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robyn55, I did not imply you lied about anything. The lady who sold me her house lied about settlement. State Farm dropped all windstorm insurees east of 1-95 where I live. You are lucky.
Glad to hear you are not interested in the real estate markets I am looking at. Lots of other people are.
If you're Asian, you'll probably want to live in a city or town that has a good Asian supermarket.
If you're Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jewish, or even Eastern Orthodox Christian, you might want to live in a community where there is a temple, synagogue or denominational church you can worship in and become part of that community.
If you're part of the LGBT community you'll want to be near a place that has an LGBT Community Center or organization or business where you can socialize with other LGBT people.
If you have a particular medical issue you definitely would want to be not too far from a place with a good medical infrastructure - hospitals, specialists, etc.
These are the costs that you're supposed to analyze before you retire. You don't move from South Dakota to New York and then complain about your Insurance cost. You don't live in a 3000 sf all electric house and worry about the utility bill.
I live in a 'high property tax' state; we pay about $4K for a $220K house on 1/2 acre, which actually isn't bad compared with the prop tax in no-income-tax states. I could easily be swayed to move to a southern state on property tax alone, however doing the math for the tradeoffs (travel home to family regularly, for one, and use of the car on these trips) it isn't worth it to base a relocation on that cost alone. My tax here pays for proximity to family, a relatively safe community and a highly educated populace. I gripe about the town's wasteful expenditures but there's nothing I can do about that, so I have to let it go. So yes there are places that offer a lifestyle for less money perhaps, but if you don't relocate there you have to be willing to appreciate the things you do pay for in a higher COL area...and want to keep them.
Location: Westchester County, NY -> Pinellas County, FL -> Dutchess County, NY -> Denver?
348 posts, read 535,208 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Goinback2011
I lived in Tampa, FL for 23 years and moved back to my hometown, Pittsburgh, at age 57 and will stay here when I retire in a few months.
The ridiculous heat and overcrowding in Tampa made it an increasingly unattractive place to live as the years went by. And that's the just top of the list of problems there.
And btw, my car is insurance is 1/3 the cost and homeowner's insurance is 1/5 the cost of what I paid in Tampa.
Please provide numbers otherwise your post is meaningless.
You're going to want to give at least a cursory review of the Overall Tax burdens in each of the states you favor. Kiplinger's has a whole series outlining what you might expect to pay in taxes...... State-by-State Guide to Taxes on Retirees-Kiplinger
These sites can be very useful, however, I notice that none of them ever include personal property taxes/vehicle taxes. That can be quite a shock if you come from someplace that doesn't tax your stuff.
Some of that info can be a little out of date. I found out recently that Michigan started taxing some things but it was briefed incorrectly in a recent retirement seminar and some of the retirement websites didn't mention the changes.
I'm just as confused as ever. However- Hubbie and I will have SS each and each of us a NYS pension (mine is real small, only slightly more than $500/ month- I'm already retired. Took early retirement to run our goat dairy a few years back). I like the idea of no state income tax. We are currently paying about $9000K in property taxes, and a little over $1000/ month for a Mortgage (just P & I). My whole SS and pension currently just goes for the house. I feel there has to be something better than that. We are looking for only a tiny house- a bed and a bowl- sort of thing in a good area (approx. 800-900 sf). I would like to stay under $150K for a house , preferably under $100K, or about, so we can buy it for cash. We have 6 dogs so we don't want a condo or anything like that. Right now we are strongest in liking the St Augustine or Ormond Beach, Fla areas. Any ideas/ imput? Thanks.
That is a good list of states. No higher than KY for the snow but each has good and bad points. Florida is not a 4 season but the rest are. Sink holes in FL but I had not heard it being much of a problem in TN. FL has a limestone base with a high water table. I think that has a lot to do with that.
You should probably travel to them all. Each of those states has zones of populations. You might need to research the zones. For example I would divide TN in three zones and use music for the base. West (blues) Central (country) East (blue grass). Tennesseans might have additional information but based on the music you can get a sense of some of the differences.
I'm an East Tennessee native and bluegrass really isn't that big. There are places where it is featured, like the Carter Fold, but it's mostly a new country and rock area.
I'm an East Tennessee native and bluegrass really isn't that big. There are places where it is featured, like the Carter Fold, but it's mostly a new country and rock area.
Thank you for setting the record straight. I would not want anyone to get the wrong impression. It was though more of an analogy of actual zones in a state that people should consider when choosing a state to move to.
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