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Old 04-06-2019, 08:39 PM
 
11 posts, read 10,834 times
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I'm currently living in Scottsdale, AZ and thinking about moving to southern NM to be closer to family. I have been to Las Cruces a couple of times and really like the beautiful Organ mountains and the fact it is about 7 degrees cooler than the PHX valley temps on average. Housing prices are affordable there but they also tend to stay on the market much longer if you need to sell. Other things of concern: NM always gets put near the bottom of the list for crime among all the states. I read, however, that LC is actually pretty safe. Also, NM did not rate well for taxation on retirees since it still taxes social security. Just curious to get other viewpoints of those that live there if the issue of crime or retiree taxation is a major concern while living there. Thanks.
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Old 04-07-2019, 09:26 AM
 
Location: New Mexico U.S.A.
26,527 posts, read 51,518,771 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bosco777 View Post
Also, NM did not rate well for taxation on retirees since it still taxes social security. Just curious to get other viewpoints of those that live there if the issue of crime or retiree taxation is a major concern while living there. Thanks.
We have lived in New Mexico now for 20 years. I have lived in 11 U.S. States and a few foreign countries. We have been in New Mexico longer than any other state...

I asked my wife about tax on Social Security. Her reply was "It's not a big deal". We are both retired. We both pay tax on Social Security. "It's not a lot"...

Here are the larger threads which get into "Tax Issues"
New Mexico lowest property taxes in the nation
Property Taxes - The Reality
New Mexico Tax Lightning Property Tax
What taxes do you have?
New Mexico Tax Rates

Some trivia:

Quote:
5. New Mexico: being 100 pays off

New Mexico qualifies as a state that respects its elders. Turning 100 gets you more than a big party thrown by your family—it also gets you exempt from state taxes. As long as you’ve been in the state for six months, are a resident on December 31 and aren’t listed as a dependent on someone else’s return, the state figures that by that point in your life, you’ve already paid the state enough.
From: https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips...laws/L4qENY2nZ
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Old 04-07-2019, 09:40 AM
 
Location: Alamogordo, NM
7,940 posts, read 9,415,014 times
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I'm not yet retired so I don't have any real-world application on being taxed in retirement with my Social Security income, but, as far as crime goes, I live in Alamogordo, NM. Crime is here in Alamogordo, but, if you're smart about locking up your car, or, better yet, if you have a garage to put your car in, you'll be fine.

This place is as close to Mayberry, RFD, that you can find. In fact, except for Albuquerque, New Mexico is a fairly safe state to live in. It is wide open with lots of empty spaces out in its country parts, too. I'd get out of Scottsdale and move over to New Mexico.

The only knock on this place is this: if you like to go to country or rock concerts, there's not much here for you. My wife and I attended a rock show that had some good musicians, but it wasn't the Eagles themselves. Of course, Glenn Frey is dead. Don Henley, Timothy B. Schmidt and Joe Walsh are still alive, however. The band was called Hotel California, and many of the players in that band are musicians and producers. They're good - when they were joined by this large bearded guy who played saxophone the crowd cheered loudly. The show was at a performing hall called The Flickinger Center. Clint Black played there in 2014, I believe the year was. John Conlee "Because a common man is what I'll be" just played there. "I'm a common man, drive a common van, my doggy got a Pedigree..."

But, if you decide to locate in Las Cruces or Alamogordo, you'll need ta be prepared to travel some long distances to see recording artists. One time my wife and I went to the Inn of the Mountain Gods in Mescalero, NM, to go see George Thorogood and his Delaware Destroyers. Wow - great show, and, what's more, my wife and I got in scot-free! No kidding, we waited in line and, when we got up to the conceirge desk, I said I wanted two tickets. The man behind the counter said "Here ya go," as he shoved the tickets along the counter toward me. I picked them up - indeed, two tickets to the show.

"What? You're giving us these?"

"Yeah. They were given away on a radio show and the people that won them didn't show up to pick 'em up."

"Wow, thank you!" Their retail value was $54 apiece for a total of $108. And believe me, George Thorogood rocks the house. No kidding. It was a great rock show.

No, New Mexico is a fantastic place ta live. Perhaps a retiree or two can chime in on the taxation of retirees and how it affects their pocketbook directly. I'm going to retire here and I'm not going to let that little fact stop me. Or keep me in the Valley of the Sun, Phoenix, AZ. Yikes.

And spikes.
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Old 04-07-2019, 02:23 PM
 
138 posts, read 143,331 times
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I'm moving to Alamogordo from Missouri. One of the things I looked at when it first came up was taxation. When I looked the first time, taxes in New Mexico were a little higher. Income taxes. Sales taxes were slightly higher, too (state - local was a little lower). But property taxes were lower and so was cost of living. I estimated it as approximately a wash, maybe slight advantage Alamogordo.


Since then this state has decided to tax less on some things and drop taxes completely on some others. So now the tax difference would be more significant.


But you know what? I'm moving anyway. I don't make decisions solely on taxes. Even if the cost of living was the same and my taxes went up a little, I'd still go. Because I want to, and I calculated what that will mean.


I'd already figured in the cost of New Mexico. That hasn't changed. What's changed is a lowering of where I am on the tax side of things. But crime here is far, far worse. Plus I've never wanted to live in this area of the country. (I thought I got away from it once. But a freak of nature - a volcano - had the Air Force deciding to do me "a favor" by sending me back where I came from so I'd have familial support. Wish they'd have asked me before deciding to be "nice" like that.) The cost of living keeps increasing here while the services from the city keep getting worse. As always, they promise to "fix" them, which always ends up costing me more.



No, New Mexico is where I'm headed. Unless something happens and the housing market crashes. In which case I'll keep visiting and look for the right time to try again if I don't get too old first.
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Old 04-07-2019, 05:34 PM
 
11 posts, read 10,834 times
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I saw Thorougood and the Destroyers about 10 years ago in Knoxville, TN. It was one of those free outdoor shows on the mall so it was packed and hard to get beer. Great show and love their style of music. I'm more into classic rock and the most recent concerts I saw back in Knoxville were Alice Cooper and Lou Reed. Both were excellent and glad to have seen Lou before he passed away.

Las Cruces sounds good. When I was there it seemed like you don't have to drive far to get anywhere in the city. Scottsdale is a lot smaller than PHX but it still has about 15 interstate exits.
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Old 04-09-2019, 05:20 PM
 
11 posts, read 10,834 times
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Thanks, Poncho. I'm still getting used to this forum and finding my original post. I guess in the overall scheme of things taxation of SS is low on the list of factors for deciding where to move. I will probably do a road trip and explore some other retirement areas in NM as well as Cruces. Think the best thing to do first is rent for a short while to see if will be okay. Hard to find condos or apartments to rent in many of these smaller towns. Outside ABQ is probably the best place to find an apartment or condo to rent.
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Old 04-09-2019, 06:51 PM
 
Location: Sacramento Mtns of NM
4,280 posts, read 9,104,573 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bosco777 View Post
Hard to find condos or apartments to rent in many of these smaller towns. Outside ABQ is probably the best place to find an apartment or condo to rent.

Do a search on AirBnB in Las Cruces, or wherever else you're interested in.


Here's a really unique place that popped up.



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Old 04-10-2019, 12:17 AM
 
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A home made out of shipping crates lol. Maybe I will make a condo out of storage pods! Might have a look at that Airbnb. Used them when I went to Spain for several months.
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