AARP The Magazine Names Its Top 10 Places to Live on $100 a Day

By Eamon Murphy
Posted 5:08PM 07/17/12
Posted under: Retirement, Real Estate


What makes a town a good place to live? Which features are essential? Cultural institutions, proximity to natural beauty, recreation opportunities-to a rich, fulfilled existence? Do you need a sports team to be happy, or a symphony orchestra? A ballpark or a ballet? Bustling neighborhoods or bucolic parks?

Of course, cost of living enters the equation -- especially for those, like retirees, living on a fixed income. Mindful of the distinction "between living cheaply and living well," AARP The Magazine has compiled its annual list of the best places to live for Americans over 50, choosing cities that offer affordable amenities in addition to low-cost essentials.

The editors posited an income of $100 a day, or $36,500 a year, and assumed a tax rate of 25%. That left $27,375, or $2,281 per month. Next, they sought out cities with a median housing cost of $192,000, which translates to a mortgage payment of approximately $719 a month. So after paying for housing, their theoretical retirees would have $1,562 a month left over for everything else -- food, leisure, entertainment, cultural enrichment, the works.

An initial list of 200 cities was culled down to 10 by a focus on "things that make life worth living: the arts and culture, colleges, restaurants, community." Click through the gallery below to see which places made the cut.

AARP The Magazine Names Its Top 10 Places to Live on $100 a Day

By Eamon Murphy
Posted 5:08PM 07/17/12
Posted under: Retirement, Real Estate


What makes a town a good place to live? Which features are essential? Cultural institutions, proximity to natural beauty, recreation opportunities-to a rich, fulfilled existence? Do you need a sports team to be happy, or a symphony orchestra? A ballpark or a ballet? Bustling neighborhoods or bucolic parks?

Of course, cost of living enters the equation -- especially for those, like retirees, living on a fixed income. Mindful of the distinction "between living cheaply and living well," AARP The Magazine has compiled its annual list of the best places to live for Americans over 50, choosing cities that offer affordable amenities in addition to low-cost essentials.

The editors posited an income of $100 a day, or $36,500 a year, and assumed a tax rate of 25%. That left $27,375, or $2,281 per month. Next, they sought out cities with a median housing cost of $192,000, which translates to a mortgage payment of approximately $719 a month. So after paying for housing, their theoretical retirees would have $1,562 a month left over for everything else -- food, leisure, entertainment, cultural enrichment, the works.

An initial list of 200 cities was culled down to 10 by a focus on "things that make life worth living: the arts and culture, colleges, restaurants, community." Click through the gallery below to see which places made the cut.

Because liberal theatre and visual arts, pointless pleasures, state-run pseudo-education and over-priced food are what makes a good place to live. :rolleyes:

I always wonder where they get these things from and how they figure their numbers.  

But I also wonder about this more...

Don't you want to spend your golden years with your children and grandchildren?  Maybe volunteering in your community?  Since your house will probably be paid for, couldn't you add a room downstairs or off the kitchen and have some of your children move in?  Maybe you want to buy an RV or something and take your grandchildren on road trips in the summer.  Maybe you want to babysit your grandchildren so your children can take a vacation alone or something.

It just seems weird to me that retirees just want to sell everything they own, buy a new house in some happening city, and live a party life away from everyone they love and the people who need them.

It just seems to me it's all crazy backwards or something.

 

My in-laws sold their home in California in 2003 and moved to Alaska.  Their children and grandchildren live in California.  They effectively ended any contact with their grandchildren at that point ... they come down occasionally, mostly to visit my MIL's elderly mother who lives with her son and his girlfriend.  

To be fair, they're not exactlly living "the high life" - they run an elderly folks apartment community, where they get rent and utilities paid as part of their income.  The neighborhood they used to live in in California used to be a pretty nice suburb.  By 2003, the amount of rentals, crime and traffic had increased incredibly.  I think FIL saw the writing on the wall.  And frankly, if we could get out of California, I wouldn't look back.

My main beef though is that they chose themselves over their family and then they give us grief all the time about coming to visit them.  None of us has the money, the time or the inclination to travel up to AK to sleep on their apartment floor.  Sorry.  

I guess it's really for the best in the long run, because they've never cared much about their grandkids and lost interest when they were no longer small and cute.  They're dyed-in-the wool Novus Ordo Catholics .. members of the Silent Generation, who act like there's nothing wrong with all the post Vatican II changes in the Mass and the embracing of non-Catholic values.

So, really, what am I complaining about?!