Best and Worst States for Retirement 2011: Complete List

According to MoneyRates.com the following are the TOP 10 Best and Worst States for retirement. Based on reader responses, economics determined 47% of a state’s final score, climate accounted for 33%, life expectancy determined 12% and crime accounted for 8%. Honestly, I would have thought health care access, weighted property taxes, cultural attractions and death taxes. One might have also thought they would have considered shuffleboard, bingo and gambling accessibility … Just kidding.

TOP 10 WORST STATES FOR RETIREMENT

What do the Top 4 worst states have in common other than they are all “blue states”? Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts and Connecticut all have out of control tax burdens. Alaska is the only “red” state in the top 10 worst places to retire. Cost of living ans its climate are the culprits.

10. Wisconsin
 9. New York
 8. Washington
 7. Rhode Island
 6. Maryland
 5. Alaska
4. Connecticut
 3. Massachusetts
 2. Michigan
 1. Maine

Why it’s the worst state for retirement: Maine’s low ranking was a result of having bottom-five scores in the two most heavily weighted categories, economics and climate.

Economic factors: Maine got the fifth-lowest score for economics, with its high cost of living and tax burden as the primary culprits.

Climate: Maine’s climate ranked third-worst in the nation.

Life expectancy: At 77.6 years, Maine’s life expectancy is about average.

Crime: If personal security is a high priority, you may want to reconsider Maine. Its violent crime rate is the lowest in the nation, and its property crime rate is below average as well.

TOP 10 BEST STATES FOR RETIREMENT

Who would have thought that Florida would not have been in the Top 10 retirement Florida (30), Arizona (25) and Colorado (27) would not have been in the Top 10 best places to retire. However, we can see that there are only one real “blue” state in the list of best places to retire. That can hardly be a coincidence.

10. Kansas
 9. Tennessee
 8. South Dakota
 7. Mississippi
6. Virginia
5. Louisiana
 4. Iowa
 3. Oklahoma
 2. Kentucky
 1. Texas

Why it’s the best state for retirement: Despite a high property crime rate, Texas outranked all other states with its outstanding scores for economic factors and climate.

Economic factors: Texas scored very well for economics, thanks to a low cost of living and low tax burden.

Climate: The climate for such a big state varies, but overall Texas received strong scores for its generally warm climate.

Life expectancy: At 76.7 years, life expectancy for Texans is a little below median.

Crime: The only real blemish for Texas, the high crime rate–especially the nation’s highest rate of property crime–might scare off some retirees.

Obamanomics New Home Sales … The Worst Year for Sales on Records Dating Back to 1963.

More failed Obama economic recovery … Barack Obama’s third year in office and his “Obamanomic” policies have done little to nothing to help new home sales. In fact, the numbers for 2011 were dismal. New home sales for 2011 are the worst on record dating back to 1963. Thanks President Obama. How can America afford to reelect this President in 2012?

The Commerce Department says new-home sales rose 1.6 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 315,000. That’s less than half the 700,000 new homes that economists say should be sold to sustain a healthy housing market.

It’s also below the 323,000 homes sold last year – the worst year for sales on records dating back to 1963. December would have to produce its best monthly sales total in four years for 2011 to finish ahead of last year’s total.

New homes account for less than 10 percent of the housing market. But they have a big impact on the economy. Each new home built creates roughly three jobs for a year and generates about $90,000 in taxes, according to the National Association of Home Builders.

Home Owners Foreclose on Bank of America … Turn About is Fair Play

Home owners foreclose on Bank …

After all of the banks that have incorrectly foreclosed on unsuspecting homeowners, its nice to see that the roles were reversed in a major way for once. According to WFMY News, the problems started five months ago when Bank of America filed foreclosure papers on the home of a couple, who didn’t owe a dime on their home. The home owners paid cash for their house, but BOA wanted to here nothing of it.

The case went to court and the homeowners were able to prove they didn’t owe Bank of America anything on the house. In fact, it was proven that the couple never even had a mortgage bill to pay.

A Collier County Judge agreed and after the hearing, Bank of America was ordered, by the court to pay the legal fees of the homeowners’, Maurenn Nyergers and her husband.

The Judge said the bank wrongfully tried to foreclose on the Nyergers’ house.

So what did Bank of America do when asked to pay legal fees by the courts? Ignore the order of course. Five  months went by and no sign of  the$2,534  legal fee payment for the error. payment nor was BOA returning calls. The Nyergers’ attorney then did what has to be one of the best things I have ever seen to get his clients rightful fees … attorney Todd Allan foreclosed on the bank and seized their assets.

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Has Sarah Palin Bought a House in Scottsdale Arizona … Political Run?

Did she or didn’t she?

Rumor has it that Sarah Palin has bought a home in Scottsdale, Arizona. If so, it would certainly make a run for the 2012 Presidential election easier in the lower 48 than from Alaska. But speculation is abound as the property was purchased by an LLC. So, is this a run for the 2012 White House or for retiring Republican Jon Kyl’s US Senate seat?

ABC15 also reporting of the suspected real estate purchase, or rumors thereof.

Saturday outside a North Scottsdale home speculated to be the new property belonging to Sarah Palin, a black SUV with an Alaska license plate pulled up and asked our ABC15 crew to leave the area immediately.

The driver wouldn’t comment on whether Palin plans to move in so she can set up shop for a possible 2012 presidential run. But plenty of others are commenting.

“It’s the best place you could buy a second home in the entire United States,” said realtor Jeff Sibbach, who sells high end homes for John Hall & Associates. “It’s all speculation right now.”

That’s because nothing in the MLS says Sarah Palin.

I have to tend to agree with PJ Media, The Tatler, Palin bout a home right in the middle of one of the biggest issues that exists in politics today, illegal immigration. Far be it from Palin not to take on such an issue that Obama has failed so miserably on and is in direct contrast with “We the People”.

One thing is for certain, Saracuda has them buzzing again as to what her future plans are. BTW, before the LEFT starts making remarks of “carpet-bagging” if she goes after the retiring Senate seat of Jon Kyle, we just have two words … Hillary Clinton. As for the references to house/palace, how soon they forget the home many homes of Democrat Al Gore and the little shack of former NC Senator John Edwards. However, its safe to say in this real estate purchase if done by Sarah Palin, Tony Rezko was not involved.

The Obama Economy: Home Values Fall 3% in the First Quarter, 28% of Home Owners Underwater

WAG THE BIN LADEN …

Is it any wonder why President Barack Obama continues to spike the football and take credit for the killing of Osama Bin Laden? It was an important mark in the war on terror; however, just like Obama’s minions stated that it took a mosaic of intel to get Bin Laden, the issues that face Americas is also a mosaic of bad economic news.  AMERICA WAKE UP, DO NOT BE DISTRACTED!!! While Obama takes credit for the death of Bin Laden, the US economy is falling apart. So much for the home market recovering, home values fell 3% in the first quarter.

Home values fell 3% in the first quarter from the previous quarter and 1.1% in March from the previous month, pushed down by an abundance of foreclosed homes on the market, according to data to be released Monday by real-estate website Zillow.com. Prices have now fallen for 57 consecutive months, according to Zillow.

The governments continued meddling with the housing market has caused the housing markets to flounder. As stated by the NRO, “programs, like Cash for Clunkers, do little more than rearrange the deck chairs on a sinking ship. They advance home sales but don’t create new demand, so the effects are economically unsustainable.”  Thanks Barack, 28% of home owners are now underwater. Elevated gas prices, increased food prices, an unemployment rate up to 9.0%, an anemic 1.8% GDP in the first quarter and now home prices fall. Obama’s handling of the US economy has been pathetic at best.

Ten days ago, the Commerce Department released the latest evaluation of American economic growth, which came in at a paltry 1.8%, a steep drop from the unspectacular 3.1% in the fourth quarter of last year. By the time the weekend ended, that news got understandably swamped out by the successful military operation that killed Osama bin Laden.  But even from Rome, I was surprised by the lack of attention that it drew before Sunday night, especially since the media showered the White House with favorable coverage of the previous quarter’s results.