Personal Finance
Ranked: The Best U.S. States for Retirement
Ranked: The Best U.S. States for Retirement
What is the most important aspect of retirement planning?
If you said finances, you’re probably right. But have you ever thought about where the best place is to retire? Being strategic about location can make a big impact on your quality of life, and perhaps help your savings go just a bit further.
To help break it down, we’ve visualized data from personal finance platform, WalletHub, which ranked the best U.S. states for retirement as of 2023.
Data and Methodology
WalletHub ranked each state using 47 metrics across three dimensions.
- Affordability (7 metrics worth 40 points)
- Quality of Life (22 metrics worth 30 points)
- Health Care (18 metrics worth 30 points)
Here are some examples of what each dimension measures:
- Affordability: Cost of living and taxation
- Quality of Life: Quality of elder-abuse protections and crime rates
- Health Care: Number of health professionals per capita and life expectancy
Visit the source for the full list of metrics.
The final scores (visualized as the bars in the infographic above) represent each state’s weighted average across all metrics. See below for more comprehensive results.
Rank | State | Score | Affordability (rank) | Quality of Life (rank) | Health Care (rank) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Virginia | 57.6 | 16 | 11 | 11 |
2T | Florida | 57.4 | 9 | 4 | 28 |
2T | Colorado | 57.4 | 14 | 27 | 5 |
4 | Wyoming | 55.6 | 5 | 9 | 38 |
5 | Delaware | 55.5 | 6 | 33 | 18 |
6 | New Hampshire | 55.0 | 31 | 5 | 7 |
7 | South Dakota | 53.6 | 25 | 30 | 9 |
8 | Minnesota | 53.5 | 40 | 2 | 1 |
9 | Idaho | 53.2 | 15 | 17 | 31 |
10 | North Dakota | 53.0 | 22 | 25 | 20 |
11 | Utah | 52.7 | 20 | 24 | 26 |
12 | North Carolina | 52.6 | 12 | 23 | 35 |
13 | Missouri | 52.4 | 17 | 28 | 32 |
14 | Pennsylvania | 52.3 | 36 | 3 | 12 |
15T | Montana | 52.1 | 24 | 15 | 29 |
15T | South Carolina | 52.1 | 4 | 38 | 39 |
17 | Massachusetts | 51.9 | 47 | 1 | 2 |
18 | California | 51.6 | 32 | 19 | 10 |
19 | Alaska | 51.3 | 26 | 36 | 8 |
20 | Arizona | 51.1 | 18 | 35 | 25 |
21 | Wisconsin | 50.9 | 34 | 14 | 17 |
22 | Alabama | 50.7 | 1 | 44 | 50 |
23 | Ohio | 49.8 | 27 | 8 | 37 |
24 | Hawaii | 49.7 | 38 | 29 | 4 |
25 | Nebraska | 49.3 | 37 | 16 | 15 |
26 | Iowa | 48.9 | 35 | 12 | 24 |
27 | Georgia | 48.6 | 7 | 40 | 42 |
28 | Michigan | 48.0 | 29 | 18 | 36 |
29T | Maine | 47.5 | 43 | 6 | 13 |
29T | New Mexico | 47.5 | 21 | 46 | 30 |
31 | Indiana | 47.3 | 23 | 31 | 40 |
32T | Nevada | 47.2 | 11 | 42 | 41 |
32T | Tennessee | 47.2 | 2 | 48 | 45 |
34T | Vermont | 47.1 | 48 | 7 | 6 |
34T | Connecticut | 47.1 | 44 | 26 | 3 |
36 | Kansas | 46.8 | 30 | 32 | 33 |
37 | West Virginia | 46.4 | 3 | 43 | 49 |
38 | Oregon | 46.1 | 41 | 21 | 21 |
39 | Texas | 45.9 | 28 | 37 | 34 |
40 | Rhode Island | 45.0 | 39 | 39 | 14 |
41 | Arkansas | 44.7 | 8 | 49 | 44 |
42 | Maryland | 44.6 | 46 | 20 | 19 |
43 | Washington | 44.5 | 45 | 13 | 23 |
44 | Illinois | 44.3 | 42 | 22 | 27 |
45 | Louisiana | 43.9 | 13 | 45 | 47 |
46 | New York | 43.7 | 50 | 10 | 16 |
47 | Oklahoma | 43.6 | 19 | 47 | 43 |
48 | Mississippi | 40.8 | 10 | 50 | 48 |
49 | New Jersey | 40.2 | 49 | 34 | 22 |
50 | Kentucky | 38.8 | 33 | 41 | 46 |
According to this methodology, Virginia is currently the best state for retirement. Although the Southeastern state does not excel in any one dimension, it scores consistently well across all three to create a very balanced retirement profile.
This gives it a slight advantage over second place Florida, which excels in quality of life and affordability, but falls further behind in terms of health care. Third-placed Colorado is a mirror of Florida, offering excellent health care but a lower quality of life in comparison.
How to Interpret These Results
It’s important to remember that this ranking is purely based on data and the methodology above, and may not be tailored to your individual preferences.
For example, if you believe that health services will be very important during retirement, you may rank Minnesota (#1 in terms of health care) much higher than eighth place.
You may notice that prioritizing one dimension will often come at a trade-off in others. Looking at Minnesota once more, we can see that the state is also one of America’s most expensive.
Looking to retire outside of the U.S.? Check out this graphic on the top 25 countries to retire in.
Personal Finance
Ranked: What People Value Most in a Financial Advisor
Positive reviews and recommendations are some of the least important factors—so what do people look for in a financial advisor?
Ranked: What People Value Most in a Financial Advisor
Are advisors putting their focus where it matters? You might think that positive reviews and recommendations would be a top consideration for people choosing a financial advisor. However, other qualities appear to be much more important.
This graphic uses data from Morningstar’s Voice of the Advisor report to outline what people value most in a financial advisor.
The Qualities Investors Value
Morningstar surveyed 400 people: 100 Caucasian women, 150 women of color, and 150 men of color. The values below show how often people chose an item as most or least important when working with an advisor.
Quality | Most Important | Least Important |
---|---|---|
Expertise and knowledge in financial planning and investments | 60% | 11% |
Personalized financial advice that meets my specific goals and needs | 54% | 16% |
Ability to understand my risk tolerance and appropriately align my investments | 47% | 17% |
Specialization in specific financial situations, such as retirement planning | 45% | 17% |
Ability to communicate complex financial concepts in an understandable way | 42% | 22% |
Transparent fee structure and pricing for my advisor’s services | 42% | 22% |
Trust and rapport established during the initial meetings with my advisor | 36% | 24% |
Ability to incorporate investment options that reflect my values | 22% | 41% |
Positive online reviews or ratings about my advisor’s services | 22% | 46% |
Recommendations from friends or family who had a positive experience with my advisor | 20% | 47% |
Commitment to diversity and inclusion, making me feel comfortable and respected | 20% | 47% |
Recommendations from other professionals, such as accountants or attorneys | 19% | 50% |
Shares a similar background or cultural understanding | 10% | 68% |
Participants were asked the following question: “On each screen, we will show you 3 items to think about when working with a financial advisor. Select which one is most important and which one is the least important of the items. You will see more than one screen and items may appear more than once.”
Enjoying this content? Dive into more insights in the Voice of the Advisor Report:
Even among a survey pool that was mostly people of color, the majority of respondents didn’t think a commitment to diversity or a shared background were important.
Instead, three of the top four factors were related to personalization.
Personalization: A Key Quality in a Financial Advisor
People cared deeply about personalization regardless of gender and race. It was even more important to those with more than $250,000 in assets, suggesting that personalization may become more critical as a person’s portfolio value increases.
Even investors not currently working with an advisor and non-investors noted that personalization would be a top quality they would look for in a financial advisor.
Within personalization, people noted risk management was a very important element. Financial advisors can highlight their ability to tailor financial plans based on each person’s risk tolerance in order to attract clients.
Looking for tips on how to grow your advisory business? Get insights on what investors want, and how other advisors are evolving, in Morningstar’s Voice of the Advisor report.
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