taxes better in NH or MA

[Valerie C]

Wow, where to begin... You may feel some "culture shock" when you arrive in New England. We moved from the St. Louis area back to New Hampshire, and it did take some time to get used to living here again (and we only lived in the midwest for 5 years!)

Somebody mentioned that you should consider NH due to its more rural feel, and that may be something to think about. HOWEVER, you'll need to remember that NH has much higher property taxes and excise (auto registration) tax, because they do not have an income or sales tax. So it would really depend on your personal situation.

Homeschooling is becoming more accepted than even a decade ago, and from what I understand there are many very active homeschooling groups, that will pool together. Here is a link (New Hampshire Homeschooling Coalition) that will tell you more. If you're looking for a more Christian-based homeschool group, I have contacts in both Mass. and New Hampshire that I can share with you.

As Professorsenator mentioned, most of the multi-ethnic communities will be much more liberal than the more rural areas, so you may have to chose which is most important to you. And regarding the French language, well, much of the French you will hear throughout New England will be French-Canadian (Canadian French?), sort of a "slangy-French". My daughter who is taking her 4th year of French, can barely understand a thing when we visit Quebec. This is especially true if you go to Maine, where many communities speak nearly exclusively French (Canadian French, that is). You can still go to the drugstore or card store and easily find greeting cards, books, etc printed in French.

I wish you all the best in your possible relocation to this area, and hopefully you're finding this forum a great place to get real answers from real people

[wickedripeplum]

I'm sorry for being kind of OT, but this is one of those subjects for me.

Quebecois is not slangy, it's a dialect. And yes, it does have many distinct differences from French French, mostly in vocabulary but in some structure too. That's why despite having a relatively small population francophone Quebec makes almost all of it's own television shows and (to a lesser extent) movies. Acadian French is the variety that more likely to be found in Maine (though Quebecois is also found) and up through the Maritime Provinces.

[Valerie C]

OK, point taken Now I don't know what the heck it is that all of my inlaws speak.... they're from Sherbrooke, QC... a slew of them relocated to the Biddeford/Saco area of ME, where I used to hear French spoken more than English. They themselves refer to it as "Canadian French".. All I know is that my kid who is learning what I assume to be Parisian French, can't understand half of what they are saying... Maybe she can take a class in Quebecois and/or Acadian French so she can understand what her relatives are saying to her

[holden125]

Originally Posted by Valerie C

All I know is that my kid who is learning what I assume to be Parisian French, can't understand half of what they are saying... Maybe she can take a class in Quebecois and/or Acadian French so she can understand what her relatives are saying to her

I had this problem when I had only taken 4 years of French in an US school myself, but then I went to France and it wasn't much better for me. The Québécois accent is different and there are different words in some cases, but the bigger issue is that without immersion it's hard to understand everything normal people are saying after even four years of classes. I had an easier time understanding trained voices on the TV or radio news, but people on the street speak fast and slur words together much more and it was a challenge. When I lived in Paris for a year I finally came to understand Parisian French as spoken by normal people but I found that my ability to understand Québécois French had similarly increased.

[wickedripeplum]

I couldn't agree more with holden125. When I lived in Quebec it took me very little time to get a decent hold on what people were saying in movies (especially French movies). Spoken conversation was a much bigger challenge and took considerably more time.

[gyppy]

As far as taxes...

If you work in MA and live in NH you will still have to pay MA income tax

There is no "income tax" if you work in NH, but there is a Dividends and Interest tax once you hit a certain level of earnings on these

There is no sales tax in NH

Property taxes are higher in NH

Registering your car and excise tax is higher in NH

Car insurance rates in NH are generally lower. MA car insurance is state-regulated and run differently than the rest of the country

[ChunkyMonkey]

Originally Posted by gyppy

Car insurance rates in NH are generally lower. MA car insurance is state-regulated and run differently than the rest of the country

Just to add that MA has just reformed the law and it is now slowly heading toward competitive rates.