10 Best Places to Retire on Social Security

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The 10 Best Places to Retire on Social Security Alone

In these places, Social Security is likely to cover your basic monthly costs.

Thanks to the Federal Reserve, the middle class is slowly being suffocated by rising food prices.  Every single dollar in your wallet is constantly becoming less valuable because of the inflation the Fed systematically creates.  And if you try to build wealth by saving money and earning interest on it, you still lose because thanks to the Federal Reserve’s near zero interest rate policies banks pay next to nothing on savings accounts.

The Federal Reserve wants you to either spend your money or to put it in the giant casino that we call the stock market.  But when Americans spend their paychecks they are finding that they don’t stretch as far as they once did.  The cost of living continues to rise at a much faster pace than wages are rising, and this is especially true when it comes to the price of food.

   Many people have delayed retiring after losing their good paying jobs beginning in 2008, others would rather work or…perhaps you’d like to retire early? Consider these cities as compiled by US News & World Report…

If you don’t have a traditional pension through your job and haven’t been saving a significant amount in a 401(k) or individual retirement account, Social Security is likely to be your largest source of retirement income. Almost all retirees (86 percent) receive Social Security payments, and for over a third (36 percent) of retirees, Social Security accounts for 90 percent or more of their retirement income. The type of lifestyle Social Security alone will provide largely depends on how much you have earned in Social Security benefits and where you live.

The average Social Security benefit for retired workers was $1,294 per month at the end of 2013. A couple who each brought in this amount would have $31,056 in annual Social Security benefits, which will also be adjusted for inflation each year. U.S. News analyzed Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics data to determine where a retired couple age 65 or older could cover their basic expenses, including typical costs for housing, food, utilities, transportation and health care, on this amount.

[See: 10 Places to Retire on Social Security Alone.]

It’s important to note that in most places, Social Security alone barely covered these basic expenses. After paying for those five major costs, retirees living on Social Security alone likely won’t have much cash left over for recreation, hobbies, clothing, consumer goods or travel. “If they are highly dependent on Social Security, it is not an easy life,” says John Palmer, a Syracuse University professor and former public trustee for the Medicare and Social Security programs. “If they own their own home and don’t have high medical expenses, they can probably get by.”

Retirees would often be much more comfortable if they had income from another source in addition to Social Security, such as personal savings, a part-time job or a traditional pension. Taking steps to maximize your Social Security benefit is also important. “Not collecting until you are in your late 60s, if you can do it, is a good idea,” Palmer says. “For every year you retire earlier than that and choose to collect Social Security, your monthly benefit is about 7 to 8 percent less, and for every year you delay up to age 70, your benefit increases by 8 percent.”

In expensive cities including San Jose, California, Honolulu and San Francisco, Social Security alone did not cover the basic costs retirees face. “I wouldn’t want to try to make it just on Social Security in New York City or the D.C. area, but in a lot of the rest of the country, the cost of living is substantially lower,” says Kenneth Robinson, a certified financial planner for Practical Financial Planning in Cleveland. “Moving has expenses that go along with it, but if you have relatives who live in a less expensive place than where you are now, you might want to consider a move.”

In these cities, a household with typical expenses and two average Social Security checks coming in could get by on Social Security income. Here are 10 places where it’s possible for retirees to cover basic costs on Social Security alone:

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