[Happygolucky]

Hey Everyone, I have some friends that are looking to retire here in our great City.

Can you give some encouragement to them so they would consider Omaha,Ne?

They live in California right now, and do not like the severe weather we get, but I told them that it is no big deal.

Any help would be great.

[downthathighway]

I think I can offer some opinions, being 'new' to Omaha, after 35 years away.
1) Climate- You can't lie, it's rarely moderate- hard summers and winters, but its not boring!
2) Quality Of Living- Wonderful, most areas very crime free, people are very friendly and trusting. I was surprised not to have to 'pay first' at most gas stations. Midwest family values excel here, seems like a great area to raise a family. However, they're retired...
3) Cost of living- Housing is reasonable, and property values do still increase some. The economy here is in much better shape than most of California and other populous states.
4) Taxes- Sorry, but there is both a sales and income tax, highest sales tax is in the cities here, Sales Tax-7%, and Omaha's mayor is lobbying for 2% more on restaurants, hotel, etc. . State law puts some greed here- state collects 5.5%., allows a city to collect another 1.5% max. Omaha has annexed out another 7-8 miles and absorbed another town just to collect the sales tax revenue from a new Wal-Mart.Income tax- about 5.1% 1st $30k, then 6.9% above that. BEWARE- Nebraska is one of only 9 states that taxes Social Security benefits, CA does not. All Pensions are taxable, except railroad pensions.
Property tax- millage rates are among the highest in the country, for no apparent reason.(where does it get spent?) BUT there is a homestead exemption, up to about $100k value, graduated by income- if income below $25k= 100%. Estate/Inheritance tax- Nebraska does tax inheritance/estates.
For tax savings and climate, better choices would be Texas or Florida, neither has income or estate taxes. Tennessee has no income tax except on dividends, they do have an inheritance/estate tax.
It's up to that couple to make their choice. If they have property in CA, it may take awhile or a big loss in equity to sell, though they can get much more house for the $ here. Tax wise, for a fixed income, well, maybe Nebraska is not the best choice. Estate wise, same thing- assets would be better protected from estate taxes in TX or FLA.
I am not retired, transferred here with my job. Nebraska is 'home', I always wanted to return here. But had I done some research, maybe not. I took a pay cut moving here from TN, since I now pay Income taxes.
Can't say I regret the move, so this post is NOT meant to be negative. But, I do plan to move from NE in the next year or so, and will do more research this time!

[ehenningsen]

I want to throw some math at you here regarding taxes....

In Omaha the average citizen made $4,200 above the national average in 2006 and the cost of living is 12% below the national average..

AFTER the cost of living (includes taxes) is factored into wages, the average citizen of Omaha has the #2 highest buying power in the US..

In Omaha the houses are bigger with bigger lots and is much cheaper to furnish and maintain your yards and the city is seeing an explosion of upper-class establishments due to the national chains realizing that people in Omaha can afford this type of living.

I am in San Diego now staying across the street from the Old Towne District staying in the Hacienda Best Western Suites, and don't get me wrong the city in areas is very nice! But in two days I have seen FAR more homeless people than I have seen in all of my days in Omaha combined..

Things to do... Major events are increasingly common at the Qwest Center as Omaha is becoming known as a great place to put on a show as people pay to go!

Ranks in the top #20 in the world for concert ticket sales
Olympic Swimming Trials, 2008 Mens Basketball NCAA regionals, 2006 and 2008 NCAA Womens Volleyball Final Four, Dancing with the stars, American Idol, WWE comes twice a year, Blue Man Group comes by, Hairspray and other well-known performing Arts shows and ETC...

There is alot to do here now and the number of things to do keep increasing, there are miles and miles and miles of biking/walking paths there is both a Cabelas and Bass Pro Shop and a Camping World, there are casino's, there is one of the liveliest local music scenes in the nation that is becoming very well known and respected and a great variety along with it.

There is a nationally known Opera House, A brand-new World Class Performing Arts Center, there is an Independant Films theater here as well.

Also there is going to be soon a new 2,000 seat theater/club that is going to be built right next to the new Saddle Creek Records Headquarters and the Nationally famous Slowdown and now 'The Matt' has just opened and is suppose to be very nice.

You can't go wrong with dining, shopping, leisure as there are more golf courses per capita than any large city in the US as well as many other parks that range from kiddie parks to state parks nearby..

There's the World-famous Henry Doorly Zoo that also has a Wildlife Safari drive-through near Ashland which is another big thread on neat stuff to do..

Sports.. Well there are many minor league sports to go with Creighton and UNO which will account to have a Division I category in just about every known sport except football which the Cornhuskers claim absolute state domination in that category, but that is only a 25-45 minute drive to Lincoln depending on which side of Omaha you will stay in..

Vehicles, well if you want a Lamborghini specific dealer you will be very unhappy, otherwise you have everything else here including BMW, Mercedes Benz dealers, Mini Coopers and etc..

Crime is on the low end, and it usually is when a city is able to provide major economic opportunities to its citizens, not only good paying jobs and a low cost of living, but education here is very strong and is praised.. As a matter of fact President Bush praised our Community College on his 9th visit here, and our Community College is one of several reckognized colleges and universities that include, UNMC (University of Neb Medical Center) a big-time medical research hospital that is building tower after tower in midtown, Creighton University I believe is in their tenth or so year as being the top university in the midwest, UNO has a great IT and other areas of study...

Jobs, okay here we go... We are currently under a nearly $1 billion dollars of medical facilities upgrade and expansion and we were already a well-known Regional/national Medical City, Google is building a Data Center in CB and just bought another 1,000 acres for god knows what, Gallup is going to be doubling their size here shortly, Union Pacific has moved their Corp headquarters to Omaha from Dallas TX, Pacific Life has established a Regional Headquarters recently and we are suppose to hear an announcement some time about relocating their national headquarters here, we have 5 fortune 500companies that have their corporate headquarters within the city limits which only 15 cities in america can claim that. Paypal moved their operations center from the San Jose area to La Vista, Stratcom (space command center) moved here with several expansions and drew several space related jobs here as well as several defense contractors here. And that is just off the top of my head..

Lakes with beaches and camping, rivers and streams are all over the place and this is a good fishing and outdoors area...

Omaha is probably near completely different from 20 years ago let alone 35...
I am only just beginning to scratch the surface as to what has gone on hear the last few years...

Good luck on your search!!

[kosnebbear]

Just tell them that the weather here is no big deal. Just look at the news reports about all of the severe weather and they can see that Nebraska is rarely even mentioned. Guess we just don't have as many people to get in the road of the severe weather and we have learned to just live with it. Just like they have learned to live with the earth quakes and wild fires in California.

They might like a community that is between Omaha and Lincoln so that they can always go to a major city yet be able to get away from the major city scene like they may have in California.

Either way I for one want to welcome them to Nebraska truely a place that can and will grown on you no nmatter where you live.

[Happygolucky]

Well they actually used to live in Fairbury, Ne long long time ago ( they are kind of elderly) and got out of touch with the Nebraska ways. YOu know what I mean.

Living in Cali will do that to a person. I guess they like earthquakes more than slippery streets and wind. Thanks for the help guys, I send them the links.

[ostargazer]

I think if I were -retiring- ... I'd probably point them in the direction of the Sun City communities northwest of Phoenix. My parents live there and they absolute love it... entirely self sustaining cities of retired people. They have these 'strip malls' of activities for the residents. You go in one door... and you're in the wood working club... another door... the model railroad club... another door... the sewing club. Work out clubs/pools... are as densely placed as Walgreens... and then of course there's the golfing... courses everywhere... all accessible with one membership. The residents drive golf carts everywhere (you have to look out for them! of course the driving down there with so many old people can be an adventure!)

But, until I retire... I'll stay right here in Nebraska... and enjoy the good life.