Advice needed PLEASE !!!!!!

[teleblazer]

Originally Posted by M&LReady2Retire

Thank you RewardGal!!!!! After posting last evening I began looking at houses and you are correct......too expensive. It's very helpful also to hear your suggestion that it may not be the best place to retire. Honestly we were also looking at Pennsylvania and Georgia. But I wanted imput on Maryland as well so thank you again

If home costs are important you can get a lot more for your money in parts of PA than in MD. I advocate for MD as a great place to live but you will pay for living in the nice areas and having the decent neighborhoods, nevermind the school systems.

ANother poster mentioned western maryland and west virginia, those are awesome options for retirement. The most western part of Maryland isn't outrageous in prices yet and offers a lot of calming scenery perfect for sitting on the porch and enjoying life slowly. We had a neighbor (when I lived in Southern MD) who built a second home in Western Maryland and he loves "getting away from it all".

Just my 0.02 cents worth. Good luck on your search

[Rmx Christina]

I live in Westminster....love it love it....Even though there is much shopping, you can't find a whole lot of places with the local butcher shop, the local orchard...right now there is pick-your-own strawberries....

I used to live in Howard County and life was pretty fast paced....

here, if I go to Home Depot or Lowe's...the people there are really friendly ...

you can get more land for your dollar and nice and new homes....
they have a newer 55+ condiminium with nice amenities as well

[mekka]

Low cost of homes lots of space and very laid back.

[LEIZURELIFESTYLE]

Originally Posted by Grandma239

Hi kbw21862,

In a post a few days ago, I inquired about Ocean Pines as a good retirement location. It seems like it's got lots of amenities and activities, plus being close to the beach. However, I've heard of possible mold problems. Do you have any information on that, or is that just an unfounded rumor? Thanks!

Some Ocean Pines homes were built years ago as simple vacation homes and owners hadn't bothered to pay attention to keeping moisture and some of the elements like rain and condensation build up out or make necessary repairs and improvements to a place they used on weekends or once a month, etc. When they decided to sell and pass these issues onto buyers in the past 'hot real estate market' it was the discovery of these conditions by inspections, etc. that may have made these situations more known.
Some new home builders have found out the hard way that their building practices needed to be revamped to discourage conditions that enable mold growth during and after the building process. Good thing the MD RE Contracts are written so to protect and notify home buyers to be aware of 'local' conditions.
Its often 'damp conditions' when you live near the ocean and bays but if you are careful and vigilant of those conditions which encourage mold growth, you can still enjoy the wonderful living conditions in a resort area like Ocean Pines.

[CurlyLocks]

Originally Posted by mekka

Low cost of homes lots of space and very laid back.

umm where are the low cost homes? you can't even buy a falling down shack for under 200,000

[E&MFlorida]

Originally Posted by hokiejane

M&L,

This isn't something I've looked into since I'm not near retirement age, but I have friends who are. Just last week one of them told me that Maryland is the LAST place you want to retire for tax reasons. They are planning on moving from Bel Air, MD 15 miles north into Pennsylvania when they retire where they'll apparently save a boatload of money on taxes.

Perhaps you've looked into this already, but I just thought I'd mention it. Wish I could be more specific. If I talk to them again soon, I'll ask exactly what the tax issue is.

<edit>

I just found the following article which may explain why PA is more "retirement-friendly" than MD...

Taxes by State

Retirement Income Taxes

Under federal law, taxpayers may be required to include a portion of their Social Security benefits in their taxable adjusted gross income (AGI). Most states begin the calculation of state personal income tax liability with federal AGI, or federal taxable income. In those states, the portion of Social Security benefits subject to personal income tax is subject to state personal income tax unless state law allows taxpayers to subtract the federally taxed portion of their benefits from their federal AGI in the computation of their state AGI.

Many states exclude Social Security retirement benefits from state income taxes. The District of Columbia and 26 states with income taxes provide a full exclusion for Social Security benefits -- Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Virginia.

The remaining 15 states with broad-based income taxes tax Social Security to some extent:

Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, and West Virginia tax Social Security income to the extent it is taxed by the federal government.
Connecticut, Iowa, Montana and Wisconsin tax Social Security income above an income floor. Iowa will gradually phase out its Social Security tax levy from 2008 through 2014. Wisconsin will fully exclude Social Security beginning in tax year 2008.

Colorado, New Mexico and Utah require that federally untaxed Social Security benefits be added back to federal AGI to calculate the base against which their broad age-determined income exclusions apply.
States are prohibited from taxing benefits of U.S. military retirees if they exempt the pensions of state and local government retirees. Most states that impose an income tax exempt at least part of pension income from taxable income. Different types of pension income (private, military, federal civil service, and state or local government) are often treated differently for tax purposes.

States are generally free from federal control in deciding how to tax pensions, but some limits apply. State tax policy cannot discriminate against federal civil service pensions. Ten states exclude all federal, state and local pension income from taxation. These include Alabama, Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New York and Pennsylvania. Among these 10 states, only Kansas taxes any Social Security income, but only to the extent it is subject to federal taxation. These 10 states differ on the taxation of retirement income from private-sector sources. Kansas and Massachusetts do not exclude any private-sector retirement income, but most of the others allow a fairly broad exclusion. Pennsylvania allows a full exclusion. Alabama excludes income from defined benefit plans. Hawaii excludes income from contributory plans. Illinois and Mississippi exclude income from qualified retirement plans. Louisiana, Michigan and New York cap the private-sector exclusion at $6,000, $34,920 and $20,000, respectively.

Five states (California, Connecticut, Nebraska, Rhode Island, and Vermont) allow no exemptions or tax credits for pension and other retirement income that is counted in federal adjusted gross income. Most in-state government pensions are taxed the same as out-of-state government pensions. However, Arizona, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, New York, and Oklahoma provide greater tax relief plans than they do for out-of-state government pension plans. The District of Columbia also provides greater tax relief for DC government pensions than for state government pensions.

Three states (New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania) do not allow IRA contributions to be deducted from taxable income. Of the three, only Pennsylvania does not tax IRA earnings of taxpayers age 59 ½ years or older, since earnings are treated like pension income, which is tax exempt.

If I understand the article correctly, would the first $22,000 of pension income received from a private company be exempt from Maryland income tax? Thanks for your help.