--- title: Moving to a Cheaper City Can Net You an Extra $100,000 in Retirement description: By taking advantage of your home equity and relocating to a cheaper market, you could retire earlier or more comfortably. authors: - name: Pete Grieve role: Lead News Reporter url: https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/ bio: Pete Grieve is a personal finance reporter. In his time at Money, Pete has covered everything from car buying to credit cards to the housing market. education: University of Chicago, BA Political Science at_money_since: 2022 articles: 602 covers: - Retirement - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Shopping - Taxes social: - https://twitter.com/pete_grieve - https://linkedin.com/in/pete-grieve-b5aa02138 - https://www.facebook.com/petegrieve4 editors: - name: Brad Tuttle role: Senior Editor url: https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/ bio: Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals. education: Columbia University School of Journalism, MS at_money_since: 2014 articles: 366 covers: - Retirement - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle - https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225 former_staff: true published: '2023-03-01T20:40:15.000Z' modified: '2025-08-28T15:22:43.000Z' section: Retirement tags: - move - News word_count: 368 canonical: https://money.com/moving-retirement-cheaper-city-save-money/ type: NewsArticle source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![A real estate agent shaking hands with a senior man outside a bungalow that he has just bought with his wife, who is standing next to him](https://img.money.com/2023/03/News-Affording-Retirement-Relocating.jpg) As Americans approach the age of retirement, they naturally start thinking about where they want to enjoy their golden years — perhaps somewhere that’s warm and quiet. But relocation can also have a huge impact on your [retirement planning](https://money.com/saving-retirement-harder/): A new study shows that for the many older Americans who have [significant equity in a home](https://money.com/average-home-equity-record-high-3000000/), selling and moving to a less expensive market can pay off in a big way, to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Even though home equity is the “most prevalent and often most significant source of wealth for American households,” unlocking it is frequently overlooked in retirement planning, according to a [new paper](https://corporate.vanguard.com/content/dam/corp/research/pdf/home_is_where_retirement_funding_is.pdf) by experts at Vanguard. By moving to a [market with less expensive homes](https://money.com/cities-most-home-listings-under-200000/), the typical older American could net $100,000 or more that could help [fund their retirement](https://money.com/save-for-retirement/). And in areas of the country where [housing prices are much less expensive](https://money.com/most-affordable-housing-market-world/), the [cost of living](https://money.com/hottest-housing-markets-relocate-highest-inflation/) is usually lower, so the cash you’d get from moving to a more affordable home will likely go further. ## Increase your income today with a Reverse Mortgage ### If you're 62 or older, work with a licensed Finance of America (NMLS# 2285) representative in your state today. [Learn More](https://money.com/pr/f9aaa98cdbb4?ap_referrer=%2Fmoving-retirement-cheaper-city-save-money%2F) ## What the research says When Americans 60 and older relocate, about 60% of them go somewhere with cheaper homes, the authors’ analysis of 2019 U.S. Census data shows. - Among those moving to more affordable housing markets, the typical person “extracts” about $100,000 of home equity. People moving out of particularly expensive cities can get much more when they relocate. - The study gives an example of a 65-year-old resident of Santa Clara, California, selling the average-priced home in the county and buying an average-priced home in Merced County, which is nearby but outside the Bay Area. That swap would net about $330,000 that could be put toward retirement, assuming no [mortgages](https://money.com/best-mortgage-lenders/) are involved. ## Bottom line The strategy described in the paper, "retire and relocate," won't be right for everyone. But if there's a more affordable market where you'd like to live during your post-work years, selling your home and moving could make it easier to retire earlier or more comfortably. ![](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/39553/medium_d01d803f-1110-4310-8997-bada342c27e4.webp) Get the most out of your Reverse Mortgage with Finance of America (NMLS# 2285) [Learn More](https://money.com/pr/ed1a928f8683?ap_referrer=%2Fmoving-retirement-cheaper-city-save-money%2F) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/moving-retirement-cheaper-city-save-money/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Retirement", "item": "https://money.com/retirement/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Retirement Planning", "item": "https://money.com/retirement-planning/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Moving to a Cheaper City Can Net You an Extra $100,000 in Retirement" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/moving-retirement-cheaper-city-save-money/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/moving-retirement-cheaper-city-save-money/", "name": "Moving to a Cheaper City Can Net You an Extra $100,000 in Retirement", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2023-03-01T20:40:15.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/moving-retirement-cheaper-city-save-money/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/moving-retirement-cheaper-city-save-money/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2025-08-28T15:22:43.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "Moving to a Cheaper City Can Net You an Extra $100,000 in Retirement", "articleSection": "Retirement", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2023/03/News-Affording-Retirement-Relocating.jpg", "width": 2880, "height": 1920, "caption": "News-Affording-Retirement-Relocating" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Pete Grieve", "url": "https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/#author", "description": "Pete Grieve is a personal finance reporter. 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