SOA Best Practices Digest

WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S. News Media Group today released its annual Retirement guide and listing of the Best Affordable Places to Retire, an extension of its popular Best Places series. The Best Affordable Places, available today at www.usnews.com/affordable, are featured in the October "Retirement" issue of U.S.News & World Report magazine, on newsstands starting September 29, 2009.

America's Best Affordable Places to Retire, selected by U.S. News editors, were chosen from locations nationwide by analyzing key indicators including low cost of living, high-quality healthcare and elder-care facilities, educational and cultural opportunities, and reasonable housing prices, all while offering access to the services and amenities people look for in an ideal retirement spot.

Like other "Best Places" listings on USNews.com, the Best Affordable Places to Retire package includes extensive information for consumers preparing for retirement as well as an interactive search tool to help users find locations that best fit to their individual lifestyles. Visitors can examine and sort through extensive economic and quality-of-life data, as well as specific state and city information, such as sales taxes and housing prices, to find the most affordable place to retire.

"Preparing for retirement is a complex process, not to mention the difficulty of actually financing it," said Brian Kelly, editor of U.S.News & World Report. "Through the Best Affordable Places to Retire, U.S. News breaks down the most relevant financial information to help families make the best choices in financing their retirement."

The 10 cities honored as America's Best Affordable Places to Retire are (listed alphabetically):

• Ann Arbor, Michigan
• Asheville, North Carolina
• Aurora, Colorado
• Columbia, South Carolina
• Columbus, Ohio
• Eugene, Oregon
• Fort Worth, Texas
• Jacksonville, Florida
• Kansas City, Missouri
• Tucson, Arizona
  

The Best Places to Retire package includes data from Onboard Informatics, the premier data services company for top tier organizations in real estate, media and technology.

For more information about the Best Affordable Places to Retire, please visit www.usnews.com/retire.

About the U.S. News Media Group

The U.S. News Media Group is a multi-platform digital publisher of news and analysis, which includes the monthly U.S. News & World Report magazine, the digital-only U.S. News Weekly magazine, www.usnews.com, and www.rankingsandreviews.com. Focusing on Health, Money & Business, Education, and Public Service/Opinion, the U.S. News Media Group has earned a reputation as the leading provider of service news and information that improves the quality of life of its readers. The U.S. News Media Group's signature franchises include its News You Can Use® brand of journalism and its "America's Best" series of consumer guides that include rankings of colleges, graduate schools, hospitals, health plans, and more.

About Onboard Informatics

Since 2001, Onboard Informatics has provided comprehensive local, regional and national real estate data solutions, powerful web tools and web services to some of the most innovative companies in real estate, media, and technology industries. Onboard combines its expertise in data aggregation, standardization, and integration with expert consulting, transforming the complexity of data into meaningful solutions to support their clients in achieving business objectives. Privately held since its founding, Onboard is located in the heart of the world's financial center in the Wall Street area of New York City. For more information about Onboard Informatics, or to request a demo, visit www.onboardinformatics.com.

SOURCE U.S. News Media Group