Where to Retire (Choose Retirement Series)

We're pleased to welcome Gateway Books of Oakland, CA, as the newest addition to the Globe Pequot line. From Mexico to Europe, California to Costa Rica, Gateway expands the horizons of mature travelers with highly acclaimed reference books. These first-rate guides, carefully researched and engagingly written, show people how to retire and travel in style -- on every budget.

Finding the ideal home base for your retirement years is a crucial decision and can be a daunting prospect if you know you want to move but aren't sure where to look, or what to look for. In this thoroughly updated edition, retirement guru John Howells provides guidance in the form of clear snapshots of life in hundreds of the most affordable, comfortable, and stimulating places to retire in the United States. With up-to-the-minute information on housing costs, recreation, climate, available health care, and safety, Where to Retire is the essential guide to the golden years.

When the joints start to ache, the salary dwindles, and freedom is yours at last, it's time to reflect upon where you'd like to spend your retirement years. Your obligations are few and the world is your oyster. If you're approaching those golden years, John Howell's guide to retirement living is a boon. It's not about retirement communities, it's about the towns and cities of the United States--what they offer the senior citizen in terms of recreation, culture, health care, and lifestyle; what to expect from their weather; and how much it costs to live in them. Howells investigates the relative tax burdens of each state, looking at property taxes, sales taxes, and whether each taxes pensions and Social Security. He also ranks the cost of living for housing, groceries, and utilities; provides the daily high and low temperatures; and lists the amounts of rain and snowfall across the seasons. From Georgia's Valdosta (population 40,000 and nicknamed "Azalea City") to Washington's Bellingham (18 miles from Canada, views of the San Juan Islands to the west and Mount Baker to the east), Howells paints portraits of more than 150 communities and their surroundings. Doubling as a guide for exploratory vacations and a pointer for anyone looking for a better place to live, Howells's research answers all the relevant questions. --Stephanie Gold