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They circle the wagons in Columbia? In the research that I have done, the area between Columbia, Spartanburg, and Greenville has a great COL, similar in cost to north central Florida or the Florida panhandle. The annual vehicle registration fee tax does disturb me though. In PA there is a flat fee every year, which I believe is $58.50.
OP, probably not on your screen right now, but WA has no state income tax, sales tax around 8%, car tags are cheap, based on weight, smaller cars the annual renewal is about $50 all in.
Of course, a state that does have an income tax, but has a standard deduction large enough that you don't pay the tax, given your sitch, is for all practical purposes the same as no income tax.
In general the no-income tax states, WA, TX, FL, TN, what are the rest of them - tend to be reliably good low COL places, and IMHO all 4 have (at least parts of them) favorable climates.
At least, leaving NY, you have no place to go but better/cheaper!
OP
I like what some of the others have suggested about staying close to family members you like or at least close enough to make it a short day trip at most. Nothing worse than moving far from home and having no family/friends around especially at holiday time.
SC and FL are quite different, not only in weather but amenities. Remember SC is still considered a rural state, is this on your must have list? Summers in SC are hot! But summers in FL are LONG and HOT!
I'd make a list of must haves and keep doing your research.
What would be wrong with just spending a few months in each location before moving to get more of a feel of the places on your list? It's certainly not the same as living there but it might help make the decision easier.
For us, we started with states with no income tax (same situation with NY Pensions that were not taxable in NY).
We wanted a college town for vibrancy.
We wanted a town with substantial medical facilities, also for diversity and vibrancy.
Environment was an important consideration. Four seasons. Some (little) snow. Outdoor activities...hiking, swimming, skiing...
BIG factor was humidity...I hate it.....so you have to stay on the west side of the mountains. NC, GA, SC...and of course FLA, are very hot and soakingly stuffy from May to September...can't stand that, so they didn't make the cut.
ALL states get their revenue...just from different sources. Take a look at the number of state employees per 10,000 population. NY is HUGE; Tennessee, for example, is a fraction of that. It means the demand for tax revenue is way lower. More efficient if you will. But, again, for example, Tennessee taxes home construction whereas NY gives you a capital improvement exclusion. 9 1/2% sales tax on a $200,000 home is a good chunk of change. Tennessee also taxes food and clothing--basically everything....it adds up.
You need to consider ALL of the nuances. You need to consider your desires, interests, and wishes. Once you have begun the fine tuning process, get in the car and start visiting places which MIGHT be of interest.
And lastly, a move is sold as being forever, but people make moves all the time and are not happy, for whatever reason. If that turns out to be the case, move on....don't stay where you are not happy.
Don't pretty much all states have an annual motor vehicle registration fee? Whether you call it a tax or a fee, it amounts to a tax. Also, you didn't give any example of a vehicle and its year together with the tax in order to demonstrate what you consider "hefty". To some people, any annual vehicle renewal fee/tax is "hefty" because they don't think they should pay one. I am not saying you're wrong; rather I'm curious about that fee in South Carolina.
In California, the fee/tax also goes by the presumed value of the vehicle, but it reaches a minimum level even if the value of the vehicle plunges to near zero. I just paid $90 (the minimum fee) to renew the registration of a rather beat-up 22-year-old Ford Escort (an econo car). Now THAT is hefty. It was $124 on my 7-year-old Mazda Speed3. When the Mazda was one year old it was $207.
I was also interested in your statement about drivers in SC. How can they be worse than Florida drivers with the huge numbers of old people in Florida?
Sorry for no example, how about these.
2012 VW Passat license renewal for 2014 was 768.00, that does not include the normal fees. Total was just under 900 dollars. Next year it will probably go down to about 600 or so. Total paid so far since new has been just under 3000 dollars.
2008 Corvette, 1134 dollars. Everything as I said is based on value. There is a deduction once you have over 150k miles on the vehicle. A coworker still pays over 150 dollars per year on a 2004 Camry with 208k miles. Total paid since new has been almost 8000 dollars.
Those are some pretty hefty taxes that no one ever talks about.
South Carolina is number 1 in fatalities, 5 in careless driving and 6 or 8 for drunk drivers according to the most recent insurance institute studies.
Ive lived in Pensacola and southern Florida and South Carolina. My fiance and I are moving to Greenville, SC. Insanely cheap housing prices, but a fairly strong economy, so you will not be missing anything you would find in more populated areas.
And I cannot stress the housing costs. We are looking at 2ksqft on two acres for 65k.
It has a decent retirement population, and the city is very beautiful. There are tons of activities a zoo, several museums, lots of hiking, lots of lakes and beautiful forestry.
There is a fantastic park in downtown and several small towns nearby with stuff to do and pretty good hospitals as well.
The weather is pretty close to my California weather, a bit cooler over all, but I think they get 1/10 of an inch of snow a year, just enough to enjoy it and throw a few snowballs.
SC is less humid, dont know if that helps.
Just Google Greenville, SC and watch the videos. it might make up your mind for you!
Money. Personally, getting taxes taken out isn't great, but your primary expense will be food (depending on how you choose to eat) and the house. Food prices are cheaper in SC and utility bills are cheaper as well (I think, but i could be wrong). And unless you buy the house outright, you may choose to take a lower home expense. So kind of depends? Finance or straight up purchase?
Also in terms of crime statistics, a lot of them are skewed.
In California, we never called the cops if we left our car unlocked and someone stole money out of the center console. But friends in SC panic and call the cops on stray dogs or anything fishy. After I saw the crime stats in Greenville, I went back and looked at places I had lived before, and man, i guess some places are just riddled with crime and I never saw it, or I have adapted to a certain standard and some places just over report like crazy.
P.S people were much nicer to us in SC (Greenville or columbia area-not charleston though) vs florida (keys, pensacola, tampa, miami).
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MG120
Sorry for no example, how about these.
2012 VW Passat license renewal for 2014 was 768.00, ... Total paid so far since new has been just under 3000 dollars.
... based on value. ... 2004 Camry with 208k miles. Total paid since new has been almost 8000 dollars.
Those are some pretty hefty taxes that no one ever talks about.
..
Income Tax free WA state previously hammered us on vehicle value so I transitioned to 'beaters' (residents subsequently Voted to change to $35 flat rate).
I decided to stay 'vintage'. Most my cars are over 25 yrs old and wear 'collector' plates ($42 for life of car... which will be a VERY long time!). Since we are only supposed to drive them occasionally, I keep several spare cars (@$35 each for the purchase price of the whole car @ towing auction).
Just another way to play within the 'tax' rules.
Next step... convert the house to a church (save property tax)
It needs to spend more time as a church than a house, so maybe a monastery
2012 VW Passat license renewal for 2014 was 768.00, that does not include the normal fees. Total was just under 900 dollars. Next year it will probably go down to about 600 or so. Total paid so far since new has been just under 3000 dollars.
2008 Corvette, 1134 dollars. Everything as I said is based on value. There is a deduction once you have over 150k miles on the vehicle. A coworker still pays over 150 dollars per year on a 2004 Camry with 208k miles. Total paid since new has been almost 8000 dollars.
Those are some pretty hefty taxes that no one ever talks about.
Is this info for SC?
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