Retirement Hot Spots for Military Members

Charles Schwab's "On Investing" magazine this month offered a roll up of retirement city options. What was interesting to me is that it used a combination of different sources to create the graphic comparison of different options, including CNBC, CNN Money, the AARP Magazine, and CBS Moneywatch.

They highlight the following cities:

• Burlington, Vermont
• Asheville, North Carolina
• Fort Myers, Florida
• Austin, Texas
• Tucson, Arizona
• Honolulu, Hawaii
• Palm Springs, California
• Portland, Oregon
• Fort Collins, Colorado
• Ann Arbor, Michigan

The categories they use are cost of living, population, percentage of population over age 65, median home price, and average temperature.

So, what's a sampling of hot spots specific to military members? I've highlighted some reports from Military.com on this topic, but here's my current list:

• Las Vegas, Nevada
• Tucson, Arizona
• San Antonio, Texas
• Papillion, Nebraska
• Fort Walton Beach, Florida
• Charleston, South Carolina
• Cary, North Carolina

I also checked in with RetirementLiving.com to see if there had been any changes to the list of states that do not tax military retired pay. Their update is dated Jan 2011 and is reprinted below:

Retired Military Pay
Some states provide special tax benefits to military retirees. Others simply follow the federal tax rules. The states that do not tax retired military pay are: Alabama, Alaska, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky*, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi*, Missouri*, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina*, Ohio, Oregon*, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
(*With conditions)

I'm interested in your nominations for great places for military retirees to retire. Please comment with your favorite.