Low cost location (55, pension, weather, moving)

[sweetana3]

A low cost location for retirement often is right under our noses.

Example: Indianapolis, city of government, sports, shopping, etc.

Housing: Wonderful housing in most price ranges. Examples are $60,000 for a full brick 2 bedroom condo(converted from apartment) in a neighborhood with full shopping amenities and sidewalks to walk to same. Good location to get to major shopping no more than a couple of miles away and some even closer. $140,000 for a fully renovated Victorian cottage with 2 car garage in a historic neighborhood downtown in a rapidly! gentrifying area. New house in a newly restored huge neighborhood for the same price. Many age 55 restricted communities and a new Del Webb community (I think around $160,000 for the smallest so not cheap).

Costs: We are considered a low cost part of the country. Big city but you can live in a neighborhood and pretend it is a much smaller town. Loads of garage sales in the summer, thrift stores, great auctioneers. Lots of grocery chains which results in sales and pressure to keep prices low. Farmers markets all week and close Upick places. Everything from high end (Norstrums) to lower cost outlets are available. We do a lot of shopping while garage shopping and some of my favorite clothes are such finds. We have loads of reasonable restaurants both chain and non chain. We make a point of searching them out.

Health: A wealth of doctors and hospitals all over town. Many specialty hospitals. I have had the same doctor, vet and dentist office for over 20 years. There is a lot of stability.

Rentals: We have some very respected elderly rental communities that provide bus service on a scheduled route to major shopping needed by residents. These communities are on all four sides of town. Right now I think a one bedroom with utilites and bus service is around $700 with sudios being less. These have community rooms,indoor services like mail delivery, and libraries. There is a whole free large flyer at the groceries showcasing all the senior housing and things to do. There are other income supported apartments in Indy including a nice one right downtown 2 blocks from where I live.

Senior Groups: We have OASIS, a large educational senior group, and a newly remodeled senior center right downtown. It is the only one I know anything about right now but there should be others. Load of classes, trips and activities. In addition, we have great theater of many kinds.

My mom-in-law should do nicely here in Indy and we have decided to retire here as well. Sometimes it pays to investigate the larger possibly less interesting to the eye places to live.

[cousinsal]

Originally Posted by sweetana3

A low cost location for retirement often is right under our noses.

Example: Indianapolis, city of government, sports, shopping, etc.

Housing: Wonderful housing in most price ranges. Examples are $60,000 for a full brick 2 bedroom condo(converted from apartment) in a neighborhood with full shopping amenities and sidewalks to walk to same. Good location to get to major shopping no more than a couple of miles away and some even closer. $140,000 for a fully renovated Victorian cottage with 2 car garage in a historic neighborhood downtown in a rapidly! gentrifying area. New house in a newly restored huge neighborhood for the same price. Many age 55 restricted communities and a new Del Webb community (I think around $160,000 for the smallest so not cheap).

Costs: We are considered a low cost part of the country. Big city but you can live in a neighborhood and pretend it is a much smaller town. Loads of garage sales in the summer, thrift stores, great auctioneers. Lots of grocery chains which results in sales and pressure to keep prices low. Farmers markets all week and close Upick places. Everything from high end (Norstrums) to lower cost outlets are available. We do a lot of shopping while garage shopping and some of my favorite clothes are such finds. We have loads of reasonable restaurants both chain and non chain. We make a point of searching them out.

Health: A wealth of doctors and hospitals all over town. Many specialty hospitals. I have had the same doctor, vet and dentist office for over 20 years. There is a lot of stability.

Rentals: We have some very respected elderly rental communities that provide bus service on a scheduled route to major shopping needed by residents. These communities are on all four sides of town. Right now I think a one bedroom with utilites and bus service is around $700 with sudios being less. These have community rooms,indoor services like mail delivery, and libraries. There is a whole free large flyer at the groceries showcasing all the senior housing and things to do. There are other income supported apartments in Indy including a nice one right downtown 2 blocks from where I live.

Senior Groups: We have OASIS, a large educational senior group, and a newly remodeled senior center right downtown. It is the only one I know anything about right now but there should be others. Load of classes, trips and activities. In addition, we have great theater of many kinds.

My mom-in-law should do nicely here in Indy and we have decided to retire here as well. Sometimes it pays to investigate the larger possibly less interesting to the eye places to live.

Sounds good to me! $140K for a Victorian cottage?? My little condo in a Victorian house in Salem, MA is supposedly worth more like $240K! And, $60K for a condo??

It's definitely worth moving for retirement, if you live in a high-cost area like I do. I may end up going back up to NY State, land of the lakes, mountains, and miles and miles of fields. My mother's house is worth about $70K up there. If nothing else, it's QUIET.

Low crime, except when the kid down the street killed his mother with a shotgun in 1960. Oh, well, he didn't know any better - he was 14. He got out at 21, which is what they used to do with juveniles. I think today, he'd be tried as an adult. He laid in wait, and shot her when she walked in the house. Most "exciting" (in a bad way) thing that ever happened, or will probably ever happen in my little town. It's one of those things where I remember exactly where I was, and what happened that day, like the Kennedy assassination. (just a little local anecdote)

[BucFan]

Property and state income taxes?

[sweetana3]

property taxes. I live downtown in one of the higher taxed counties due to size and age and municipal and other property, etc. My taxes are about 1% of value looking at it in a simplified fashion. It does depend on where you live and the assessed value. And the 1% is after the last increase that they all are screaming about. I pay the same on $225,000 that my in laws pay on $60,000 in upstate New York.

State taxes. somewhere around 4%. Less than we paid in North Carolina where we spent some time. Again, they are reasonable and probably in the middle of the range.

[tewplanman]

Considern North East PA im 43 bought my retirment home in Tanglewood north see [Mod cut]. I got a 5 bedroom 2 bath on a bankrupcy, for 68K on an acre cleared. I put another 50K and upgraded everything right down to the sheetrock brand new kit, 2 baths, floors, 21 windows and doors, entire house sided and new decks. taxes are 1800 yr and community dues are 350 im 1 mile from lake and shopping. best move I ever made, keep your eyes open for deals like this there out there. Plus im only 2 hrs from my NYC condo that I plan on leaving to the kids when we finally retire.

[forest beekeeper]

We moved a bit further North than most folks are comfortable with. Though we are outside of the Great Lake's snow belt, so we get less snow than Southern NE does.

I see 2bdrm home foreclosures that sell for $40k.

I bought our land in 2005 and built our house on it. This land cost me $900 per acre, because it is river frontage [very beautiful scenery on the river where our boats are tied-up]. Land across the road from us sells for $300 per acre.

Our taxes on 42 acres with a 3bdrm house have been $47 per year.



Income taxes: we do not pay any.

Our combined income: from my pension, my Dw's part-time job working in a grocery store, and our farm stand, put us below the minimum cut-off for paying income taxes.

We do not have a HOA, or community fees.

[nancy thereader]

Example: Indianapolis, city of government, sports, shopping, etc.

It sounds wonderful. How is the weather though, in Indianapolis ? Aren't the winters kind of frigid?

[texdav]

I saw that a study that looked at all cost of living in states released the other day on TV. It took into all cost including all state fees etc. I only rememebr thatTeaxs was 43rd in cost of living starting from the most expensive. I was surprised at some of the fee cost especailly charged by staes that mad elow taxes really mean little. It also show where amny sates were abe to export there cost to other staes trhu teh type of products they produced; so that residence received alot of benefits without paying for tehm .

[forest beekeeper]

Originally Posted by texdav

I saw that a study that looked at all cost of living in states released the other day on TV. It took into all cost including all state fees etc. I only rememebr thatTeaxs was 43rd in cost of living starting from the most expensive. I was surprised at some of the fee cost especailly charged by staes that mad elow taxes really mean little. It also show where amny sates were abe to export there cost to other staes trhu teh type of products they produced; so that residence received alot of benefits without paying for tehm .

I have played with a few comparisons myself.

It forces the person doing the study to make assumptions. What level of income? how much will be spent on the house? how many children? what kind of vehicles will you drive?

Every state has different income tax brackets set at different levels. An income that in one state might be below taxation, in another state might be their highest tax bracket.

A $200k house in one state might be common, whereas in another state only the most expensive homes cost over $100k.

For example, in the state where we have moved to, I hear folks complaining about the 'high' vehicle taxes. It is a percentage of the vehicle's MSRP, but it only applies to new vehicles. Older vehicles pay a flat $5 fee each year. So is the vehicle 'excise' tax high? or is it low? It all depends on what age the vehicle is.

Another example that I see right here where I live. A 'high' property tax mil rate in an area where you can buy a 2bdrm home for $40k; may still work out as a tax bill of $100/year. But in one neighboring state 2bdrm homes rarely go for under $175k, so a 'low' property tax mil rate might give you a $2000/year tax bill.

[cdelena]

Originally Posted by texdav

I saw that a study that looked at all cost of living in states released the other day on TV. It took into all cost including all state fees etc. I only rememebr thatTeaxs was 43rd in cost of living starting from the most expensive. I was surprised at some of the fee cost especailly charged by staes that mad elow taxes really mean little. It also show where amny sates were abe to export there cost to other staes trhu teh type of products they produced; so that residence received alot of benefits without paying for tehm .

Be careful with those studies... many do not consider local property taxes, property insurance, utility rates, and climate related requirements like the need for heavy AC in the southwest or snow removal in some northern locations.

I have found the only way to compare costs is to do an actual study of the location with your particular situation. Do you have taxable retirement income, will you own or rent, is medical affordable in the location, etc.

The general conclusions from the press and my detailed studies of COA have never correlated for the way I live.