10 Happiest Retirement Places in the US

Slideshow September 23, 2019 at 05:31 PM
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(Related: Quiz: How Well Do You Know Social Security?)

Despite the bleak pictures being painted in the headlines over people's relative financial preparedness (or lack thereof) for retirement, the goal at the end of one's career or working life is generally expected to be something people look forward to with anticipation. A time of happiness, if you will. With that end in mind, Kiplinger took a look at all 50 states to see which ones might afford retirees happiness once they've left the daily grind for good. Kiplinger reviewed places that would make retirees happier, including "community" and "physical" components of the Gallup-Sharecare Well-Being Index. The Index "is based specifically on residents' feelings about five elements of well-being: 'purpose' (liking what you do and being motivated to achieve goals), 'social' (having supportive relationships and love), 'financial' (managing your budget to feel secure), 'community' (liking where you live) and 'physical' (being in good health). The higher the score," Kiplinger points out, "on a scale of 0 to 100, the happier residents indicate they are about where and how they are living their lives." It also included, where available, such day-to-day necessities as living costs, safety, median incomes and poverty rates for retirement-age residents and the availability of recreational and health care facilities. Check out the slideshow above and you'll find the 10 cities Kiplinger chose as having the highest overall score on the Index. Have a look and see if you think you could be happy in any of them. --- Related on ThinkAdvisor: