Fort Collins, Colorado Retirement

Fort Collins / Loveland The Best Place to Retire in the USA:
FORT COLLINS AREA WINS MORE RECOGNITION!

Fort Collins continues to receive national recognition for it's quality of life and as an attractive retirement destination. The May-June edition of AARP The Magazine has a feature story entitled "The 15 Best Places to Reinvent Your Life' and headlined "Baby boomers are redefining retirement-and leading the move to a new generation of dream towns". And the area selected number one in the nation was Loveland / Fort Collins. Their research team looked at ten criteria reflecting the needs, interests and tastes of Americans age 50 and older. These included availability of jobs, culture and entertainment, access to outdoor recreation, safety, colleges or universities, sense of community, proximity to health care, good public schools, ease of getting around and affordable housing. The Fort Collins / Loveland area ranked near the top in most of these categories but for many the college town atmosphere and proximity of recreational opportunities are what puts us over the top.

The same magazine included a "Checklist: 20 Ways to Pick the City That's Best for You' which has some interesting criteria and a resource-filled checklist to find the city that's the best match for you. For further information, go to the AARP web site.

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Further good news for retirees considering this area is the a Kiplinger Magazine article entitled "Which states give retirees the best deal?" and headlined "If you're thinking about retiring to a state with no income tax, look further. Other taxes could mean you'll pay more, not less." It used a hypothetical couples $60,000 income and reviewed the retirement tax bite including state income tax, property tax and sales tax, using the capital city, state by state. Colorado ranked number ten on the list, well ahead of "no tax' havens like Texas and Washington and other popular retirement states like Arizona and Florida.

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Another interesting bit of news for seniors comes from the Fort Collins Senior Center which has recently become nationally accredited by the National Institute of Senior Centers, just the 87th Senior Center to be accredited in the entire United States and only the second in Colorado. The accreditation review process ended in March and the Fort Collins Senior Center received 175 points out of a possible 186. the award was presented at a NISC ceremony in Chicago and Sandi Johnson, the National Accreditation Board Chair said "National accreditation is unique to the senior center field. Your award is evidence of outstanding leadership and a commitment to quality programs and services".

"This prestigious award recognized the Fort Collins Senior Center as an outstanding senior center on a national level. The beautiful facility, friendly, dedicated staff, quality programs and community involvement make our Senior Center a local treasure" said Marty Heffernan, Director of Cultural, Library and Recreational Services.

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Those of us who are fortunate to live here are surely aware of what a wonderful place this is and the word is certainly getting out on the national stage. And, as we have emphasized many times, the same reasons that make this area one of the nations best for retirees, baby boomers and empty nesters also make it a great place to live and work and to raise a family.