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It seems like every time you go online or open a magazine, there's a new ranking of the ideal places to live or retire. Money magazine just came out today with its annual list of " America's Best Places to Live," featuring what it deems the 50 best small towns in the nation at any stage of life. (No. 1: Sharon, Mass.)

Then there's Forbes, AARP and Topretirements.com, which compile their favorite retirement locales in the country. International Living picks its top spots for retiring abroad. And the Milken Institute selects the "best cities for successful aging."

Other lists let you pinpoint retirement sites more narrowly. Looking for the lowest taxes? Try Sioux Falls, S.D., or Stafford, Texas. Want to live a long life? Think Story County, Iowa, or Carver County, Minn. Prefer to retire on the water? Consider Lewes, Del.

Rankings Change a Lot in a Year

Oddly, some of the raters' annual lists vary dramatically from year to year. Money's 25 Best Places to Retire for 2012 had only six locations in common with its 2011 ranking. Did its ideal retirement locales really change so much so quickly?

( MORE: What 'The End of the Suburbs' Means to Boomers)

After quickly reading through recent lists, I've counted more than 200 "best places to retire," and there's at least one in every state.

There are a few powerful reasons why you see all these lists. Readers love them, and the rankings help sell magazines and attract online readers.

But can they really tell you where you should retire? I'm dubious.

What's Wrong With 'Best Places' Lists

The problem with these lists is that they're typically based on broad geographic statistics, such as home prices, cost of living, state and local taxes, the availability of medical care, public transportation, and weather and crime rates. While the data might measure factors that are important to consider when choosing a place to retire, other criteria that can't be quantified may well be more important to you.

( MORE: The Best Cities for Boomers to Pre-Retire)

The best way to decide where you should retire is to find the place that best meets your needs and circumstances, however you define them.

To do that, ask yourself the following questions:

Do you want to be near friends and family? Will you be taking care of aging parents? If yes, will you need to be close by? Do you have hobbies or interests that play into where you'd want to live? Will you work during retirement? If so, will the location matter to you? (If you'll transition to a part-time schedule for your current job, you may need to retire near or exactly where you live now.

In addition, says Margaret Dyer-Chamberlain, senior research scholar at the Stanford Center on Longevity (SCL), "the most important factors for you might include the physical structure of your home, the layout of your immediate neighborhood and the services offered by your surrounding community - all factors that can't be captured by general statistics."