Web sites can help retirees looking to move to a tourist mecca

In the midst of your traveling, how often have you asked - for instance, when passing a villa in Sorrento, a cottage in Galway, a manor house in Cotswold, or an adobe in Arizona - what would it be like to live here?

Part of the grand experience of travel is the immersion into the culture, language and scenery of beautiful places. And more than one senior searching for the perfect place to live has returned to that special spot and called it "home" in retirement.

While traveling to search out special retirement places can be a joy in itself, there is a buffet of web sites now serving the 50-and-older citizens on their way to finding the most suitable town or city in which to squat for the rest of their days. One that I recommend is TopRetirements.com, which offers a cornucopia of detailed information on the most popular places, many of them listed according to the best golf courses, college towns, small towns, rural areas, big cities, and outdoor recreation towns. There is information that a visitor might find difficult to obtain during actual visits, such as tax rates, health care, local transportation and other services.

There are many magazines and other sources that habitually list the "Ten Best Places to Retire." At the top of a lot of them is the North Carolina city of Asheville. One of its claims to fame is its "mild climate." I must admit, however, that the few times I have visited this area I couldn't wait to escape the summer heat and get back to the yet cooler climes of Vermont. So, it is a matter of individual choice. No one should choose a retirement location based solely on the recommendations of a Web site.

Arguably, Asheville has much to offer, including developments surrounding lakes, mountain escapes and abundantly charming art deco and gothic architecture. The writer Thomas Wolfe let the world know of the enchantment of the city, especially its colorful and sometimes quirky citizenry.

So which state is the No. 1 favored retirement area? While Florida still holds first place according to topretirements.com, Texas is creeping up. Citing U.S. Census information, of those aged 60-plus in 1980 who migrated permanently, Florida received more than 26 percent of immigrants, but in 2005 the number shrank to less than 17 percent. Meanwhile, Texas, which was the No. 4 choice for retirees in 2000, went to No. 2 in 2005. Arizona slipped also, dropping from second to third. (percentage of immigrants relocating to Fla. 2000.)

Thomas Warren & Associates, Economic & Policy Consulting: In 2005, Florida continued to be the "800-pound gorilla" of the retirement industry despite some indications that the state's dominance is softening. The Sunshine State attracted an estimated 68,000 new 65-plus citizens - two and a half times the 27,000 65+ transplants who moved to second-place Texas.

The Web site also lists active adult communities, which are actually complexes of adult homes and recreation and social offerings. According to the National Assn. of Home Buyers, the most popular are in Sumter County, Fla., located northwest of Orlando; Nye County, Nev., about 200 miles north of Las Vegas; Archuleta County, Col., which is east of Durango; Washington County, Utah, west of Zion National Park, and Collier County, Fla., located between Naples and the Everglades National Park.

The top 10 golf towns are Myrtle Beach, S.C.; Pinehurst, N.C.; Orlando, Fla.; Palm Springs, Calif.; Fort Myers, Ocala and Amelia Island in Florida, Bandon, Ore.; Hilton Head, S.C. and St. George, Utah. Part of the Web site is given over to bloggers, some of whom have listed retirement towns according to the most finite tastes, such as the places with the best bookstores.

There are six states, all in the South - Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Kentucky, Tennessee, and West Virginia - which have state-mandated, certified retirement communities, which set minimum standards that communities have to follow.

Retiring overseas presents a different challenge nowadays because of the U.S. deficit and weak dollar vs. the euro and other foreign currencies. According to a recent article in The New York Times, there are 4 million Americans living abroad permanently. Ireland was often a destination of choice and may remain so, but the Celtic Tiger years of booming growth, created partly when Ireland lowered its corporate tax rate, has now put a higher price on the cost of living.

A rather modest house in Dublin can cost more than $700,000. A Web site, www.exploringabroad.com, advertised a new four bedroom home in Galway at $224,000.

InternationalLiving.com is a Web site which provides a country-by-country informational breakdown on how best to relocate. And for an accurate appraisal of the cost, both in dollars and psychologically, try www.eiu.com, which is the Economist's newspaper's Intelligence Unit. There you will find disclosures according to infrastructure, access, education, crime rates, the environment, culture and events.

There are levels of hardship listed for expatriates in 130 cities, including American metropolises. Melbourne, Australia, ranks as the best of these places. Dublin is tied with New York for 51st.

John Hilferty can be reached at hilf@johnhilferty.com.