Why Retire In Fairhope?

It’s no surprise that Fairhope, Alabama, pops up frequently on “Best Places to Retire” lists. Its charming Southern atmosphere, stunning scenery, and affordability make this small town a hidden gem on the Eastern Shore.

The city sits on bluffs overlooking Mobile Bay, so you never have to go far to see the beautiful shoreline. You’ll be stunned by the quaint downtown, scenic views, and streets of historic homes lined with live oaks. There’s a reason people come to visit and never leave! In fact, the state of Alabama is one of the cheapest states to live in and attracts many retirees because of its affordability. Alabama has one of the lowest standards of living index scores in the nation, due to its low cost of housing and healthcare.

Retiring in Fairhope may be not only a good idea for you financially, but taking advantage of the coastal lifestyle could also potentially add years to your life. Bestselling author and health expert Dan Buettner identified five places around the world he calls blue zones where people live the longest, healthiest lives. He found that people in blue zone areas all share four commonalities that can lead to increased longevity: exercising regularly, eating wisely, connection with others, and positive outlook.

Here’s how you could experience all of them if you choose to retire in Fairhope:

Move Regularly

Any study on longevity will inevitably highlight exercise as essential to a long, healthy life. Buettner found that the oldest and healthiest people in the world naturally incorporate movement throughout their day with low-intensity activities. ¹

If you’re looking forward to retirement so you can spend more time in the outdoors, Fairhope’s temperate climate makes it ideal for those wanting to pursue an active lifestyle, whether enjoying waterfront activities, playing pickleball, walking, or biking.

Here are some ways you can enjoy the 221 days of sunshine a year:

• Explore all this biking town has to offer by renting bikes or using your own! Cruise along trails that wind around the coast and through charming historic neighborhoods.
• Join in a game of pickleball at courts throughout Fairhope, including Quail Creek Golf Course and Mike Ford Tennis Complex. Or join the Fairhope Pickleball Club to practice with a group of avid enthusiasts.
• Stroll around the Fairhope Pier where you can get your steps in, try your hand at fishing in the bay, or take in the sights like the thousands of flowers lining the streets of Downtown Fairhope.
• Hike the paved walking trails at North Beach Park, where you can take in breathtaking sunsets over Mobile Bay. It’s also a beautiful spot to picnic and take in the scenic views!
• Play golf nearly year-round at the Quail Creek Municipal Golf Course, Rock Creek Golf Club, and the Lakewood Club.² There are another 19 golf courses within 20 miles of Fairhope.³
• Practice your mid-range and distance disc golf shots at the Fairways of Fairhope or the Colony Park Disc Golf Course where you can take in nature while improving your game or playing against friends.

Eating Wisely

The top five pillars of the blue zones' diets are whole grains, vegetables, greens, beans, and tubers like sweet potatoes. People who live in blue zones mostly cook their own farm-to-table meals.⁴

Fairhope offers not only Gulf Coast seafood—the freshest you’ll ever eat—but also plenty of local farms to supply fresh produce. Farmer’s markets are only a quick drive away! Tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, eggplant, red potatoes, sweet corn, cabbage, watermelons, cantaloupe, peaches, blackberries, and blueberries are among the many crops grown in area farms.

Here’s how to get your fill of local fresh fruits and vegetables:

• Skip the produce section at the grocery store and head to the Mackenzie Farm Market six days a week, featuring locally sourced foods directly from Mackenzie Farm.
• Visit the Fairhope Outdoor Farmer’s Market, open every Thursday from 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm behind the Fairhope Public Library, for another option for fresh local produce.
• Check out the Ahi Seafood Market for sustainably sourced seafood from the local fishing community or the Lartigue Seafood Market which offers local seafood and a variety of specialty items. There’s also the Fairhope Fish House which sells seafood caught within the past 24 hours or less. Or you can cast your line at one of the many quiet fishing spots at the shore or piers around Mobile Bay to catch your own dinner!

Connect

One of the top factors in blue zones was finding belonging in a tight-knit community. Research shows that people with strong social bonds are more likely to live longer than those who are socially isolated.⁵

What I love most about Fairhope is that individuals come to visit and vacation, but the family comes to retire. Many of my clients tell me they moved here to retire only for their families to follow!

Fairhope has around twenty thousand residents—and counting—that take in the relaxed, slow pace of life and small-town ambiance. But that doesn’t mean there’s a lack of community events and people to meet:

• Connect with others at local senior centers like the James P. Nix Senior Center for a variety of daily activities, classes, programs, and events. Become a member of the center for the low annual fee of $25, and choose from activities like exercise classes, dances, games, ice cream socials, and more—or attend them all!
• Don’t miss the walkable quaint downtown area where you can enjoy shopping and local cuisine. Plan to take a stroll here every month for the First Friday Artwalk where you can enjoy local artists and live music, drinks, and hors d'oeuvres.
• Take in the stunning sunsets over the bay at The Bluff at Henry George Park, where you can enjoy the annual Fourth of July Celebration or Baldwin Pops concerts throughout the year.
• Mark your calendar for the many community events that happen year round. The annual three-day Arts & Crafts Festival every March welcomes more than 150,000 visitors. There’s also the Fairhope Witches Ride every October and the yearly Bald Eagle Bash, an environmental preservation festival featuring local restaurants and bands.
• Join local travel groups like the Baldwin Senior Travelers to enjoy local events, day trips, out-of-state trips, cruises, and even excursions around the globe!
• Fuel your passion for gardening by joining the Wisteria Garden Club to study flowers, native trees, and plants with other members and focus on civic beautification endeavors.

Outlook On Life

It’s no secret that those with a spiritual outlook tend to live longer, more satisfying lives. Research shows that being religious could extend your lifespan for four years.⁶ One of Buttner’s blue zones is a Seventh Day Adventist community in California whose life span is seven years longer than the national average.⁷

In Fairhope, you can find many houses of worship with thriving senior communities that enjoy game nights, luncheons, banquets, and more. Worship, Bible studies, and small groups provide close-knit, face-to-face gatherings. Churches also provide opportunities for you to give back, whether in the choir, nursery and children’s ministries, or mentoring programs.

Here are some local denomination pages with active senior ministries or small groups to check out:

Financial Planning:

Why Having a Financial Advisor Matters

No matter where you choose to retire, don’t overlook the importance of having a financial advisor. A financial advisor can help you make critical decisions, ensure you have retirement income that both you and your spouse cannot outlive, and even take the stress out of when to take Social Security. This means you can sit back and enjoy your golden years!

Here’s why having a financial advisor matters for your success in retirement:

1. Healthcare

Money can’t buy happiness, but it might can buy you better health care. When you manage your investments wisely, you have more assets and funds to work with. A recent study found that the wealthier you are, the longer your life expectancy and the more healthy years you’ll enjoy compared to others.⁸ This is why having a financial advisor is important to help you maximize returns.

An advisor can also help you explore not just long-term care insurance, but also the best medical options for your individual financial situation. I’ve seen long-term care expenses blindside families in the last chapter of their life. That’s why it’s important to include long-term care planning in your financial strategy.

Wherever you choose to retire, evaluate the cost of care in that area by visiting the Genworth Cost of Care Survey website where you can find the cost of assisted living, nursing home facilities, and home health care by state. Use this information as you meet with your financial advisor to plan out your financial future.

2. Income Planning

You need consistent—not volatile—income in retirement to support your active, healthy lifestyle. Income planning is key to ensuring your hard-earned dollars exploit the power of compound interest while you also have funds readily available to live on.

This is where an experienced financial advisor can really help. At SWAN Capital, we approach your retirement income with a five-, ten-, and fifteen-year strategy to ensure you won’t outlive your money. This means we break up your retirement investments into three different buckets depending on when you’ll need access to the funds. Each bucket has a different purpose and different risk strategy to maximize growth based on when you need the income:

• Years 1-5: This bucket prioritizes protection and liquidity so you aren’t at the mercy of stock market volatility.
• Years 5-10: This bucket prioritizes protection and rate of return. Since you won’t need the income for 5 years, you can limit your liquidity and prioritize higher returning asset classes.
• Years 10+: This bucket prioritizes rate of return and liquidity in the tenth year. This bucket needs to be able to grow to play the offensive with inflation.

3. Income Diversification

As you want your investments diversified, you also need your income diversified. It’s critical that you don’t put all your retirement income into one basket.

This means having a multiplicity of income streams from your various investments. A financial advisor can help ensure you’re receiving income from pensions, self-funded pension plans, social security optimization, rental income, dividend paying stocks, preferred share dividends, oil and alternative income (if possible), interest income from guaranteed accounts like CDs and Money Market accounts, and annuity income.

The key is to have at least a three-to-ten-legged bar stool of income sources so your family has sturdy support for the rest of your retirement.

4. Tax Planning

Thankfully, Alabama is one of the lowest tax states in the country, according to the Tax Foundation. There are no state taxes, but you will still be required to pay federal taxes that you’ll need help navigating. This is important because in retirement, when you go to pay for your fresh fruits and golf tournament fees, you’ll be using after tax money.

A financial advisor can introduce you to ways to lower your tax liability. These include:

• Transitioning your IRAs to Roth IRAs for non-taxable distributions
• Shifting from taxable accounts to tax-free accounts
• Tax loss harvesting
• Incorporating a tax efficient asset spenddown plan for retirement income
• Taking advantage of Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs)—especially if you’re carefully watching your adjusted gross income (AGI)
- Your AGI is used for many tax calculations. If your Required Minimum Distributions from your IRAs push you into a higher tax bracket, it can affect your eligibility for certain tax credits and deductions, including Social Security and Medicare.

SWAN Capital: Here for Your Retirement Transition—And Beyond

If you’re eager to explore what retirement would look like in Daphne or the Gulf Coast, look no further than SWAN Capital. Our financial advisors work with tens of thousands of retirees each year to help you retire with confidence, no matter where you decide to settle. We make the process of transitioning into retirement seamless, so you can fully enjoy your golden years.

Our qualified financial advisors are passionate about helping individuals plan for their ideal retirements by managing their assets and wealth efficiently. With offices in Pensacola, Florida, and Daphne, we’re only a quick phone call or drive away to help you reach your financial goals.

Visit us at swan-capital.com or give us a call today at 251.800.7499 (Daphne) or 850.380.9558 (Pensacola).