Yahoo had a story, earlier this week, about why retirement age people should be heading to the state of Tennessee to retire.  To be honest, I've never really thought about retirement in Tennessee.  I did a post on Retire to a Foreign Country earlier this year.  In that post I spoke of retiring to countries such as Malaysia, Panama and Costa Rica.  All have negatives and positives.  Retiring to another state is not something I have given much consideration.  I knew, before this article came out, that the state of Tennessee did not have a state income tax.  Of course, to make up for this there has to be some kind of high property taxes.  That was my thinking before I read the article.  There was no mention of high property taxes.  In fact, the article mentioned that Tennessee has the third lowest tax burden in the nation.  All this comes from Bankrate, which lists the state of Tennessee as the best state for retirees. Florida might want to make note of this.

Some more interesting points from the article;  easy access to medical care, which is a big priority with retirees.  Health care per capita is below the national average.  That is a big, big plus for seniors.  Average temperatures in Tennessee rank 15th overall in the nation.  That means fewer days digging out from snow.  It does snow in Tennessee.  But, it is rare and usually light amount of snow. Crime is relatively low in Tennessee.  According to the article, Tennessee ranks 47th in property and violent crime.  Of course, that rises significantly in the larger cities of Nashville and Memphis (especially Memphis). Lots of people think of where they are going to retire to years before they actually turn off the old alarm clock.  But, just because a city or state is near the family or friends is not the most economical decision.  You have to think and plan long term when deciding where to reside upon your retirement years.  I know a lot of retirees like to retire to Florida.  But, with the constant threat of hurricanes, property taxes and crime rate, you have to at least consider a state like Tennessee.  Again, I never considered Tennessee as a retirement locale.  But, it's possible I might relocate there if things keep going the way they are in Alabama.  Taxes are outrageous here.