Think a state with no tax on Social Security and a $65,000 retirement income exclusion would land near the top of a best-states-to-retire ranking? Georgia doesn’t. One of the country’s biggest retirement studies scored every state on affordability, weather, safety, health care and local taxes, and Georgia’s health care numbers are what pulled it down….
Nearly half of Americans 60 and older earn less than what it costs to cover the basics where they live, per the National Council on Aging. These are the early signs a Georgia retiree’s money is running thinner than it looks. Note: This is general information, not financial or tax advice. Tax rules and dollar…
Assisted living in Virginia costs about $6,945 a month, or roughly $83,340 a year, according to CareScout’s newest Cost of Care Survey. That’s about $745 more than the national median of $6,200 a month. Northern Virginia’s Washington, D.C. suburbs push that number even higher, while Southwest Virginia and Hampton Roads often land well under it….
A retired shipyard worker in Newport News checks his mailbox in March and finds a letter from Social Security that doesn’t match a single number he budgeted for. It’s not a billing error. His Medicare premium jumps because of an IRA withdrawal he made two years earlier, back when he still had a paycheck. These…
Shop for long-term care insurance in Miami or Ocala at 55 in good health, and expect to pay somewhere around $950 to $2,200 a year for a starter policy, according to the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance’s most recent Price Index. Women the same age usually pay more, often $1,500 to $3,750 a year…
Think turning your thermostat down to 65 on a scorching Richmond afternoon cools your house off faster? It doesn’t. Push it low enough, and the strain shows up on your electric bill more than the cool air shows up in your living room. That’s the real reason behind the 20-degree rule Virginia homeowners lean on…
Georgia taxes pensions, 401(k) withdrawals and other retirement income, but a hefty exclusion shields many retirees from ever paying on it. Social Security is the one paycheck Georgia never touches, at any income level. The exclusion on everything else grows the year you turn 65. Lawmakers just voted to grow it again, starting in 2027….
A Medicare Supplement plan in Florida costs a 65-year-old anywhere from about $70 to $310 a month in 2026, and the plan letter you choose swings that number more than almost anything else. Plan G, the most complete plan available to new enrollees, runs roughly $200 to $260 a month in counties like Duval, Hillsborough,…
A moving truck idles outside a rowhouse in Alexandria while a mover carries a box marked kitchen down the steps. Two doors down, another family just pulled up with a moving truck of their own, headed the opposite direction. Virginia’s population is growing again. It just isn’t growing for everyone who used to call it…
In-home care in Virginia costs about $32 an hour for the non-medical help most families start with, which works out to roughly $6,100 a month for 44 hours a week of care. Skilled help from a home health aide runs a little more, around $33 an hour. Those Virginia numbers come from the 2024 CareScout…
