The Gray Peril Mentality and the Impact of Retirement Migration

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Abstract
I explore the idea that retirement migration has a negative impact on the receiving community and state, asserting that there is a cultural notion, a combination of xenophobia and ageism, that could be called the gray peril mentality. This mentality assumes a negative impact of retirement migration in the absence of scientific documentation. I review the research literature for such a negative impact, but find none. I use the counterstream migration between Florida and New York as a case study of assumed negative impact. I suggest research strategies that would verify migration's economic impact. Finally, there is an appeal either to document the gray peril or to change and eliminate the stigma it imposes on older migrants.