When you retire, the chances are that the majority of your time will be your own. If you plan to spend this time in your local area, then choosing where you want to retire is important. With this in mind, Fenetic Wellbeing asked 1,000 survey participants what makes an area good to retire in. We take a look at the results.
What makes a good retirement area?
According to the survey, there were two main factors that participants would consider when choosing a place to retire.
1. Crime rates
The crime rate proved to be the biggest factor when participants were asked what makes a good place to retire to.
In the survey, 59.3% of participants said they would consider moving to another area if it had a lower crime rate than the area in which they currently live.
2. Life expectancy
Unsurprisingly, life expectancy was another major consideration, with 79.8% of participants saying they would consider moving to an area if the life expectancy was higher than where they lived.
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Are there any other factors?
If you are thinking about relocating when you retire, there are other factors that are worth considering.
The average cost of living
If you want to reduce your living expenses, you might want to move to an area with a lower average cost of living.
House prices might be of particular interest to you. This is especially the case if you want to release equity in your home by relocating to an area where house prices are lower.
For further information, check out our article on great places to retire in the UK and the average cost to live there.
Strong relationship ties
This is another popular reason to relocate on retirement. If you have more free time, you may want to move closer to your relatives so you can spend quality time with them.
Relationship ties don’t necessarily have to be family-related. You might want to move to a place with a familiar community. For example, this could be a place where you grew up, or a place where you used to live.
Transport links
Good transport links are a consideration for a number of different reasons.
If you want to spend much of your time travelling and seeing the world, then it’s worth selecting an area with easy access to a major international airport.
If you drive, you could move to an area where local transport links are not as extensive. However, make allowances for your future needs, since there may come a time when driving is not an option.
Access to healthcare
It’s inevitable that we will all need more healthcare as we get older. If you have concerns about the so-called ‘postcode lottery’ when it comes to healthcare, then it will be worth doing some research about where to retire for the best healthcare.
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Take home
Thinking about where you want to retire should be a major part of retirement planning. This will depend on what you want your retirement to look like, so think about it carefully.
While the present is important, your future needs should be considered as well. Factors such as healthcare needs and easy access to friends and family will become more important as you get older.
