Napa Valley Voted Top Retirement Destination Choice

Napa Valley Welcome Sign, Photographed by Stan Shebs, September 2005

Napa Valley, CA is the preferred place to retire, according to the participants of AXA Equitable’s “Destination Retirement Sweepstakes.” AXA Equitable launched the sweepstakes to mark the retirement of its advertising campaign star − “the 800lb gorilla in the room.” The public was invited to enter the sweepstakes featured on Facebook and Twitter (@AXA_Equitable). Sweepstakes entrants chose from four places where the gorilla could retire and entered a contest to win a trip to the destination that received the most votes. Napa Valley was chosen above North Carolina, Puerto Rico and Florida.

Land of Plenty
By all accounts, Napa Valley is indeed a special place. The area’s original Wappa Indian inhabitants used their word “napa” to describe a “Land of Plenty.” Today, the official County of Napa website describes it as “America’s legendary wine, food and wellness destination…. one of the most rare and precious agricultural preserves on earth – a place that moves in perfect synchrony with the seasons.” A website called www.TopRetirements.com describes Napa as “an interesting retirement community for active adults who enjoy wine, a warm climate, and great restaurants.”

Reality Checklist: Retirement Relocation
While sweepstakes are fun and retirement should be too, relocating requires serious consideration, no matter what your life stage, whether you’re moving around the corner, across the country or around the world.

If you’re thinking about retiring to another state or country, there are social, medical, financial, and legal issues to consider. Retirement relocation has become an industry in itself, with many places vying for retirees with tax breaks and other perks. Services abound on the internet advising retirees on relocation. There’s even a magazine called “Where to Retire” self-described as “the authoritative source of useful information for the 700,000 Americans who move to new towns to retire every year.”
Before you load up the truck, do your research. Retirement isn’t a vacation. It takes long-term planning about things like healthcare quality and access, taxes, community, transportation and cultural offerings. To get started, U.S. News offers a checklist.