And now, the moment you've been waiting for. The top five scores in my "Potential Retirement Destinations" analysis. See the picture for scores and details.
Sample houses:
1 – Las Vegas (NV)
https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...-35297?view=qv
2 – Albuquerque (NM)
https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...-79104?view=qv
3 – Silver City (NM)
https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...-00003?view=qv
4 – Rio Rancho (NM)
https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...-41600?view=qv
5 - Portugal
https://www.realtor.com/internationa...-120047510719/
Summary (in ascending order)
Portugal – Okay, starting out I’ll note that this probably should be ranked lower. I assumed a similar tax rate to Denver, and a quick glance at it now indicates that it may be a higher tax rate. I’m not going to dive into all of the details of international taxation at this point, though, so maybe there are loopholes or deductions that I don’t know about. But setting that aside, it’s a pretty nice location. First, the climate is top notch, with winter lows of 59 with no snow and summer highs of 83. There’s a reason that they call it a “Mediterranean climate”. The house is pretty expensive, and not as big as I could get in the States, but it’s very nice. Obviously there are language barriers to overcome, but it would also be a great base to explore Europe in retirement. This is a winner more for climate than housing, but it’s enough of a contender that I may look into it more. I’d love to do cheap travel in Europe. Honestly, I’d probably look more at renting there instead of buying.
Rio Rancho (NM) – My in-laws lived here for a while so I’m somewhat familiar with it. It’s a suburb of Albuquerque and while I’m not a suburban guy I remember it being very affordable so I put it into the mix. Add about 4 degrees in the winter and the summer compared to Denver, so that’s neutral other than the fact that it gets far less snow. So climate is a win since we’re hoping to avoid snow more than cold. Housing is ludicrously inexpensive, and I can get a good-sized house far cheaper than almost any other city we’ve looked at. (Warning: the sample house shows some broncos stuff, but I can fumigate before I move in.) Even if it’s not the friendliest tax environment, this equates to a very affordable location where I can cut 1.5 years off my retirement schedule. It’s a good-sized community so you’re close to services, too. This place is very hard to beat.
Silver City (NM) – I know nothing about this place other than seeing it on several “best small towns to retire in” lists. It’s ridiculously affordable on housing, cutting 2 full years off my retirement schedule, though the housing market is pretty lean given the small size. The climate is one of the best on the list, because it’s notably warmer in the winter with almost no snow, and actually slightly cooler in the summer. The big worry about this place is just the remoteness. It’s a small town and it’s not near any bigger towns. It’s 2.5 hours from El Paso as the largest metro area. In the long run, that might be a problem, but it’s really tempting.
Albuquerque (NM) – Even though Albuquerque is right next to Rio Rancho, it’s two degrees warmer in winter and two degrees cooler in summer. That’s a win. There’s relatively minor snow, getting 3.5 feet less than Denver does. The cost of living is higher than Rio Rancho, and only a little cheaper than Denver, so it saves .5 years toward retirement. The housing market there is great, with all sorts of interesting homes. I’ve spent a lot of time there over the years and it’s not really walkable, but it’s a nice city. So in summary the climate’s nice and the market is affordable and you can pick from a lot of nice houses. I kind of figured this would be a strong contender, and it is.
Las Vegas (NV) - #1 on the list? It surprised me. Las Vegas combines big-city services with an affordable housing market and low taxes to form a great combination. The sample house is architecturally rather blah, but it shows what you get for you money. And I kind of want a pool. It would cut 1.5 years off my retirement schedule, so it’s very affordable. The winter climate is close to ideal with January lows of 37 degrees, but of course … summer. Summers are brutal. I’d just have to spend a lot of time in the pool and at air-conditioned lounge acts on the strip, I guess. My wife is anti-Vegas, but she also doesn’t know about their tax structure. I wasn’t expecting this to be a contender, but it gets the highest score of all the cities I looked at, so I’m game.