While the best state to retire in the U.S. is also one of the smallest in the country, the worst state to retire is the largest.

Alaska ranks as the worst state in the U.S. to retire for the third year in a row, according to Bankrate’s study of the best states to retire in 2024.

To compile its list of the best and worst places to retire in the U.S., Bankrate ranked all 50 states across five weighted categories:

• Affordability (40%): Analyzes factors such as local and state sales taxes, cost of living and average annual property taxes
• Overall wellbeing (25%): Includes factors such as the number of adults over 62 per 100,000 residents and access to food and health care
• Quality and cost of health care (20%): Looks at factors such as the cost of health care at the state level and the performance of each state’s health system
• Weather (10%): Evaluates data on factors such as a state’s average annual temperature and average number of tornado strikes, earthquakes and hurricane landfalls
• Crime (5%): Examines factors such as the amount of property crimes and violent crimes per 100,000 residents

Bankrate analyzed datasets from a number of sources, including the Council for Community and Economic Research, the U.S. Census Bureau, the Tax Foundation and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Here are the 10 worst states to retire, according to Bankrate.

Notably, Alaska ranks last in the weather category. Although temperatures in Alaska can range from 45 degrees to 75 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer, they can sink as low as negative 10 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter.

Alaska can be an expensive place to live, especially for retirees with a fixed income. On average, the cost of living in Alaska is about 30% higher than the rest of the country, according to RentCafe. Housing costs are about 17% higher than the national average, and utilities and health-care expenses are both nearly 50% higher.

On the upside, Alaska can be a very tax-friendly location for retirees. The state doesn’t have income tax, estate taxes or inheritance taxes and doesn’t tax pension payments or retirement benefits from Social Security.

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Lack of affordability appears to be a common thread among the other low-ranking states on the list, which include New York, Washington and California — all known for being relatively pricey.

However, just because a state has a higher cost of living doesn’t necessarily mean you should write it off as a potential retirement destination. You may just need to plan to set aside more money for retirement than you would if you were planning to retire somewhere less expensive.

CNBC Make It’s retirement calculator can help you estimate how much you’ll need to save for retirement based on factors like your current age, savings, income and when you’d like to stop working.

And while living costs can be a key determinant in deciding where you may want to retire in the future, it’s also good to keep other non-financial aspects in mind. For example, access to social and community-building activities is an important, but often overlooked, consideration for retirees, according to Bankrate.

“Having that sense of community and human connection is huge to healthy aging,” Kerry Hannon, a retirement expert and Author of “In Control at 50+: How to Succeed in the New World of Work,” says in Bankrate’s study.

“Isolation and loneliness are not something you want to move toward, so look for your community,” she says.

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Deryl McKissack is no stranger to spotting toxic traits.

McKissack, 63, is the founder and CEO of Washington D.C.-based construction firm McKissack & McKissack, which she launched with $1,000 from her savings in 1990. She churned through employees who weren’t the right fit in her company’s early years and the business struggled, she says.

Finding the right talent helped grow her company, which now brings in $25 million per year in revenue, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It.

These three red flags stand out the most when McKissack is hiring employees or evaluating her current talent, she says.

Every boss needs to be able to trust their employees, McKissack says. People who lack integrity are a problem, especially managers who don’t give their teams proper credit.

Alarm bells go off in her head “if someone is saying ‘I did this’ the whole time, and they’re not giving credit to their team,” McKissack says.

McKissack isn’t the only person who says a lack of integrity is a red flag among employees: Heidi K. Gardner, a professional leadership advisor and distinguished fellow at Harvard Law School, similarly calls out workers who pass off other people’s work as their own. It’s unethical, and it gives off the impression that you don’t respect your colleagues, Gardner told Make It last year.

“Maybe they’re unable to actually see how much value the people around them bring to their own success,” she said. “And that inability to appreciate other people’s contributions is a huge red flag for me … It’s anti-collaborative.”

Nearly every team, no matter your industry, needs people who can work well with others. That’s difficult when your co-workers don’t like being around you, or vice versa.

McKissack says she needs to actually like her employees’ personalities, because if she doesn’t like to be around you, chances are, clients won’t either. “If I don’t want to be in their presence, then no one wants to be in their presence, usually” she says.

Having a warm, inviting personality at work can potentially take you farther in your career than your capabilities and credentials, self-made millionaire and entrepreneur Steve Adcock told Make It in April.

“Your personality will get you 10 times richer than your intelligence,” said Adcock. “I learned that throughout my career, slowly but surely. I worked with a lot of smart people, no doubt about it. But those smartest people in the office weren’t necessarily the ones getting the raises and promotions.”

McKissack has a three-word mantra for her business: humble, hungry, smart. She says she picked it up from author and business management expert Patrick Lencioni’s book, “The Ideal Team Player.”

“We have an insatiable appetite for success,” McKissack wrote on LinkedIn earlier this year. “Humility drives us to make decisions for the collective good … [and] we value emotional intelligence because we know that’s what builds strong relationships.”

Expecting employees to embody those three descriptors — humble, hungry, smart — turned McKissack’s firm into a workforce full of people dedicated to the same mission, rather than one that struggled with low employee engagement, she says.

They’re the “three virtues” of successful team players, according to Lencioni’s book.

“I kept saying, ‘We’ve been stagnant for years. Why am I stagnant?’” says McKissack. “But when I made that decision to make our mission larger than just what we do, bricks and mortar, but make it more about the betterment of mankind, is when we really started changing.”

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The pursuit of happiness — enshrined in the Declaration of Independence as one of our unalienable rights along with life and liberty — is in reality big and daunting. Sometimes, it can feel difficult to know where to start, especially when American culture and conventional wisdom tends to get it so wrong most of the time.

Having spent the last 10 years immersed in the science of happiness and writing my book “New Happy,” I know there are simple yet powerful, research-backed steps you can take to experience more happiness today. The more you practice, the more instinctive they’ll become. 

These five small steps, sprinkled throughout your day, have the potential to transform it. 

It’s far better to share your emotions with someone you trust than to keep your feelings to yourself, research shows. 

For example, sharing positive news with someone in your life can increase your own joy and give them a chance to experience it, too. If someone is there to hold your hand when you’re in pain, it reduces the intensity of your suffering. 

Pursuing meaningful goals is an integral part of living a happy life. But goals that feel overwhelming can lead people to procrastinate. 

Remind yourself that you don’t have to achieve your objective today; you can just move a little bit closer. Every action you take and every forward movement you notice can enhance the hope and motivation you feel.

Start small. Set a timer and say to yourself, “For the next 10 minutes, I’m going to do something that moves me toward my goals.” For example, if your goal is to start your own business, brainstorm potential names or products until the timer goes off. 

Helping other people is one of the most reliable and powerful ways to feel better. Kindness can positively affect your emotional and even physical well-being — lowering blood pressure and cortisol, a stress hormone. 

Take a moment to think about who in your life is having a hard time and what you might do to support them. It can be as simple as sending a text message, sharing a funny video, dropping off a meal, or inviting them to spend time together. 

The culture we live in, which I call Old Happy, teaches us that we need to do everything by ourselves. As a result, you might start to believe that asking for help means you’re “giving up” or “failing.” 

But it actually shows you’re committed to persevering, improving, and growing. When you’re struggling, consider who in your life has done what you’re trying to do and what type of support you need. Then reach out and ask for it. 

We wildly underestimate how much other people want to help us. Since performing acts of kindness makes people happier, you’re giving someone a chance to experience happiness, too. 

Thanks to our brain’s negativity bias and Old Happy’s cultural conditioning, it’s all too easy to focus on what we don’t have: the promotion we haven’t gotten, the item we want to buy, or the ways in which we don’t feel good enough. 

But studies show that the more you refocus your attention on what you do have, the more content you’ll be. So ask yourself: “What’s going right, right now?” 

There’s a lot to be thankful for: a helpful colleague, a chat with a good friend, a delicious meal, or a beautiful sunset. You just have to pause and notice it. 

Stephanie Harrison is the founder of The New Happy, an organization advancing a new philosophy of happiness. She is an expert in happiness, speaker, designer, and author of the book ”New Happy: Getting Happiness Right in a World That’s Got It Wrong.” Follow her on Instagram, TikTok and LinkedIn.

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The best state to retire in 2024 is also one of the smallest in the U.S.

At around 96 miles long and 35 miles wide, Delaware ranks as the No. 1 state to retire this year, according to Bankrate’s list of the best states to retire for 2024. Last year, it placed second behind Iowa on Bankrate’s list.

To compile the ranking, Bankrate analyzed data from several sources, including the Tax Foundation, the Council for Community and Economic Research, the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Bankrate evaluated all 50 states across five weighted categories:

• Affordability (40%): Includes factors such as cost of living and state and local sales tax rates
• Overall well-being (25%): Looks at factors such as the number of arts and entertainment centers and the number of adults over 62
• Quality and cost of health care (20%): Considers factors such as the number of health-care establishments and the cost of health care
• Weather (10%): Evaluates the average annual temperature and average number of tornado strikes, earthquakes and hurricane landfalls
• Crime (5%): Includes factors such as the number of violent crimes and property crimes

Here are the 10 best states to retire in 2024, according to Bankrate.

Iowa, last year’s No.1 state to retire, was knocked down to ninth place this year, mainly due to the rising cost of living in the state. Florida, often considered a retirement hotspot, placed eighth on Bankrate’s list for the second time in a row.

One of Delaware’s biggest potential perks for retirees is its tax benefits. The state does not tax benefits from Social Security and does not have an inheritance or estate tax. Delaware is also one of the few states with no local or state sales taxes.

However, Delaware ranked 20th for affordability, which may be a consideration for retirees who live on a fixed income.

The cost of living in Delaware is about 1% higher than the national average, but that can vary depending on which city you live in, according to RentCafe. The cost of living in Wilmington is about 4% higher than the national average, while Dover’s cost of living is about 2% lower, per RentCafe.

Remember, although a location’s affordability can be a significant factor when choosing where you want to retire, it is important to take numerous other personal factors into consideration as well. Ask yourself what kinds of activities you will want access to during retirement, the type of climate you most enjoy and whether you want to live close to your family.

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Holland America Line is offering travelers the chance to sail along the path of the 2026 total solar eclipse.

The cruise line is offering three trips that will put the ships in the “path of totality,” including one round-trip from Boston. That trip will depart on a 35-day Voyage of the Vikings: Solar Eclipse on July 18, 2026.

The 28-day Scandinavian Solar Eclipse trip starts on July 25, and departs from Dover, England, or Rotterdam with stops in Greenland and Scotland. The 13-day Mediterranean Solar Eclipse trip has an overnight stop in Barcelona and departs from Portugal on August 9.

The Voyage of the Vikings includes stops in Greenland, the Netherlands, Ireland, and Iceland. Travelers will see the solar eclipse off the western coast of Iceland before returning to the U.S.

Guests on the Scandinavian Solar Eclipse trip will have stops in Norway, Iceland, and more. They will view the eclipse off Iceland’s northwest coast.

The Mediterranean Solar Eclipse will travel to France, Italy, Montenegro, Spain, and more. Guests will get to enjoy the eclipse off the Spanish coast.

In addition to what might be considered a once-in-a-lifetime experience, the cruises will also feature activities like lectures and scientific specialists. Guests will be provided with eclipse glasses.

The expected August 12, 2026, eclipse is a total solar eclipse that will pass over the Arctic Ocean, Greenland, Iceland, the Atlantic Ocean, Portugal, and northern Spain, according to the National Solar Observatory.

While interested travelers will be able to book starting July 31, prices have not yet been announced.

Want to stop worrying about money? Sign up for CNBC’s new online course Achieve Financial Wellness: Be Happier, Wealthier & More Financially Secure. We’ll teach you the psychology of money, how to manage your stress and create healthy habits, and simple ways to boost your savings, get out of debt and invest for the future. Start today and use code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off through September 2, 2024.

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