Lowest cost of living- NV, NM, CO, or AZ?

[Sorcerer68]

I mostly don't trust statistics as I'm a Realtor and see them twisted to reflect whatever the poll wants. My informal poll revealed that New Mexico is the cheapest place to live.

[hagar2935]

I think that you need to broaden your choices.... NM is not a bad choice, but you need to speak fluent Spanish to assimilate well there. AZ is much less desireable for many reasons and costs are high there. NV has terrible crime and high costs as well despite no income taxes. CO is a BEAUTIFUL place but cost of living is high there.

You need to research the following:

1) Taxes

2) Crime

3) Effects of Illegal Alien population (adds to crime, etc)

4) Availablity of entertainment or thangs you enjoy doing (Gas is too expensive now for long-distance traveling!!!)

5) Quality of life ... (Air quality, water quality, etc.)

6) Weather

7) Overall costs of living

Look overseas as well, as there are many places that offer exceptional envirmonts for retirement. I have lived in Asia for a while and enjoyed it (But hard to get a decent steak there, hahaha). Try traveling for a while before you settle.

[olecapt]

Originally Posted by hagar2935

I think that you need to broaden your choices.... NM is not a bad choice, but you need to speak fluent Spanish to assimilate well there. AZ is much less desireable for many reasons and costs are high there. NV has terrible crime and high costs as well despite no income taxes. CO is a BEAUTIFUL place but cost of living is high there.

You need to research the following:

1) Taxes

2) Crime

Where did you get that. LV is moderate (middle third) on crime for cities over 100,000. Henderson is best 10%

3) Effects of Illegal Alien population (adds to crime, etc)

Illegals generally lower the CRIME RATE

4) Availablity of entertainment or thangs you enjoy doing (Gas is too expensive now for long-distance traveling!!!)

Nothing around reall beats Vegas on this...

5) Quality of life ... (Air quality, water quality, etc.)

6) Weather

That gets to be a question of heat tolerance. Vegas is hot

7) Overall costs of living

Vegas is better than the cost and big cities. Worse than the midwest.

Look overseas as well, as there are many places that offer exceptional envirmonts for retirement. I have lived in Asia for a while and enjoyed it (But hard to get a decent steak there, hahaha). Try traveling for a while before you settle.

Mexico works pretty well...Cabo, PV, Chapala. Like Americans there.

[tice88]

I'm already living in Las Vegas and within the next 5 years I'll also be retiring. Check out all possible sites. Of the 4 you mention only Nevada doesn't have a state income tax which is a ket factor when retiring. There are higher costs to Nevada, gas tax, sales tax etc, but there are plenty of sites to search and compare. If New Mexico is your choice Las Cruces was one I checked out. Im already 23 years in Las Vegas so start up costs aren't an issue.

[bradly]

Originally Posted by Roger1322

We have lived in many states, including Alaska and are now considering a move to New Mexico. I was born there and have a relative living in Santa Fe - EXPENSIVE! Albuquerque is nice but Hispanic gangs are rampant. One place not mentioned but extremely nice with a low cost of living is Ruidoso. We go there often and love it. Someone mentioned a high level of humidity in the summer in New Mexico - there is a bit in Carlsbad but it is very low elsewhere - New Mexico is actually a very dry state.

There arent to may gangs in albuquerque...not in the city limits anyways..too much rapid growth is changing everything.
i live there its beautiful, well protected great law enforcement and its awhole lot better than some people say, you have to live or spend a good year there to see how great the duke city really is.

And the humidity in new mexico is very low, dry heat. but this year we are gettin lots of rain

[hagar2935]

Here are my responses:

Originally Posted by olecapt

CRIME RATE:
Where did you get that. LV is moderate (middle third) on crime for cities over 100,000. Henderson is best 10%

I have LIved in Nevada for many years and THE CRIME RATE HAS BEEN GROWING EACH YEAR!

EFFECTS OF CRIME RATE BY ILLEGALS:
Illegals generally lower the CRIME RATE

WRONG! FBI statistics and many research groups have studied the effects of illegals and find that Indentity THeft, Theft of SS#'s, Gangs and street crimes actally RISE in areas where there is a high population of illegals! Hispanic Illegals are the largest and fastest growing percentage of prison populations and are there mostly for drug and violent crimes. I also lived near the border in Arizona and had to get a guard dog for my yard due to the hundreds of illegals going through my yard every night.

ENTERTAINMENT:
Nothing around reall beats Vegas on this...
Reno area is also very nice especially the nearby mountain areas.

True

WEATHER:
That gets to be a question of heat tolerance. Vegas is hot

True

COSTS OF LIVING:
Vegas is better than the cost and big cities. Worse than the midwest.

Yes but the costs of homes has been rising, while the rest of the country is declining. Reno is finally starting to decline a little, but Californians moving there keep home prices artifically high. Outlying areas are much better.

OVERSEAS LIVING:
Mexico works pretty well...Cabo, PV, Chapala. Like Americans there.

Lived in Mexico too. Cost of living is not too bad if you are willing to go "native" The people of Mexico are nicer than the ones that come here illegally, but stay away from anywhere close to Mexico City... worst place in the world! Government & Police Corruption, Drugs, Bribery, and maasive poverty are a way of life in Mexico, however. You MUST speak Soanish to along very well there, although many people speak some English in the tourist areas.

I lived in many places in Asia and especially liked the Philippines, where the people speak English and the cost of living is very low. But stay away from Manila ... almost as bad as Mexico City. The provinces are beautiful and the people are extremely friendly. Health care is very good with many doctors US trained. Was in the Hospital for surgery in Cebu for almost 7 days in a private air conditioned room... total costs for doctors, surgeons, anethesiaologists, hospitals and prescriptions was under $3,000.00.

Pros: Fluent English spoken everywhere, Nice climate (85 degrees 365 days a year), beautiful beaches, low cost of living, beautiful & friendly people. McDonalds, KFC, and other US fast food available most places. Americans are very well liked. THe joke about Philippine Airlines symbol (PAL) is that it means Plane Always Late

Cons: restrictions on foreigners retiring there (can be got around), Only Filipinos can own land, some corruption at local levels, Huge poverty levels in major cities.

[olecapt]

US Crime peaked in the early 90s and has generally trended lower ever since.

See,,,

http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/uscrime.htm

Nevada peaked in the early 90s and has also trended down since. About 40% lower now then in the early 90s.

see....

Nevada Crime Rates 1960 - 2006

There have been no FBI statistics on illegal immigrant crime. There are some made up numbers by right include some absolutely fictious numbers.

The mass of the available documentation suggest that crime is lower among immigrants groups. Nothing has contadicted that view other than right wing wishes.

I agree that Mexico City is not a retirement destination.

[guinnessjim]

Originally Posted by hagar2935

NM is not a bad choice, but you need to speak fluent Spanish to assimilate well there.

so not true.

i am from new mexico....very rarely have i have i ever run into a situation where speaking fluent spanish was a must.

maybe out in the country (again, not in my experience), but definitely not in any of the cities.

[augustina]

Originally Posted by nevada49

I found this discussion useful, as I have had my heart set on retiring in Reno/Sparks area, but prices are out of sight. I would have to work a few more years to afford it, but don't really want to do that. I had just started to consider Northern New Mexico, so I am now sending for real estate info on adult communities in that area. Thanks for all the good info from all you posters.

Northern New Mexico is expensive in Santa Fe, Taos. I have lived here for years. Be careful if you go to small mountain villages. Chama is very remote, but about 60 miles from Pagosa Springs. Cold winter - can be 30 below. Not this winter tho.

[milesman]

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