While many find the idea of retiring as early as their 40’s to be a crazy dream, Southern Living recently outlined the best cities that allow you to retire earlier and thus, happier.
According to a report by Realtor.com, the key to the sometimes lofty goal of retiring ahead of your 50th or 60th birthday is based on saving. When equipped with smart financial planning, anyone can kickback for the late-in-life second or third act with this list that’s been inspired by the principle of FIRE, or Financial Independence, Retire Early. This reliable concept was outlined in the 1992 bestseller Your Money or Your Life, which guided its readers to smarter, more proactive financial planning that saved time, money, and stress.
Southern Living curated the following list of the American cities where aspiring early retirees can purchase an affordable home in a job market that’s robust and high-paying, which is a standard tenant that FIRE followers stand by. If you’re looking to begin preparing to live the good, easy life in your later life, then consider these top five cities in which you should start the job searching and house hunting now, so you can relax later.
It might be true that it seems as though everyone retires in Florida, and if they do then it’s probably for a good reason. Enter: Palm Bay, the locale that has you move to the sunshine state now instead of later. Live your beachfront dreams in this coastal town where residents relax in the laid-back lifestyle but are also in close proximity to major employers like Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the Kennedy Space Center, and Disney World. Also, despite the waterfront address you might find yourself on, know that the location comes with fairly reasonable real estate prices, with the medicum home sale price of $220k.
Known as the birthplace of the oil boom of the 20th Century when a well struck oil beneath the city gushed for nine days in 1901, Beaumont proves with its large, illustrious history that everything, including the house-sizes, is bigger in Texas. Today, the city has a still-thriving fuel industry that is, honestly, making its residents rich, as the city is known as being a hub of industrialization, as Beaumont aptly boasts a high percentage of lucrative jobs. If you pair this with the fact that large and-in-charge homes can often be bought for a “steal,” as the median sales price is $163k, you might just book yourself a trip to Beaumont sooner rather than later.
Well, while it’s not the most notorious or sizable city in North Carolina like Raleigh, Durham, or Charlotte, this mid-sized city has it all, that is- in terms of its quality and cost of living. Winston-Salem’s medium home sales price averages out at the reasonable $178k, and that is in addition to nearly 20 percent of the city’s job market being made up of high-paying, big employers. Such jobs are at the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, the Hanes Clothing Brand, and BB&T Bank, leaving you flush with cash to save and invest in your luxurious future.
This city combines the notorious legacies of not only the space program but also the heavy presences of the military and tech industry, thus making this city a prime, lucrative location to set your sights on if you wish to retire early and happy. Housing prices in this city orbit around the 200k average, but there are countless, historic “fixer-uppers” that can be snagged for much less. Huntsville offers high-paying salaries to its residents, as this city, along with Cape Canaveral and Houston, serves as one of the few epicenters of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration or NASA space program.
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