Despite Kentucky being ranked one of the worst states to retire to, Daviess County was ranked as one of the best. The personal finance website WalletHub ranked Kentucky last among the 50 states as a place to retire, while a study done by 24/7 Wall St. identified Daviess County as one of the top counties based on health and economic factors.
WalletHub evaluated states on factors including adjusted cost of living, cost of in-home services, museums and theaters per capita, the percentage of the population that is aged 65 and older, life expectancy and property crime rate.
The study done by 24/7 Wall St. created an index of 17 health and economic factors in U.S. counties to identify the best place to retire in each state. The only counties considered were those where the 65-and-over population grew at least as fast as the nation and were larger than the national average.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 49 out of 50 people over the age of 65 stay in the same community they are in.
Brittaney Johnson, president of the Greater Owensboro Economic Development Corporation, said, “Daviess County, Kentucky is a great place to retire, because of the low cost of living, easy access to healthcare and shopping, low crime rate and a vibrant economy.”
Jerry Goetz, president of Retirement & Financial Strategies, said his advice would be to steer away from general rankings and instead look at each individual’s vision of their own personal retirement.
“Many general rankings pick only a few select criteria and average those criteria to come up with a ranking,” Goetz said. “In reality, the criteria used to come up with the ranking may be very important to one individual and not at all important to another. For example, if an individual has saved well for retirement and has a high net worth, affordability may not matter. On the other hand, someone who has very little savings and is living on a small pension and social security may rank affordability as a must.”
Goetz said he would recommend an individual rank the top five things they need from a retirement location so that they can create and review a pros and cons list.
For example, rank personal importance on things such as climate, affordability, access to healthcare, low crime rate, access to personal hobbies and the ease of travel to visit family and friends.
Goetz also encourages people to communicate with their spouse on what they envision about retirement.
“What do you see as a typical day’s activities? How often will you travel? And how often will you help with grandchildren and more?” he said. “It is important to be on the same page on lifestyle expectations during retirement so that there are fewer surprises that have the potential to lead to resentment or unfulfilled expectations.”
Goetz suggested staying active during retirement, keeping a schedule, maintaining a list of enjoyable activities and projects and spending accordingly, allowing for flexibility to build in your plan.
“Consider getting an outside opinion from a professional advisor about your finances to help improve your confidence that you have enough savings and income to support the lifestyle you envision,” Goetz said. “Keep in mind inflation is real.”
