Are there things people tend to forget about when searching for a place to retire?
One of them is health care. When they first retire, people are generally in very good health and are not giving a lot of thought to becoming ill. So they might settle in a place on the Outer Banks of North Carolina [with limited health-care facilities nearby]. Also, many people retire to resort towns. However, they don’t really think about the off-season, when the resort can be like a boarded-up factory town. They should beware of seasonal resorts. The job market is important, too. For example, some retirement destinations are also military towns where, if you’re looking for an interesting job, the wages are pretty low. They get plenty of applications for jobs from military wives. Are there criteria people tend to overemphasize? A lot of retirees are obsessive about taxes. People head for Texas, Nevada, Florida, and Washington State, which have no personal income tax. But you have to be realistic about taxes: Once you turn 65, there is a lot of favorable treatment of retirement income
