Since the economy took a turn for the worse, many people thinking about retirement were forced to reconsider. Others were forced into early retirement. While the picture might not be pretty for the United States in general, some states are much worse off than others.
TopRetirements.com, a site dedicated to retirement advice for baby boomers, released their "Worst States to Retire List" this week--and the results may not surprise you.
Pensions have been on the minds of many Illinois residents in recent weeks. The state legislature has failed to pass a pension reform bill, Chicago is expected to run out of money to pay benefits by 2019 and Bloomberg reported this week that the state only has about $64 billion of assets to pay an estimated liability of $126.4 billion--covering only half the benefits for 722,913 workers and retirees.
So, it's no shock that Illinois was ranked the worst state for retirement by the site. The $13 billion deficit probably didn't help either. California, also with its finances in disarray, took the number two spot.
John Brady, president of TopRetirements.com, told WSJ-Marketwatch's Robert Powell that the three factors came into play when making the list: fiscal health, taxation, climate. Learn more about the list (and the honorable mentions) here.
Check out the 10 worst states for retirement here:
