Deciding where to retire can be as important as planning when to retire. After all, your retirement destination determines how much you'll need to pay in taxes, what your living costs will be and what kind of health care options you'll have. And all those factors contribute to the big retirement-planning question: How much money do you need to retire?

The answer in many of the following states is: a lot. We ranked all 50 states for retirement based on financial factors critical to retirees including living expenses, tax situations, health care costs, household incomes, poverty rates and the economic wellness of the state itself, as well as the health status of seniors there. And the bottom of our rankings were littered with high-cost and high-tax areas.

Of course, your decision of where to retire will depend on more than just financial matters. In fact, the top reason people move in retirement is to be closer to family, according to a survey by Merrill Lynch and Age Wave, a research firm focused on the aging population. No matter the reason, if you decide to retire in one of these 20 states, be sure your retirement nest egg is big enough to underwrite your choice.

20. Alaska

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Population: 736,855

Share of population 65+: 9.4% (U.S.: 14.5%)

Cost of living: 32% above U.S. average

Average income for 65+ households: $59,230 (U.S.: $53,799)

Average health care costs for a retired couple: Above average at $467,743 (U.S.: $423,523)

Tax rating for retirees: Most Tax Friendly

The Last Frontier is the last place most people would choose as a retirement destination. In fact, only 69,305 people in the whole state are age 65 and older--making it the smallest population of seniors in the country. The folks who do brave retiring in Alaska do well, though. They pay no state income or sales tax, and eligible residents get paid an annual dividend check from the state's oil wealth savings account just for living there. In 2017, the payment was $1,100 per person.