Money magazine reveals its best places to retire
(CBS News) Money Magazine revealed their list of the 2104 list of America's Best Places to Retire on "CBS This Morning." The cities, not ranked in any particular order, are:
Raleigh, NC
Pittsburgh, PA
Lexington, KY
St. Petersburg, FL
Boise, ID
Money looked across the country to compile their list and highlighted affordable smaller cities. They paid close attention to things like culture, taxes, activities and healthcare. The list highlights places with populations of 150,000-500,000 people.
Donna Rosato, the magazine's senior editor, told the "CBS This Morning" co-hosts that Raleigh, N.C., has long been a very popular destination for retirees.
"There's been a 97 percent increase in the population of people 55-64," she said. "Mild weather, four seasons, and an interesting phenomenon - many people in the Northeast move to Florida, and then they move to do a second retirement in North Carolina, they're called the half-backs."
Rosato said that a few of the big things that draw people to this city are a strong local economy and the fact that North Carolina State University has a lifelong learning program that is very popular with retirees.
The same things that draw retirees to Raleigh are what bring them to the other cities. Increasingly, people in this stage of life are looking for healthcare, culture and access to good schools.
"When it comes to retirement, you find all those things in major cities, but the cost and congestion makes it really difficult," said Rosato. "So, what we looked for was smaller cities that were affordable - low taxes are very important for people too - but still lots to do."
Rosato explained that people aren't looking for the "sleepy, quiet place" their parents chose to retire, but because many retirees now are baby boomers and are looking for an cosmopolitan lifestyle.
Even with traditionally warmer weather, there are no West Coast towns on the list. Rosato explained that the West Coast is very expensive and the high taxes and congestion doesn't help the affordability factor retirees that attracts most of them.
For more on Money's Best Places to Retire, check out the Money.com feature next week
For Donna Rosato's full report, watch the video in the player above.