This coming weekend is about honoring our military personnel who died serving our country, but we can’t forget about those who retire and return to civilian life.
Even without a pandemic, retirement from the military is always difficult, with many retirees facing major struggles that include post traumatic stress disorder, disability and homelessness. These veterans must also consider how state tax policies on military benefits vary, along with the relative friendliness of different job markets and other socioeconomic factors, when choosing a state in which to settle down.
In order to determine the best and worst states for military retirement, financial website WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across three key dimensions: economic environment, quality of life and health care.
It then evaluated those dimensions using 30 relevant metrics, each of which was graded on a 100 point scale, with 100 being the most favorable for military retirees.
“Veterans should retire in a place that has services and benefits available to them in the proximity of their home,” Ryan Luurtsema, assistant director of the Veteran and Military Resource Center at Ocean County College, told WalletHub. “And then, I would specifically research property taxes, state taxes, and any other ‘bills, that would affect the Veteran Retirement pension or passive income, disability compensation or otherwise. Support structures are crucial to Veterans and their families, and they should pick a state that specifically caters to those needed structures to ensure they are successful for themselves and fellow Veterans.”
According to WalletHub’s analysis, the best state for military retirees is Virginia, with a score of 61.05. South Carolina, Florida, South Dakota and Alaska, in that order, round out the top five.
Georgia finished No. 19 overall, with a score of 53.18. Although the Peach State was No. 8 for economic environment — coming in fifth for most job opportunities for veterans — and No. 19 for quality of life, it was No. 34 for health care.
Oregon, with a score of only 37.82 finished in last place.
“Caring for our veterans is a great honor and obligation,” said Seth Gordon, director of the Veteran’s Military Center at Wright State University, told WalletHub. “They sacrifice for the greater good and in that regard the distinction about whether that entire ($1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package) is enough to support ‘veterans’ is problematic. It needs to be enough to support everyone, because that is why we have veterans. They fight for us all — so we need to create policies that protect and support all Americans to honor their sacrifice.”
About the Author
