美国退休老人最住不起的十个州

美国人喜欢搬家。平均每五年换一次房子，也是比较典型的能够体现美国人爱动的一个指标。在金融危机之后，由于很多房主在房子上有大量的负资产存在，同时也由于获得房贷更加困难，所以，美国佬搬家的热情，估计在短期内也受到一些影响。

喜爱搬家的美国人，在退休之后，通常会对自己全新的生活方式来个大的调整。很多人会选择搬去一个对于退休过日子比较舒适的地方——经济上和生活习惯上。于是，针对退休老人生活的服务公司，也就一直是生意红红火火的。

一般来说，在美国，老人也是最有钱的一群人，他们不再负担子女的任何开支，自己的就是自己的，不管孩子们是不是已经开始流落街头。即使是，那也是成年之后孩子们自己的事情。在这点上，美国人过的洒脱，不会像那无数的被“啃老族”啃着骨头的中国老人们，忍声吞气，低三下四地一忍再忍。他们的权利是被法律保护着的，而不仅仅只是来自于“习惯”的照顾。

那么，在美国，哪些地方是“最不适合”退休老人居住的呢？至少是从经济条件上看？下面是这些地方的列表。其所针对的是普通的退休老人。如果你的经济状况好于平均数，或许，这些地方就是最理想的退休之地？

为什么？因为，普通人无法在哪里呆下去呀！在这里的多数位于美国的东北部地区，那里的气候寒冷，但同时却是美国比较富裕的州，美国一流大学也基本上集中在那个区域。表面看来颇有点让人疑惑：气候寒冷，却让富裕的退休老人很难住得起。其中的道理和原因，你仔细想想，也不难明白。

很有意思的是，即使是退休了，对于很多人，最大和最难处理的开支还依然是房子。也就是说，美国老人很多人还是房奴，一直到他们入土的那一天。这样的处境，既是坏事，也是好事：美国老人不考虑给子女任何人留下大笔的遗产，自己的钱自己活着的时候花光就行了。所以，很多人还会选择来个逆向房贷，也就是将房子“逆向”的“贷给”银行，获取一个终身的“养老金”，直到自己的生命终结。具体的操作，有不少的变异，但是，最基本的一点是：银行将你的房子以比较低廉的价格买走，随后又以对自己比较优惠的利息卖给了你一份年金——特别的养老金。

States Where Seniors Cannot Afford to Live

March 15, 2012

The average older American living independently does not have the means to meet basic standards of living, according to a report published by Wider Opportunities for Women (WOW) and the Gerontology Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston. The report, “Seniors Nationwide Are Nowhere Near Economic Security,” calculates the average income for retirees for each state in the country, as well as their costs of living. While older Americans in some regions are faring better than in others, their costs exceed their income by at least $1,000 per year in every state.

Based on the report, 24/7 Wall St. identified the 10 states with the largest gap between the costs of living and the average elderly income, also known as the economic security gap. In these states, the average independent senior is short at least $6,000 each year. In the worst case, the difference between expenses and income is more than $10,000 annually.

While there are no areas of the country where the cost of living is affordable for seniors, the states in Northeast and Southeast have the biggest problems. According to WOW CEO and President Donna Adkinson, seniors have lower incomes in the Southeast while Northeast states are the most expensive.

Most of the states with the largest disparity between elderly income and expenses have higher costs for all residents and are either in the Northeast or the Pacific. While expenses in these regions are higher than the rest of the country, basic necessities such as health care, food, housing and transportation affect the elderly even more — usually must rely on social security, pensions and noncash benefits to cover their costs.

Rent and mortgage payments are the biggest of these expenses, and the states in the Northeast and West Coast have among the highest home costs. According to Adkinson, “Housing cost is the largest expense for elders, and many retirees with fixed or largely fixed incomes pay for housing in markets driven by workers who are earning incomes adjusted for locally high cost of living.”

Rising health care costs also act as a heavy burden for seniors in these states. Between 2006 and 2009, the price of drugs used by older Americans rose by 26%, according to a report published recently by AARP. With health care costs among their biggest expenses, this increase is particularly hard on seniors. According to the WOW report, the average senior in several states needs to spend more than $400 each month on medication. As evidence of the problem, five of the six states with the most expensive health care for the elderly also have the largest economic security gaps.

Some of the states with the biggest economic security gap for the elderly are in the Southeast, where residents have a lower median income. Four out of the 15 worst states, which include Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee, have only moderate costs of living. But because older residents in these states have less money, they cannot afford even these relatively low expenses.

24/7 Wall St. identified the 10 states with the biggest difference between median income for independent senior citizens and the amount WOW’s Economic Security Database estimates they need to meet a basic standard of living in their state. To identify the biggest cost drivers for these elderly residents, 24/7 Wall St. used the Economic Security Database’s Elder Index to calculate expenses by state for a single, renting, independent person over 65.

These are the 10 states where seniors cannot afford to live.

10. California
> Elderly economic security gap: $6,684
> Median elder income: $19,200 (11th highest)
> Annual cost of comfortable living for an elder: $25,884 (7th highest)
> Life expectancy in years: 80.4 (3rd longest)
> Housing costs per month: $799 (14th highest)
> Health care costs per month: $338 (3rd lowest)

The average annual cost of comfortable living for a senior in California is $25,884, the seventh-highest cost in the country, according to the WOW’s Economic Security Database. Health care costs are among the biggest expenses for the elderly in the state. California’s economy has been badly damaged the past few years by the recession. Home prices in the state have plummeted almost 50% since they peaked in 2006. Even with this massive decline, housing costs for the elderly are still nearly $800 per month, or $9,600 annually. Another burden on the state’s residents is the cost of food, which WOW’s database estimates at $259 per month, the highest in the U.S. The cost of housing, health care and food comes to $16,592 per year, close to the median elder income, leaving barely any room for transportation or other expenses.

9. Rhode Island
> Elderly economic security gap: $7,208
> Median elder income: $17,200 (25th lowest)
> Annual cost of comfortable living for an elder: $24,408 (10th highest)
> Life expectancy in years: 79.3 (18th longest)
> Housing costs per month: $859 (7th highest)
> Health care costs per month: $370 (9th lowest)

The average person over 65 in Rhode Island makes $17,200 per year, the 25th-lowest rate in the country, according to the Economic Security Database. However, an independent senior citizen needs $24,408 annually to live healthily, the 10th-highest cost in the country. The average single, renting senior citizen spends $2,916 each year on food, the 10th most in the country. The same resident spends $859 per month on rent, or $10,308 per year, more than all but six other states.

8. Mississippi
> Elderly economic security gap: $7,216
> Median elder income: $14,000 (the lowest)
> Annual cost of comfortable living for an elder: $21,216 (25th lowest)
> Life expectancy in years: 74.8 (the shortest)
> Housing costs per month: $579 (19th lowest)
> Health care costs per month: $403 (21st highest)

While most of the states with the biggest economic security gap have some of the highest costs of living for the elderly, Mississippi’s costs are relatively low. The average annual costs for comfortable living in the state is $21,216, only the 25th-lowest rate in the country. But while costs are lower, incomes are lower still. Mississippi state residents have the highest poverty rate in the country of 21.8% and the lowest general median income of $36,851. The elderly income of $14,000 a year is also the lowest in the nation. To the extremely poor residents of the state, even these relatively moderate costs weigh heavily on the retired.

7. Maine
> Elderly economic security gap: $7,516
> Median elder income: $15,500 (9th lowest)
> Annual cost of comfortable living for an elder: $23,016 (16th highest)
> Life expectancy in years: 78.7 (24th longest)
> Housing costs per month: $665 (22nd highest)
> Health care costs per month: $437 (4th highest)

Maine has among the highest annual economic security costs in the country. Notably, the state has the fourth-highest transportation costs, at $2,916 per year, and the fourth-highest health care costs for seniors in the nation, at $5,244 per year. A single, renting retiree earns an average of just $15,500 each year, the ninth-lowest income in the U.S. That leaves a $7,516 gap between income and a comfortable, secure life.

6. Vermont
> Elderly economic security gap: $7,780
> Median elder income: $17,300 (25th highest)
> Annual cost of comfortable living for an elder: $25,080 (9th highest)
> Life expectancy in years: 79.7 (tied, 15th longest)
> Housing costs per month: $789 (15th highest)
> Health care costs per month: $455 (the highest)

For the most part, the wealthier states have higher costs. In Vermont, however, median household income is barely in the top half for all states, but the cost of living is the ninth-highest, according to the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center. All of the major costs for the elderly, including food, transportation and housing are in the top 15. However, the biggest burden on state retirees is health care. According to the Economic Security Database, the average independent elderly person in Vermont needs to have $455 set aside each month to cover health expenses, more than any other state.

5. New Jersey
> Elderly economic security gap: $7,960
> Median elder income: $20,000 (5th highest)
> Annual cost of comfortable living for an elder: $27,960 (2nd highest)
> Life expectancy in years: 79.7 (tied, 15th longest)
> Housing costs per month: $1,091 (2nd highest)
> Health care costs per month: $442 (2nd highest)

The average retiree’s income in New Jersey is $20,000, the fifth-highest in the U.S. Expenses, however, are even higher, according to WOW’s Economic Security Database. The average senior citizen renting an apartment spends nearly $1,100 per month on housing, and an additional $437 per month on health care. The combined annual costs of housing and health care come to $18,396. Fortunately for senior citizens living in the state, transportation costs are the lowest in the country, at just $202 per month.

4. Connecticut
> Elderly economic security gap: $8,020
> Median elder income: $19,580 (7th highest)
> Annual cost of comfortable living for an elder: $27,600 (3rd highest)
> Life expectancy in years: 80.2 (5th longest)
> Housing costs per month: $1,004 (5th highest)
> Health care costs per month: $430 (6th highest)

Costs for all Connecticut residents, regardless of age, are in the top 10 for every measured category, including transportation, health care and utilities, according to MERIC’s cost of living report for Q4 2011. These costs are a heavy burden on the state’s retired citizens, as well. Connecticut’s seniors make $19,580 a year, the seventh-highest income in the country. However, the minimum income required to meet basic needs is $27,600, the third highest in the U.S., according to WOW’s Economic Security Database. The difference amounts to more than $8,000 each year.

3. Hawaii
> Elderly economic security gap: $8,904
> Median elder income: $20,700 (3rd highest)
> Annual cost of comfortable living for an elder: $29,604 (the highest)
> Life expectancy in years: 81.5 (the longest)
> Housing costs per month: $1,329 (the highest)
> Health care costs per month: $377 (12th lowest)

According to the latest census figures, 14.5% of Hawaii’s population is 65 and older, the eighth-highest proportion in the U.S. Life expectancy is 81.5 years, the longest in the country. According to MERIC’s cost of living index, expenses are higher in Hawaii than anywhere else in the country for every major category except health care, in which Hawaii’s is second. This high cost of living also affects Hawaii’s substantial elderly population. According to WOW’s economic security index, the annual cost of living for a single, renting retiree is just under $30,000 — the highest in the country. The biggest of these expenses is housing, which comes to $15,948 each year — by far the largest in the country.

2. New York
> Elderly economic security gap: $9,244
> Median elder income: $17,000 (21st lowest)
> Annual cost of comfortable living for an elder: $26,244 (6th highest)
> Life expectancy in years: 80.4 (4th longest)
> Housing costs per month: $1,057 (4th highest)
> Health care costs per month: $370 (10th lowest)

A retired single New York resident makes $17,000 each year from pensions, social security, and other sources of income, according to WOW’s Economic Security Database. This income, which is below the national average for the elderly, does not come close to the estimated $26,244 required annually if New York seniors were to live comfortably and with economic security. For retirees, health care costs are actually relatively low in the state. Transportation costs are just $210 per month. But the average single elder spends $12,684 per year on rent. The good news for New York retirees is that Fiserv projects home prices will fall in the state by 5.9% by the third quarter of 2012. While home prices will increase nationwide after that for several years, they will increase at just 1.8% annually in New York, slower than all but one state.

1. Massachusetts
> Elderly economic security gap: $10,248
> Median elder income: $16,800 (20th lowest)
> Annual cost of comfortable living for an elder: $27,048 (5th highest)
> Life expectancy in years: 80.1 (6th longest)
> Housing costs per month: $994 (6th highest)
> Health care costs per month: $440 (3rd highest)

The average, single, independent senior earns just $16,800 a year in Massachusetts, the 20th lowest amount in the country, according to WOW’s Elder Index. Meanwhile, the costs of living in the state for a retiree to live securely are $27,048 a year, the fifth-highest in the country. The resulting gap between income and expenses is over $10,000 annually — by far the largest in the country. In order to meet their basic needs, Massachusetts residents need to spend $440 each month on health care, $243 on food and nearly $1,000 on housing.

Michael B. Sauter