If you’re dreaming of retiring early and spend the rest of your life in a city where you can make the most of your golden years, then Honolulu is the place to go.
Hawaii’s state capital is no.1 in terms of the ideal cities for retirees to live in, especially for those who tried to save as much as possible during their working years in order to be able to retire early.
Honolulu ranked first in terms of the preferences of typical workers living in various U.S. metropolitan areas who also:
- have a household income in the 75th percentile
- enter employment at age 22
- have average annual expenditures, other than housing, and save the rest of their money
- live in two-bedroom apartments
- plan on having a constant cost of living
- live on investment accounts and compounded savings from the 40s onwards
For this type of worker, Honolulu, as strange as it may seem, is the perfect choice when it comes to cities where you could retire early. But don’t think Honolulu is a piece of heaven with really cheap living expenses.
Truth be told, it’s actually quite expensive to live in Hawaii and even high-earning workers need to think things through to avoid running out of money in case of an extended retirement. Notwithstanding the costs, Honolulu is also a place that offers a lot of perks for workers, facilitating their early retirement and helping them obtain the necessary amount of money and savings to retire early.
“Honolulu historically offers a great rate of home value appreciation, and there are many investment opportunities. If you are able to afford to retire here, you can’t beat the sunny weather and year-round beach and hiking. The amazing natural beauty draws many people to stay permanently, and Honolulu offers plenty of shops and restaurants” said Ali Ban form the real estate company Redfin.
Among some other benefits, Hawaii has the lowest effective real-estate tax rate for homeowners while Honolulu is considered one of the best U.S. cities in terms of public transit.
Top 6 U.S. cities evaluated in respect to top-earning workers who save aggressively in order to retire by 40:
Honolulu: Estimated yearly savings of $77,805
Boston: $82,105
Washington, D.C.: $91,495
Chicago: $68,222
Tampa, Florida: $52,523
Baltimore: $73,674
How you can retire early, too
“Let’s say you’re 20 years old and can manage to put away $100 a month into your retirement fund. Assuming you average 8% returns — possible with good investments — you’ll have somewhere in the neighborhood of a half-million dollars by age 65. Even better, over that 45-year period, you’ll only have invested $54,000 of your money to get all that cash in return.”
In short, you need to do some planning and start saving as early as possible so that you can enjoy a carefree retirement.
