of Americans, you will need to find an additional income stream to help supplement your retirement.
There is no time like the present to get started. The longer you wait, the more you have to put into savings to make up the difference.
Affiliate marketing is the perfect vehicle to provide an additional stream of income and allow you the full flexibility desired for your retirement.
If Your Answers To The Where To Retire Quiz Was Mostly Cs Northeastern Us Is Your Destination
You want to consider Massachusetts. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is rich in history and culture, with the well-known Boston Pops Orchestra and several other Orchestras.
There are annual jazz festivals and other music festivals The Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and several national parks. Massachusetts has hiking trails and whale watching.
You can almost be assured of a white Christmas every year and in the fall the brilliant orange and red foliage cannot be matched. Youll tolerate or even love the snow just for the other three seasons.
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Relaxed Homeowners Associations Rules And Fees
For many, a condo, co-op, or townhouse offers the perfect mix of owning the property but also receiving maintenance and upkeep assistance like renters do. The problem is that the organizations that provide those services, called homeowners associations , charge fees and impose rules, both of which can be mild, severe, or somewhere in between. Retirees will want to know exactly what they’ll pay each month, what their money buys, and how the regulations will affect their freedom.
How Do You Decide Where To Live When You Retire
Today, Im going to address the question: Where will you live when you retire? Its not an easy question to answer.
First, you must determine if you have enough savings to retire. After that, you have to decide when you want to retire and where you want to live. Have you had a conversation about that with your significant other or spouse? Many people havent.
When working on financial plans, I often encounter couples that havent even had the discussion themselves. They also dont know where they might want to go and ask me for some help. I know my wife and I have had some discussions about the topic already. Were not ready to retire any time soon. But the sooner you start to think about where you might want to live in retirement, the better off you will be. That gives you time to explore and make sure its a good place for you.
When thinking about where we want to retire, we often want to find our dream location. Honestly, youre probably not going to find one. Theres not going to be any perfect place. Instead, we have to pick and choose what is most important to us. We also have to prioritize.
Lets discuss the options. One option, which we often dont think about, is staying where we are. Do we need to move at all? Maybe not. Why must we move?
- Our current home might be affordable.
- Its where our family and friends are.
- Hopefully, there are activities that you enjoy that are close by.
- As you approach retirement, you may even be mortgage-free.
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Moving Your Pension When Leaving Your Job
If youre leaving your job or were recently terminated by your employer and your company has a pension plan, you may want to consider moving your defined-benefit or defined-contribution pension away from your employer and into a secure financial institution that your employer does not have any control over.
Do you leave the money with your current employers pension plan and trust them with it? Or, do you move the money out of the company pension plan.
Best Places For You To Retire In The World
TheEarthAwaits: If you have ever dreamed of living abroad, this is an extraordinary site. There is so much information about so many different destinations.
ExpatInfoDesk: The Expat Info Desk is owned and run by a team of expatriates. Each one of them has successfully relocated to cities throughout the world including Russia, Ukraine, Poland, South Africa, China, USA and India. The site offers articles, guides and a forum. The concept here is good, but it is unclear how active the user base is. You might be better off visiting a travel web site like TripAdvisor that has so many users.
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Social Security & Retirement
There are essentially three different ages that determine your monthly social security income check.
You can retire as early as 62, but you will pay a penalty in a reduced monthly check. At full retirement age which is now 66 and 2 months you will receive your full social security benefit and finally at age 70 is when you actually get an increased payment as your reward for working longer than average.
According to the internet, the average social security monthly payment breaks down as follows:
Age 62 $2,324 per month
Age 66 $3,113 per month
Age 70 $3,895 per month
But these figures are an estimate only and vary according to the reporting authority. For example, the Fact Sheet directly from the Social Security Administration reports that the average monthly benefit was only $1,555. Of course this was an average of all benefit recipients.
There are a lot of factors determining the actual amount you will receive other than age though. The only way you will know for sure is when you actually file, but you can either use one of the retirement calculators or go to your account on ssa.gov, the government run social security website.
Dont Base Your Decision On A Vacation
A common mistake for retirees is to return to a place they loved as a vacation spot, not realizing that living there year-round and accepting local taxes, politics, social norms and climate would be far different, said Janet Groene, author of Living Aboard Your RV.
Additionally, most popular vacation spots tend to be overpriced, especially when it comes to food and entertainment. A good rule of thumb is if its a fun place to visit, its likely not a great place to retire in.
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How To Decide Where To Retire: 8 Key Factors To Consider
The beauty of retirement boils down to this: you can choose where you want to live.
However, that means youll have to make some careful decisions. And knowing how to decide where to retire is all about assessing your options. What is the cost of living? How is the tax situation? Whats the climate like, and what kind of activities are available?
So lets take a look at eight key factors you need to consider when deciding where to retire.
Taxes On Your Pension Withdrawal
One thing that hasnt changed in a long time in Canada, are the taxes surrounding your pension payout. When you take your pension out as a lump sum, there is a hefty tax hair cut and a significant amount will be immediately taxed, typically hundreds of thousands of dollars. This is primarily because of outdated Canadian legislation from 1990. Why is this bad? If you are terminated by your employer and the company youve been working at for many years abandons you, you likely dont want to leave your pension with that company and may want to take the cash to set up your own investment for your retirement. This outdated tax legislation penalizes you for doing that. Weve started a petition online to help change this. Sign it here.
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But Its Also Not Necessarily A Permanent Decision
Despite having a pretty solid process that we feel was the right level of due diligence, I dont want to suggest some absolute permanence in the decision we made. We are always open to the possibility of change! For us, we felt it essential to make a decision on somewhere we think we might want to live for the rest of our lives. More than six months later, we are feeling great that we did a good job of that. But its still early of course. That said, we also have a built-in hedge here given the very active tourism in this area. By that I mean we could easily rent our new home down the road, should we decide to live elsewhere either part- or full-time. We still have a very real international living itch to scratch and vacations may not be sufficient!
That said, this is an important decision and one to take very seriously. However, it is effort well spent and that time taken will pay off many-fold once you realize how happy you are in your new town. This is not an area where you want to have buyers remorse! While COVID-19 restrictions means we cannot do all that we wish to explore our new area, we are very thankful that we prioritized being within a 30-min. walk to downtown and also having ample access to hiking and outdoor activities!
I wish you luck in your own search, whether near-term or farther down the road!
Do Cater To Your Interests
Does the city youre planning on moving to accommodate your hobbies? This consideration is crucial for an enjoyable retirement, said Andrew Wang, senior vice president of Runnymede Capital Management.
The key is to evaluate the community and its activities before making the move, he explained. If you move to a gated community where most social activities revolve around the communitys two golf courses, but you do not enjoy playing golf, the transition could be challenging.
Google Maps will be your friend here. Find a city that has lots of good walking paths, great places to eat and shop with senior discounts golf courses, clubs or access to anything else that you plan to pursue as a hobby, McFadden advised. Retirement would be a shame if you just sat in your house all day watching TV because there was nothing to do outside.
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Best Places For You To Retire In The United States
Zillow: The tool determines the cities and towns that best match your criteria: including weather, low crime rates, proximity to entertainment, and access to health care.
Best Place to Retire: This site offers a calculator that asks 12 questions to help you find the best place for you to retire. Activities and amenities are well covered in this search. The results are nice in that they give you a lengthy list of options to compare.
Sperlings Best Places: The questions in this calculator include taxes and cost of living and the quiz is quick and easy, but you are only given one result.
