I’m a Florida Native: 3 Financial Reasons I Won’t Retire Here
Written by
Jake Safane
Edited by
Jenna Klaverweiden
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With its warm weather and lack of state income tax, becoming a Florida retiree is often hailed as one of the most idyllic retirement plans. In fact, Florida is by far one of the top states in the country in terms of the net number of retirees who move there.
Yet not everyone is eager to retire in the Sunshine State. There are some potential downsides to consider too, and not everyone’s dream retirement looks the same or has the same affordability.
For Mandy Cline, a senior account manager at 919 Marketing, retiring in Florida is not in the cards. While she’s only 42 and retirement is a long way off, she said she has “zero interest” in returning to Florida to retire, despite growing up there.
She left the state after graduating college in 2003 and has since lived in Raleigh, North Carolina, and now Atlanta. She has no plans to move back to Florida due to a mix of financial and lifestyle reasons. On the financial front, here are three of her top reasons she doesn’t want to retire in Florida.
High Housing Costs
While you can still find some good deals in some parts of Florida, the state overall has been experiencing rising housing costs, and certain areas have gotten particularly pricey. Miami, for example, ranks as the third most expensive place to live in the country moving into 2025, according to U.S. News & World Report. Here are some key numbers:
- Population: 461,672
- Median home price: $448,531
- Median monthly rent: $1,644
For Cline, despite owning property in South Florida that she inherited, she is still faced with the problem of high housing costs. “The property I own is not somewhere I would retire to, and it would cost too much to buy something else,” she said.
Rising Home Insurance Rates
Not only is the price of real estate high in some parts of Florida, but rising insurance rates have also made Cline want to avoid retiring in Florida. This holds even more true when you factor in the increased risk of natural disasters such as hurricanes.
Florida has by far the highest home insurance rates in the country, due in part to factors like insurers leaving the state or becoming insolvent. These costs do not seem to be letting up anytime soon, with a 7% increase in 2024. This is likely to continue to increase throughout 2025.
It’s even gotten to the point where Cline doesn’t want to keep the property she owns there. “I am looking to sell as soon as possible, because I want nothing to do with the home insurance costs,” she said.
Climate-Related Risks
Connected to rising home insurance rates is how climate change is making living in Florida more expensive and possibly putting some investments in physical assets at risk.
“I lived through Hurricane Andrew. I have seen how insurance costs have risen since I was younger, and it’s only going to get worse with climate change,” Cline said. “I also worry about flooding and what that can do to home costs and car insurance costs.”
With issues like hurricanes and flooding continuing to affect Florida, it can be hard for some to justify retiring there in the future. “I think it’s only going to get worse. I wouldn’t want to invest in anything in Florida,” Cline said.
Final Take To GO: Finding Alternatives
With Florida out of the picture for Cline’s retirement, she’s thinking of eventually finding a place that better suits her lifestyle preferences. “I am someone who really enjoys the outdoors and hates humidity,” she said.
Instead, she has her eyes on a drier climate like Colorado — though it’s hard to find a place that checks all the boxes. There are always some risks and downsides. For example, if retiring in Colorado, Cline said she would have to worry about fires.
Simply put, for a multitude of financial reasons combined with other factors like housing costs and climate risks, Cline does not want to retire in her native state.
Caitlyn Moorhead contributed to the reporting for this article.
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