Retiring In North Carolina: See What This Study Says

CHARLOTTE, NC — North Carolina is a state beloved for its mountains, beaches and barbeque. When it comes to the best state for retirement, however, North Carolina ranks 28th in the U.S., according to a new study.

Personal finance website WalletHub compared all 50 U.S. states across 41 key metrics. The website considered adjusted cost of living, weather and quality of public hospitals among other factors.

"Retirement might be the end of your career, but it doesn't have to be the end of financial security or life satisfaction," according to WalletHub. "Timing is often a primary concern with retirement, as it generally coincides with the age at which we may receive Social Security or pension benefits."

While the Tar Heel state overall was ranked in the bottom half in the overall list of best states for retiring, it did better in smaller categories, such as lowest annual cost of in-home services. In that category, North Carolina came in tied for fifth with Arkansas.

In choosing a place to live out their golden years, WalletHub said retirees should consider various factors such as finances, health and how they plan to spend their days. North Carolina ranked 36th in health care, 19th in quality of life and 25th in affordability.

"Almost 30 percent of non-retired adults haven't saved any money for retirement, though not necessarily through any fault of their own," WalletHub reported. "But in addition to when you want to retire, a good question to ask is where. That can be difficult to decide without doing lots of research. Even in the most affordable areas of the U.S., most retirees cannot rely on Social Security or pension checks alone to cover all of their living expenses. Social Security benefits increase with local inflation, but they replace only about 40 percent of the average worker's earnings."

Florida was named the best state to retire followed by Colorado, South Dakota, Iowa and Virginia. The worst states to retire included Kentucky, New Jersey and Rhode Island, according to WalletHub.

Click here to read more about the study.

Patch Editor Paul Scicchitano contributed to this report.

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