Vermont Named Top Ten State For Retirement By MoneyRates.com

We didn’t need MoneyRates.com to tell us that retirees love Vermont.  Retirees choose Vermont for the same reason many of us choose to live here and do business here:  it's a great place to live.  Vermont is loaded with fascinating retirees who escaped to Vermont for vacations and then retired here to enjoy “the good life” year round.   But Vermonters debate whether we can continue to appeal to retirees despite our relatively high tax burden.  An objective explanation of why Vermont is a wonderful place to live and to retire can be helpful to the discussion.  MoneyRates.com offers advice on personal finance, saving and investing by Richard Barrington, CFA.  Last month, MoneyRates.com released its lists of the Best Ten and Worst Ten U.S. states for retirement based on factors that are important to seniors:  economic conditions including the tax burden, average temperature outside as measured by the variation from 68 degrees, crime and life expectancy.  Vermont made the Best Ten list!  The Worst Ten list (September 19, 2010) explains the factors considered.  The Worst Ten states include retirement meccas North Carolina and South Carolina which are cited for excellent weather which is offset by negative factors including crime problems, low life expectancy and high unemployment.  The Best Ten list (September 21, 2010) includes #1 New Hampshire, #2 Hawaii, #3 South Dakota, #4 North Dakota, #5 Iowa, #6 Virginia, #7 Utah, #8 Connecticut, #9 Vermont and #10 Idaho.  Focusing on the cost of living, Hawaii is clearly the most expensive at 167% of the national average.  Vermont is listed at 97% of the national average for cost of living, the same as North Carolina, South Carolina, Utah and Michigan.  On the Best Ten list, the average state and local tax burden ranges from lows of 7.6% (New Hampshire) and 7.9% (South Dakota) to highs of 11.1% (Connecticut), 10.6% (Vermont and Hawaii) and 10.1% (Idaho).  The other states on the Best Ten list have average state and local tax burdens of 9.2%-9.8% (Utah, Virginia, Iowa, North Dakota).  Referring to the high cost of living in #2 Hawaii, MoneyRates.com says “Maybe you can’t have everything in paradise.”  That sentiment captures how many of us feel about Vermont.