Advice needed PLEASE !!!!!! (Columbia, Frederick, Hagerstown: credit, military, condo)

[M&LReady2Retire]

Hi everyone! My husband & I are interested in finding out about "nice" places to retire to in Maryland. We would be retiring so schools are not important. We just want to live somewhere that isn't too big but still has shopping nearby but not too nearby, if you know what I mean....30-45 min away (w/o traffic) is what I'm thinking so we feel we are not "in the city" but can get to a hospital or shopping when necessary. So if ANYONE has some cities to advise us on we would appreciate it. I was reading someone else's post to someone about suggestions then my computer crashed on me. I logged onto a different one and joined this site. The cities I was reading about as possibilities were: FREDERICK, CARROLL, TANEYTOWN, LAKE LINGANORE, BOONSBORO, ELDERSBURG, SABILLASVILLE, EMMITSBURG, MANCHESTER, UNION BRIDGE, NEW WINDSOR. There was a comment made about WESTMINISTER that I believe may have been a typo--- the person was responding that Westminister would NOT be recommended by them...then the person responded saying that they would definately check out Westminister so I was hoping for some clarification on whether Westminister is a nice place to retire or not as well.

Thanks anyone who has time to respond! We appreciate it!

[RoadTripGurl]

Those are all nice cities... However I personally wouldn't choose MD to retire in. it will be expensive and overcrowded much like NJ in the near future. Good luck.

[rewardgal]

Hi - Being Maryland born and having lived in the state my entire life I can say that all these places could be fine for retirement depending upon how much you can afford to spend for housing. Also some are located quite a distance from larger hospitals and shopping malls.

My husband and I plan to retire within the year and will probably relocate to either western Maryland (unlikely) or West Virginia or Pennsylvania. Maryland is very expensive to live in and while the services offered are good you are guaranteed to be taxed to the hilt for them (no break for retirees). With the influence of government contracts, the biogenetics industry and the huge armed forces sector the area has been almost immune from economic disaster and continues to grow at an alarming rate. Traffic is unbelievable everywhere east of Hancock, MD!

We would very much like to live in a couple of the towns you mentioned but we cannot find a modern, newer (not older) home for under $400,000 which will not need major renovation etc. and has convenient shopping, large hospital etc., big highway nearby for commuting to see relatives and getting to an airport for travel. We could probably find a condo that meets the price but we want a single family home in a suburban area with a pretty view of hills or mountains etc.

Remember too that buying a home and not caring about the local schools is fine for you but hurts eventually in resale value. Some of our more rural counties have very small, almost independent school systems and are very different from the big systems highly touted in state promotional literature (I know since I work for one of the big systems!) Good school systems draw business and help the local economy and in turn support the local tax structure. [Stepping off the lecturn!]

Maryland is a truly beautiful state with mountains (big hills) in the west and oceanside resorts in the east and the most beautiful bay in the world but it is generally not a place people are drawn to retire without other reasons.

I would highly advise coming down for a week and staying in a couple of places to get the feel of the area. Most of these towns have web sites and you can order materials from the state if you haven't already. I really don't mean to discourage you from considering Maryland for retirement because you may have the means to buy wherever and in that case, come down and look around!

[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

[fiestachic]

Have you thought about the Eastern Shore? It is beautiful! It does have some downfalls, but for a place to retire to I think it would be nice. I don't think houses are as expensive over there, but don't hold me to it. It's worth checking out though!

[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...

http://www.retirementliving.com/RLtaxes.html

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.

[kbw21862]

If you are looking to retire to Maryland you should look into the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Ocean Pines is a great community about 10 minutes from Ocean City and is a lovely place to retire.

[Grandma239]

Originally Posted by kbw21862

If you are looking to retire to Maryland you should look into the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Ocean Pines is a great community about 10 minutes from Ocean City and is a lovely place to retire.

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!

[Alli]

If you want to consider MD, you should look at Hagerstown or the Eastern Shore. I am a native Marylander who now lives in CO and I am looking for a place to retire. I have good friends who have retired in Hagerstown and it much cheaper there than in the Frederick area. PA is probably cheaper, but the winter weather can be a problem. Good luck.

[SuzP]

My husband works for PF Summers homebuilders. Calvert County is wonderful, has the Pax River and Solomon's Island area, so near water/on water. You could look into the Myrtle Point Community there, go to the shopping in St. Mary's, out to seafood dinners, boating, golf etc. There is a small airport there as well.