Is the sun setting on the Sunshine State?

Linda Stern, a writer for Newsweek, asks the question: Is the sun setting on the Sunshine State? Between April 2008 and April 2009, the state actually lost population for the first time in more than 100 years (excluding periods during the world wars, when troops stationed there skewed the population figures), reports the University of Florida.

While many retirees may want to flock to Florida, they can't afford to partly because they can't sell their homes up North. "People have a lot more options than just going to Florida. Many new retirement communities have been built in Maryland, Delaware, the Carolinas, and Georgia," reports E. Thomas Wetzel, president of the Retirement Living Information Center. "There's even a group of retirees called halfbacks, who went to Florida, didn't like it, came halfway back and settled in Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky, where they get four seasons."


Then there's also the no-retirement model. Most working baby boomers have deferred, perhaps indefinitely, their retirement plans in the wake of the stock market and 401(k) losses over the past two years. But don't rule out Florida altogether. Despite its dwindling population, it still draws more sheer numbers of retirees than any other single state. And for those who can afford the new higher insurance and property-tax rates, there are real-estate bargains to be had.

Read the full article by Linda Stern