There are approximately twenty-nine million baby boomers either at retirement age or poised to retire. Thanks to the recession, many boomers' retirement accounts have lost thirty to forty percent of their value in the past fifteen months. This is causing many to reconsider or delay retirement. The fear of outliving existing retirement assets is real. But all hope is not necessarily lost. You may still be able to retire and live a comfortable lifestyle if you re-evaluate your retirement plans, in particular, where to retire. Finding the best, most affordable place to retire, however, is not that easy. There are many factors that need to be considered. The amount of research required is overwhelming. You cannot rely on the numerous annual magazine articles and web sites that tout either the best places to retire or the safest communities in the U.S. or the most affordable communities in the U.S. These articles and web sites are very limited in their scope. The variables that go into finding the best, most affordable place to retire in the U.S. are beyond the scope of these articles and web sites. So how do you find the retirement community that is right for you?  What you need first is an action plan on the factors to be considered in finding your retirement destination.

Factors to Consider in Deciding Where to Retire:

1. Affordability of housing
2. Taxation of Income and retirement benefits
3. Sales tax rates at state and local level
4. Property taxes
5. Crime rate per thousand
6. Climate desired
7. Proximity of hospitals
8. Proximity of major airports
9. Proximity to major city
10. Amenities (beach, golf, skiing, hunting, fishing)

In my opinion, the above factors are listed in the order of importance. I will focus on each one of these factors in subsequent articles.