Needing a Lot of Gold to Live in the Golden State

Retirement here is excellent
if you have enough money.

Bankrate says that California is the fourth-worst state in which to retire:

The analysis ranked states based on five categories: affordability, overall well-being, the cost and quality of health care, weather and crime. Affordability accounted for the largest share of a state’s ranking at 40%, while crime was the smallest, at 5%.

With this methodology, California ranked 47 out of the 50 states, largely due to its high cost of living. The state ranked 50th on the affordability scale, which took several data points into account, including cost of living, state and local sales taxes, property taxes and average cost of homeowners insurance, according to Bankrate.

The major reason that California ranks 47th is that it is the least affordable State, and affordability determines 40% of the score.

If one has a paid-up house and an adequate nest egg, California would rank much higher. Living on the Peninsula, we have access to excellent medical care within 30 miles (Stanford, Sutter Health, UCSF), the weather is mild all year, and crime and homelessness are controlled much better than in San Francisco and San Jose. Unless conditions worsen dramatically, these retirees will be staying put.