I was perusing MSN Money recently and came across an article about the ten worst states for retirees. I followed their link to this article.
I found that the ten worst states are:
- Connecticut
- Illinois
- Rhode Island
- Vermont
- Massachusetts
- New Jersey
- Minnesota
- New York
- Maine
- Wisconsin
The states made the list mostly because they have in common high income and property taxes (Maine had the added distinction of bad weather in the winter). These states also have in common something else. They are all Blue and generally quite liberal or shall we say progressive states. In other words they don’t mind spending money on their own versions of entitlements and other goodies designed to improve society. That’s all well and good, but as I have said more often than you want to hear, beware of the unintended consequences.
These states have created environments that strive to improve things for citizens by spending lots of money and in the process make it difficult, if not impossible, for their own citizens to live in the state once they retire. How ironic. What else is ironic is that in several of these states the high taxes exist in part because of the generous pension and retiree benefits for local and state government workers which may be the only group of retirees who can afford to stay put once they retire.
Progressivism is not always progress … or affrodable.
Related articles
- Retirees approve pension deal with city (wpri.com)
- Study: State pension shortfall ballooned in 2010 (kansascity.com)
- Providence retirees voting on pensions (wpri.com)
- State’s pension is strongest in nation, study finds (jsonline.com)
- Report: State Pension Shortfall Ballooned In 2010 (huffingtonpost.com)
- Connecticut Among States With Worst Public Pension Deficits (connecticut.cbslocal.com)
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