Retirement Places Rated: What You Need to Know to Plan the Retirement You Deserve (Places Rated series)

The bestselling guide to the best places to retire in the United States.

Completely revised and updated, Retirement Places Rated is an indispensable reference for the estimated 40 million Americans who will be 65 or older by 2010. Dividing the United States into 18 regions and 200 cities, towns, and   counties, retirement quality-of-life expert David Savageau draws a detailed statistical portrait of each locale, ranking each for cost of living, climate, crime, services, employment opportunities, and leisure and recreational amenities. A rundown of the top 30 overall retirement places along with assessment tools, easy-to-read graphs and charts, interpretive commentaries by the author, and extensive appendices help retirees evaluate their relocation choices and make the right move.

For the seventh edition, new features include:

<li>22 new places <li>A new chapter on housing, with   data on shelter choices (homes, condos, apartments, and mobile homes), plus home prices and property taxes <li>An expanded   ambience chapter, and   new data on age, education, politics, and diversity <li>An expanded services chapter, with new data on air travel, physician specialties, and hospital services <li>Easy-to-use relocation resources, including Web sites, addresses, books, and other information <li>David Savageau Washington DC has traveled throughout the country since 1982, visiting locations that attract older adults. He wrote the "Quality of Life" column for Expansion Management magazine, and has been a featured speaker at the U.S. Department of State’s quarterly seminars on retirement.

I had read the 6th edition at least 4 years ago and wanted the 7th edition to see if there had been changes to the Best places to retire. My main concern being the economy in the areas. Very little had changed some of the ratings changed and a few of the places. Over all it was the same book with more recent statistics.Retirement Places Rated: What You Need to Know to Plan the Retirement You Deserve (Places Rated series)

This book's greatest value is breaking down ratings by catagories so you can select what is most important to you. One person may value weather more than the next person that is interested in cultural opportunities, while your neighbor may value safety as a top priority. It truely gives you the picture based on what is important to you. Must read!

Previously I have used Places Rated for reference and it is much more comprehensive than Retirement Places Rated. This book focuses on smaller communities and is limited in that respect. It also gives general information about working in retirement, housing, medical care and personal safety that is readily available in other sources. The section on climate is most comprehensive and helpful. Otherwise, I will mainly use the links to websites for further information about communities of interest to me. Since I am more likely to retire close to a larger metropolitan area, this book is not a lot of help.

Overall it is well written. I do miss the earlier format as is had much more statistical data. This current format is good for readers who don't like to really dig into the data and make more more analytical avaluations. I happen to like statistical data so I can slice and dice to come up with my own "best choices". I have the two earlier editions so I can cross reference to some extent. I really look forward to the next edition which will reflect the current foreclosure/subprime mess and possibly result in more affordable places to retire.

Book contains a preference inventory based upon real data. It helps narrow ones preferences and then focus on areas that meet personal preferences. It also provides ratings of all of the major retirement areas. It is an invaluable tool.