Florida

Florida retirees are in financial trouble

Published

5 months ago

August 6, 2024

Florida retirees are in financial trouble

Florida is no longer the retirement haven it once was, according to a recent Bankrate survey that placed it eighth on a list of the best states to retire in the country.

According to the New York-based financial services company’s annual rankings, Delaware is the best state for retirees to thanks to its high-quality healthcare, light tax burden, affordable homeowner insurance and good weather.

Bankrate’s analysis, which considered affordability, overall well-being, the cost and quality of health care, and crime rates for each U.S. state, found that Florida, often considered a retirement hotspot, ranked eighth for the second year in a row. It was behind Delaware, West Virginia, Georgia, South Carolina, Missouri, Mississippi and Pennsylvania.

More From Newsweek Vault: Learn What Steps to Take if Your Retirement Income Isn’t Enough

A beach in Naples, Florida. Skyrocketing home prices and insurance costs are contributing to making Florida an increasingly unaffordable state for retirees to spend their golden years.

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“Ten years ago, Florida would’ve been a no-brainer for retirement. But with skyrocketing home prices, property taxes and homeowners insurance, it’s worth taking a pause to make sure you can afford the retirement lifestyle you want in Florida,” Bankrate analyst Alex Gailey told Newsweek.

While Florida is no longer in the top five, it’s still number eight in Bankrate’s ranking—meaning that it’s still among the most appealing states for American retirees.

More From Newsweek Vault: Here’s the Latest Social Security COLA Estimate: Will It Be Enough to Keep Pace With Inflation?

“Florida is a warmer state with several beautiful beaches and golf courses, which are attractive for retirees. It also ranks well in terms of overall well-being and crime,” Gailey said.

“A big perk of flocking to Florida for retirement is that there is no state tax on retirement income like Social Security, pension funds, 401(k)s or IRA. Healthcare costs are also more affordable in Florida compared to the rest of the country, and the quality of healthcare falls in the middle of the pack,” he added.

But the state falls short in other ways for retirees, with its high home prices, high property taxes, high sales tax and high homeowners insurance.

“All of that has risen dramatically in Florida in the last few years,” Gailey said. “Florida is also subject to a lot of natural disasters, particularly hurricanes and flooding, which can be financially devastating.”

The bottom line, according to Gailey, is that Florida isn’t as affordable as it once was for retirees. “Retirees wanting to move to Florida for sunny winters, beaches and affordable health care may have to sacrifice in other areas,” he said.

Why Is Florida No Longer A Retirement Haven?

“Florida has long reigned as the retirement capital of the U.S., thanks to its beachfront living, world-class golf, and stunning ocean views. However, there is a dark side to the Sunshine State,” Kris Bruynson, VP of Marketing and Product for Moneywise, told Newsweek.

“With a considerable strain on overpopulation, increasing hurricane threats, and—most notably—skyrocketing housing and food costs, retirees are being driven away from the state,” he added. “To maintain the same lifestyle as before, newcomers now require significantly larger savings, prompting seniors to rethink their retirement plans.”

In a recent Moneywise survey, Florida was ranked tenth in a list of the states with the highest risk of elderly bankruptcy. The Sunshine State’s estimated risk score was 54.23.

Bruynson said that while Florida ranked 23rd in overall cost of living in their survey, the study uncovered that a staggering one-quarter of the state’s seniors live below 150 percent of the poverty line, ranking it 7th in elderly poverty nationwide.

“Several metro areas in Florida have experienced some of the nation’s fastest-rising inflation. This rapid increase has placed immense pressure on retirees, mainly due to a 73.5 percent surge in home prices over the past five years.”

Utility bills also disproportionately impact seniors, and Florida’s annual electricity costs currently average $2,069—28 percent higher than the national figure.

“Combined with transportation and food expenses reaching $9,300 annually and healthcare costs at $9,501, the financial strain is evident,” said Bruynson.

“Floridian retirees are facing a perfect storm of financial pressures. Housing, utility, and living expenses alone create a challenging environment for seniors, even before factoring in debt, property maintenance, or insurance,” he added.

Will Retirees Stop Flocking To Florida?

The Sunshine State currently has one of the highest shares of people aged 62 and above compared to its population—but that might change in the future.

“If home prices, property taxes and homeowners insurance rates keep climbing, I wouldn’t be surprised if Florida eventually starts losing some of its luster as a retirement hotspot,” Gailey said.

According to Bruynson, Florida’s popularity as a retirement haven is already showing signs of cooling, with a 0.2 percent drop in out-of-state retirees between 2021 and 2023.

“The increasing challenges in Florida could slow retiree migration, but it’s difficult to predict a significant drop,” he said.

“The state’s overall allure will likely continue attracting seniors, but we may see a shift in the types of retirees moving there. Those with larger budgets may still be drawn to the state, but those on fixed incomes might explore alternative locations.”

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Florida

Macy's is closing 66 stores in 2025, including these in South Florida

Published

40 minutes ago

January 10, 2025

Press Room

Macy's is closing 66 stores in 2025, including these in South Florida

Macy’s is moving forward with its planned closures of stores in South Florida and across the country, the company announced Thursday.

Sixty-six locations were listed to close, most during the first quarter of 2025, though some had already been shut down.

In South Florida, the closures only affect the furniture stores at the following locations:

4501 North Federal Highway in Fort Lauderdale
13640 Pines Boulevard in Pembroke Pines
13251 South Dixie Highway in Miami – already closed in 2024

But if you’re a faithful shopper, fear not. The company said these three furniture businesses are relocating to a nearby full-line location.

Additionally, these locations are closing or have already closed in Florida:

9339 Glades Road in Boca Raton – This furniture store already closed, and will relocate to a nearby full-line location.
801 North Congress Avenue Suite 100 in Boynton Beach at the Boynton Beach Mall
298 Westshore Plaza in Tampa at the WestShore Plaza
820 West Town Parkway in Altamonte Springs
3501 South Tamiami Trail Suite 600 in Sarasota

For that Altamonte Springs location, a going-out-of-business sale is planned for the first quarter of 2025.

In the announcement, Macy’s said the closures were part of their Bold New Chapter strategy.

“This plan is designed to return the company to sustainable, profitable sales growth which includes closing approximately 150 underproductive stores over a three-year period while investing in its 350 go-forward Macy’s locations through fiscal 2026,” their news release reads.

Go here to see the list of all 66 closing Macy’s locations.

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Florida

SpaceX readies for next Starlink launch from Florida coast. Here’s when

Published

9 hours ago

January 10, 2025

Press Room

SpaceX readies for next Starlink launch from Florida coast. Here’s when

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – SpaceX is readying for its next Starlink mission launch from Florida’s Space Coast on Friday morning.

In a release, the company announced that a Falcon 9 rocket will carry 21 more Starlink satellites into orbit from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

SpaceX officials said that liftoff is targeting 11:21 a.m., though backup opportunities will run until 2:15 p.m.

More opportunities will also be available on Saturday starting at 10 a.m. if needed.

The 45th Weather Squadron forecast shows that the chance of weather interfering with Friday’s launch attempt is less than 5%. However, that risk rises to 20% if pushed to this weekend.

Regardless, SpaceX reports that this is set to be the 25th flight for the first-stage booster used in this mission, which has previously been used to launch CRS-22, CRS-25, Crew-3, Crew-4, TelkomSat-113BT, Turksat-5B, Koreasat-6A, Eutelsat HOTBIRD-F2, Galileo L13, mPOWER-A, PSN MFS, and 13 other Starlink missions.

News 6 will stream the launch live at the top of this story when it happens.

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Florida

Lawsuit seeks to push DeSantis to call special elections for Florida Legislature seats

Published

17 hours ago

January 9, 2025

Press Room

Lawsuit seeks to push DeSantis to call special elections for Florida Legislature seats

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Accusing Gov. Ron DeSantis of violating “his mandatory statutory duty,” the American Civil Liberties Union on Thursday filed a lawsuit asking a judge to order DeSantis to set special elections for two legislative seats that opened as part of a political shakeup after President-elect Donald Trump’s win in November.

Former Rep. Joel Rudman, R-Navarre, stepped down from the state House District 3 seat last week, and state Sen. Randy Fine, R-Brevard County, will exit his Senate District 19 seat on March 31 as they run in special elections for congressional seats.

The lawsuit filed in Leon County circuit court Thursday argued that DeSantis not setting special elections for the legislative seats will leave voters in Rudman’s district without representation “for the entirety of the 2025 session” and voters in Fine’s district without representation for about half of the 60-day legislative session, which begins March 4.

Voters “have a clear legal right to have the governor fix the date of a special election for each vacancy,” and the governor “has a clear legal duty to fix the dates of the special elections,” attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Florida wrote in the lawsuit.

Plaintiffs in the case are Christina Forrest, a voter in House District 3, and Janet Laimont, a voter in Senate District 19.

“When a vacancy arises in legislative office, the people have the right to fill that vacancy in a special election,” the lawsuit said, pointing to a Florida law. “The reason is obvious: No Floridian should be deprived of representation because of the death, resignation, or removal of their representatives. But left to his own devices, the governor would deprive the residents of SD 19 and HD 3 of their constitutionally protected voice in the Capitol.”

The lawsuit said DeSantis “clear legal duty is ministerial and nondiscretionary in nature.” It seeks what is known as a “writ of mandamus” ordering DeSantis to set the special election dates.

“Each resident of the state has the right to be represented by one senator and one representative. These legislators are their voice in the halls of the Capitol,” the ACLU lawyers wrote. “The vacancies in these districts arose over 40 days ago. No other governor in living memory has waited this long to schedule a special election.”

Mark Ard, a spokesman for the Florida Department of State, said in an email that the agency “continues to work with the supervisors of elections to identify suitable dates for special elections” in the legislative districts.

“The election dates will be announced soon,” Ard wrote.

Fine and Rudman announced their plans to run for Congress in late November, as Trump began to fill out his administration.

Rudman is seeking to replace former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, who resigned in Congressional District 1 after being tapped by Trump to serve as U.S. attorney general. Gaetz later withdrew his name from consideration for attorney general amid intense scrutiny related to a congressional ethics report.

Fine is running to replace U.S. Rep. Mike Waltz, who will serve as Trump’s national security adviser. Waltz will step down in Congressional District 6 on Jan. 20, the day Trump is sworn into office.

DeSantis quickly ordered special elections to fill the vacancies created by Gaetz and Waltz, the lawsuit noted. Special primary elections for the congressional seats will be held on Jan. 28, and special general elections will take place on April 1.

Rudman’s former state House district is made up of parts of Okaloosa and Santa Rosa counties, while Fine’s Senate district consists of part of Brevard County. DeSantis’ delay in setting special election dates in the districts also has drawn attention because they are in areas dominated by Republicans.

Previous governors’ “routine practice” was to “quickly call a special election for the resigning legislator’s seat and hold it concurrently with the special election for the higher office,” the lawsuit said, referring to the congressional seats as being the higher office.

In the two decades before DeSantis took office, 15 legislative vacancies occurred because a state lawmaker resigned to run for another office, according to the lawsuit. DeSantis’ predecessors set special elections to fill the resigning legislators’ seats on the same dates as the elections in which the legislators resigned to run, or earlier.

“But lately, Governor DeSantis has more often chosen to deviate from Florida’s longstanding practice of timely special elections, in violation of his mandatory statutory duty,” the lawsuit said.

As an example, the ACLU lawyers pointed to DeSantis’ drawn-out response to the 2021 death of U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings, a Broward County Democrat.

DeSantis “failed to call a special election for 30 days — longer than any Florida governor had ever taken to call a special election in at least the prior 22 years, and possibly ever in the history of the state” to fill Hastings’ seat, the lawsuit argued.

DeSantis ultimately ordered a special election to fill Hastings’ seat — more than nine months after the congressman died.

DeSantis in 2021 also waited more than 90 days to order special elections to fill three seats vacated by legislators who sought to replace Hastings.

“The governor did not call special elections until he was forced to — after residents of the districts petitioned this court for mandamus relief,” Thursday’s lawsuit said. “Following months of inaction, the governor called elections within days of this court ordering him to show cause why the writ should not issue.”

In 2023, DeSantis waited 38 days to set a special election for a legislative vacancy.

“Yet again, the governor did not call the election until he was forced to — after this court ordered the governor to show cause why mandamus should not issue in a lawsuit brought by a district resident,” the ACLU’s lawyers wrote.

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