- It's obvious. I'm not a spring chicken when it comes to getting close to retirement. And so my husband and I have
been doing extensive research on what places would be great for us to retire in the United States. So with our research, we
discovered there's three things that are super important to us. One is how affordable the houses are. Two is how high are the property
taxes, wicked important. And three, how good is the healthcare? Some of these States are
going to surprise you because they totally surprised me. So let's go ahead and get on our reading glasses and start going over some numbers on why
we picked some places. Won't be a much of a surprise to many of you is Florida,
but it's number five. For many reasons. For the economy is ranked
31st in the country. For crime and safety, it's ranked 27th. For lifestyle, of course, it's
going to be ranked number one because there's a million
things for retired people to do in Florida, between golfing
and swimming and the beaches. Not only that, Florida
has communities that are completely dedicated just
for people that are retired. Have you ever been out to the villages? Holy cow, that is completely
one encapsulated whole town. For just people that have retired. Years ago I used to live out there. And believe it or not that used to be a manufactured home park. That's how it started. And that man built that whole empire. Now it's got healthcare facilities. It has you know, restaurants
and golfing, and swimming. And everything you could possibly imagine. If you're wanting to retire to Florida, definitely check out the villages. Not sponsored by any
means of the imagination, but it's a really cool place. But it's still number five on my list. Mostly because it's kind of unaffordable. The cost of living is ranked at a 28 and housing affordability is a 42. Ooh, that's high. That's high on my list. I mean, you got to remember,
I'm only like ranking basically 50 States in the,
you know, all the 50 States. And that's like 42. I will say the property
taxes in Florida made it. So it was ranked 25th as
far as property taxes. But I don't know about you. I hate paying property
taxes and I pay less than property taxes here in
Louisiana than I did in Florida. And if anybody tries to tell you that. Oh, well, you know you
pay more in property taxes in Florida, but you know
you don't have state tax. And it makes everything cheaper. I can tell you from personal experience. The utilities were more expensive. Everything was more expensive in Florida. When we moved to Louisiana, it
was like we got a pay raise. Now really high on our list. Was one of those states. That I would've never in a
million years even thought of until we started compiling this list. And it was Iowa of all places. Not only does it have
a really good economy. The crime and safety is ranked
number 13 in the country. Healthcare though, majorly important. It's ranked number three in the country. Wow, I would've never thought that. The cost of living is ranked
number 13 in the country. And housing affordability
is ranked number one. The property taxes are a little high, but the cost of living
there is still very low. And if you're looking
for things to do well, it's an unusual state. When it comes to like
recreation, I'm not going to lie. I just looked on their website. Oh, you know what to do in Iowa. And it has, it has the tallest gnome. I mean, like who wouldn't
want to see the tallest gnome in your retirement years. But if you're anything like me
and you're wanting to retire. I don't necessarily need
to like travel the state. I just want to be able to have a nice healthy place to stay. And that's extremely affordable. The weather in Iowa. Well, that's a little, little different. If you're trying to escape the snow. Well, Iowa may not be your state. But if you're okay with a
little bit of the white stuff then you know, retirement
there looks good. Iowa would be something
to definitely check out. The next one we're going to go to. And hopefully I don't get demonetized for trying to sing, but here it goes. West Virginia, mountain mama, take me home to retirement. It's a great state. It has all sorts of great
things as far as our ranking. So it was ranked number eight in economy. Crime and safety is ranked number 16. Lifestyle is ranked
number six in the country. For healthcare though. This is where it gets a
little well it's ranked 29th. So that was a little,
maybe you're just going to find an area that's gonna
be close to hospitals. West Virginia, as far as
property taxes are concerned is ranked number seventh in the
country is affordability, as far as property taxes. Cost of living, it's
ranked 20th in the country and affordability is
ranked a number eight. So if you're looking for
an affordable place to set up your home, go ahead
and look at West Virginia. Another thing, you know, cause I talk about affordable housing
options like manufactured homes. West Virginia is a manufactured
home friendly state. Like many other States
like South Carolina. Is that who we're going
to go look at next? Nope. Arkansas, now we're
looking at Arkansas. Home state of Bill Clinton. And also to the beautiful
Ozarks, love that. Have you seen the show? It's really good. - Made a choice to move our
family to a more peaceful place. - I highly recommend it. The biggest disadvantage
of living in Arkansas. The crime rates are kind of high. There's a lot to do in Arkansas. Like I said, mentioned
before you have the Ozarks and these places as well. - [Narrator] Arkansas
has plenty of state parks you can visit. Like the Mount Magazine State Park. And the Crater of Diamonds State Park. If you're looking for
something even more scenic you can visit the Buffalo National River. And let's not forget about hot springs. That's known for its healing waters. - The great thing about Arkansas is that it does have low property taxes. The healthcare is very
inexpensive and accessible. And the cost of living
there is super cheap. So Arkansas is a great
place to be looking at. Especially if you're thinking
about doing something with a more affordable home options. Like a manufactured home or a tiny home. They have a lot of unrestricted lots that will allow you for a tiny homes. And they also allow
for manufactured homes. There's plenty of areas
that will allow for that. So if you're wanting
someplace warm and you want don't want to go up North and shovel snow. Arkansas does have a little
bit of snow just a little bit. But, Arkansas might be the state for you. This state is like my favorite state only because when I was a kid, it
was one of the first states that I could spell that
had really long letters. M I S S I S S I P P P I, Mississippi. I've loved doing that as a kid. Well, Mississippi is ranked
really well on our list. It's number 18, as far as affordability. But there were some other factors as well. The property taxes, it was
ranked 17th in the country. And so, even though that
seems a little bit high, it isn't that high. Also with Mississippi, they do
allow for manufactured homes. There's plenty of areas
that have beautiful manufactured home parks
for retired people. So definitely that's something, or if you're interested in,
you can check those out. And the cost of living is so inexpensive. That is like, it's so, so cheap. So cheap to live in Mississippi. So, I mean, it's beautiful out there. I don't know if you've
ever been out there. You don't have the snow problem as much. They do have their fair
share of hurricanes. Just like we do here in Louisiana. Of course, you've got the
Southern flair, you know everybody's friendly in the South. And there's plenty to do there. In Mississippi as well, like this. - [Narrator] Mississippi is
known for its scenic spots like Jackson, Mississippi. Also known for its crafting, agriculture, and attractions like golf and sports. If you have family coming
in town and you want to go to the great outdoors. There's plenty of campgrounds
throughout Mississippi. But you can find many places that have music venues
that play the blues. And lots of places to eat. That specialize in boiled
crawfish, fried catfish, and baked macaroni and cheese. - It's ranked number nine for its economy. The crime and safety is ranked a oh, 24. It's like in the middle
of the road, you can you can be, it's meeting you halfway. As far as their crime statistics. I feel terrible if I didn't mention the great state of Louisiana. And it was ranked number 24 on our list as overall score of place to live. My parents actually lived in
Florida and then they moved to Louisiana and they've enjoyed it here. There is a state income
tax here in Louisiana, but our healthcare facilities
have been fantastic. They have taken great care
of my dad when he had cancer not once, but twice in his lifetime. He had kidney cancer
when he lived in Florida. And then he had cancer here, lymphoma. When he moved here to Louisiana
and he's done fantastic with the medical care
that he's gotten here. His doctors have been amazing. So Louisiana was on your list. You definitely want to
take a closer look at it. But I will say we do flood. I can tell you that from
personal experience. South Louisiana is known for our flooding. Half the state is, is below sea level. Just know that. So if you're thinking about moving here and building a house. Just know that you're going
to need flood insurance. And know how to make a pot of gumbo. I'll teach you. Now, a lot of people that are retired and they do look at Texas
because there is lots of plots of land in Texas that you
can get for like super cheap. Did know the average cost of a lot throughout the
United States is about $3,000. And there's plenty of those lots in Texas. The thing is, is when you
buy, find cheaper land you can't find a lot of other things like a
hospital, that's important. And the property taxes
there are very, very high. The cost of living has been average within the United States. And you're just going to
have to find the right city in Texas for you. For me, it, Texas is
off the list completely. I've lived there once. Never going back, not to say anything bad about people that live in Texas. It has nothing to do with it. I just, I just, it wasn't
for me, it wasn't my thing. It didn't make my list, but
there was the overall score too. It was ranked 37th. As far as economy, lifestyle,
it was ranked 27th. Healthcare is ranked 24th. And cost of living it was ranked 12th. Home affordability though
it was ranked 27th. And if you go to Austin,
Texas, or San Antonio, Texas or Houston, Texas, those
numbers have exploded. With this current housing market. Houses that used to be like
120,000 are now 175 to 180,000. And it just keeps going
up because you know the housing market is going nuts. So which state surprised you the most that you would possibly retire to? Which one do you think Eddie
and I should retire to? That'd be another one. When I retire, I'm going to go
ahead and have this haircut. And I'm going to have this accent. Cause I think this is what it goes with. If you want to watch more videos make sure you click this
one, right over here. My name is Christina Smolan. Your real estate whisperer. And I tell you all this because good real estate
information matters.
