September, 2019
Depending on where you retire, you might spend more on certain expenses than your peers in other regions of the country. So finds a 2019 study conducted by American Advisors Group, which identifies the leading U.S. regional retirement costs.
For example, AAG found that pet ownership is most common among retirees in the Midwest. That does promise an expense: the cost of owning and caring for a cat or dog, for example, can run from $5,000 to $20,000 over the pet’s lifetime. Retirees in the West were the most likely to spend some dollars on continuing education, either for pleasure or for a new part-time job; that cost definitely has to factor into a retiree’s monthly budget. Northeastern retirees were the most likely to move into master-planned senior communities, and the cost of that lifestyle can run anywhere from $20,000 to $120,000 annually. Southern retirees were the most likely to buy boats, and of course, keeping up a boat can cost quite a bit of money. These expenses may seem major or minor, depending on your financial standing, and if you are entertaining them (regardless of where you happen to live), you will want to gauge whether your household budget will allow them.3
