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Are you looking ahead to retirement? If you’re an entrepreneur, you may be focused on building your company right now. But experts say you should be making retirement plans at every age throughout your working life. And when the time comes to retire, there’s a big question you’ll need to answer: Where will you want to live? With that question in mind, the personal finance site Bankrate has done a detailed analysis of all 50 U.S. states, using criteria that Americans say are most important to them in retirement. The results are likely to surprise you. They just might change your views about where you’d like to retire. Top of the list? New Hampshire. How the heck did Bankrate come up with that? It’s a surprising result, but the analysis is very well thought out. First, researchers reviewed a YouGov poll of 2,260 Americans that asked what three factors were most important to them in a retirement location. Respondents’ top priorities were: Affordability Weather Neighborhood safety Healthcare Local taxes Arts, entertainment, and recreation People of a similar age Bankrate analyzed each state in relation to those criteria, giving more weight to those that more survey respondents considered most important. It created detailed results for all 50 states, ranking them from best to worst on those combined criteria. The rest of the top five, after New Hampshire, are just as surprising. They are: Maine, Wyoming, Vermont, and Idaho. Most came in toward the bottom of the ranking for weather specifically. But they outshone other states on factors like affordability, neighborhood safety, and healthcare. They also ranked strongly in having a large cohort of similar-aged people, which can help create the kind of community that is a known contributor to both longevity and well-being. And, they ranked high in the arts, entertainment, and recreation categoryin other words, enjoyable things to do. Ideally, retirement should be all about enjoyment, so this seems like an important category to me. Of course, in your own analysis, weather might outweigh all other considerations. You may dream of spending your retirement years strolling on the beach rather than slogging through the snow. States that are further south offer more sunlight, and more opportunities to be outdoors in that sunlight, both of which are known to improve your mood and well-being. If that’s a deciding factor for you, consider Virginia, West Virginia, or Utah, all of which ranked within the top 10 overall and ranked high for weather, too. Florida ranks 41st as a retirement state. Weather is a complicated question, especially in these days of climate change. That’s why Florida, favored by so many retirees that it’s a cliché, ranked near the bottom in Bankrate’s analysis. It scored 41st place overall and 45th for weather specifically. If you’ve ever lived through hurricane season in that state, or you know anyone who has, you’ll understand why. Not only that, warmer states are more at risk for droughts, fires, and extreme heat. Extreme heat is deadlier than any other weather, and it’s particularly dangerous for older people. It’s worth noting that several analyses of the best and worst states for climate change also found the Northeast is the best place to be. They rank New Hampshire and Vermont, two of Bankrate’s top-five states, as the top two states in that category. Deciding where to live in retirement is a complex question. Proximity to family and personal preferences make this an individual decision for each of us. Maybe you would never consider New Hampshire as a place to spend your golden years. But Bankrate’s ranking, and the factors they used to compile it, might get you thinking about what the best place for your retirement and what’s most important to you. Theres a growing audience of Inc.com readers who receive a daily text from me with a self-care or motivational micro-challenge or tip. Often, they text me back and we wind up in a conversation. (Want to know more? Its easy to try it out and you can easily cancel anytime. Heres some information about the texts and a special invitation to a two-month free trial.) Many of my subscribers are thinking ahead to retirement and considering where and how they would like to spend those years. These rankings are a great starting point for making the right choice. By Minda Zetlin This article originally appeared on Fast Company’s sister publication, Inc. Inc. is the voice of the American entrepreneur. We inspire, inform, and document the most fascinating people in business: the risk-takers, the innovators, and the ultra-driven go-getters that represent the most dynamic force in the American economy.
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Etsy witches have been dominating headlines in recent weeks, for both good and bad deeds. Earlier this month, just before the Seattle Mariners lost their sixth game in seven tries, an X user shared that they had paid an Etsy witch to help the team get their act together and start winning baseball games again, and hopefully make their way to the World Series and win. The spell, which cost the fan $19.99, came from SpellByLuna on Etsy. WE HAVE CONFIRMATION OF THE SPELL https://t.co/XyESsEpM7l pic.twitter.com/cGeosHQsIR— Absolute Unit (@notB0bR055) September 6, 2025 After a reversal of fortunes, the team is now on a nine-game winning streak. Coincidence? Perhaps. But the Mariners arent taking any chances, giving the Etsy witch a shout-out on their official X account. (Unfortunately, Luna is currently not selling on Etsy.) shoutout to the etsy witch pic.twitter.com/XalePUoOkW— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) September 7, 2025 And its not just sports fans turning to witches-for-hire in times of need. Whether you want to help your team to victory or cast a love spell on your crush, theres a cottage industry on Etsy ready to field your requests. Though the platform banned metaphysical services in 2015, there are thousands of spells for sale on the site that range in price from just $1 to upwards of $2,000. (Fast Company has reached out to Etsy for comment.) A number of influencer brides, including Jaz Smith and Becca Bloom, have enlisted an Etsy witchs service to ensure good weather on their wedding days. In at least Smiths and Blooms case, the purchase paid off: Both were blessed with blue skies despite the forecasted rain on their respective big days. Others are hiring Etsy witches for more nefarious reasons. Is now a good time to admit I paid an Etsy witch to curse his NFL team this season, one screenshot read, posted on X. What used to be a somewhat taboo, or at least unorthodox, practice has since entered the mainstream thanks to social media and Gen Zs embrace of spirituality. The psychic industry, which includes various specialties such as astrology, palm-reading, psychic readings, tarot-card readings, and fortune-telling, generated an estimated $2.3 billion in revenue in 2024 and employed 105,000 people, according to market research firm IBIS World. For a growing number of customers, thats money well spentwhether or not the spells actually work.
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Japan’s exports to the United States plummeted 13.8% in August compared to the same month the previous year, marking the fifth straight month of declines, as auto exports were hit by President Donald Trump’s tariffs.The Finance Ministry data released Wednesday showed the rate of the drop in exports to the U.S. compared to the previous year worsened from a 10.1% slip in July.U.S. tariffs on Japanese automobiles and auto parts decreased from 27.5%, the amount Trump initially levied, to 15% this week, but that’s still higher than the original 2.5%.Wednesday’s data reflect the month of August, when the tariffs were higher. Japan’s overall exports were little changed, slipping 0.1%, as exports grew to Europe and the Middle East.The provisional data for August showed Japan’s imports from the world fell 5.2% from a year ago. Imports from China grew 2.1%, while exports to China fell 0.5%. Imports from the U.S. grew 11.6%.Exports to the world grew in food, gaining 18%, as well as in ships, growing by nearly 25%. Imports grew in computers, adding nearly 35% on-year, while aircraft rose 21%. Yuri Kageyama is on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@yurikageyama Yuri Kageyama, AP Business Writer
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