A new study shows that Florida residents stand a good chance of outliving their retirement savings.
In a ranking of states where people are likely to outlive their savings, Florida came in 15th out of 50. The study was by a group called Seniorly, and it analyzed data from the Centers for Disease Control, Social Security, the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The analysis was alarming news for a place that’s so well known as a retirement haven.
What is it that has made Florida less affordable in recent years? I talked with Victor Claar, associate professor of economics at FGCU’s Lutgert College of Business. He says that, especially since the pandemic started, Florida residents have been hit with significant cost increases.
One is natural disasters, and the attendant rise in insurance premiums.
“When insurance companies pay out, they have to raise premiums for everybody, normally, everybody in the market they insure, and that drives up homeowner insurance prices for everybody,” Claar said.
Another increase, especially for condo owners, is that after the Surfside collapse in Miami, laws around condo construction changed.
“Florida legislators, in order to make Floridians safer, made condo inspections more frequent, and they require new additional costly measures to make sure that condos in the future are more robust to significant damage,” said Claar.
These changes, too, have boosted costs for condo owners statewide.
And a cost, Claar says, that very few people think of:
“If you live up north, you don't have to run your air conditioning and your heating year-round, like you do in Florida,” said Claar.
Even if you are not in Florida year-round, he adds, you will likely have to run your air-conditioning every month of the year, which can lead to a whopping electric bill.
WGCU is your trusted source for news and information in Southwest Florida. We are a nonprofit public service, and your support is more critical than ever. Keep public media strong and donate now. Thank you.
