Best Retirement State on A Budget - Lowest Cost of Living? (commercial, taxable)

[JOinGA]

Originally Posted by Goin' Coastal

Mrs. Submariner sounds amazing!

If people really want to live a simple, green lifestyle, vegan is the best for health and the planet.

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by Submariner

We have a big kitchen. ...

I am learning that I need to limit how much kitchen space to give a woman.

but the same goes for SHOP SPACE (and those BIG toys are pretty spendy... dozers, excavators, tractors, lathes, mills... )

Since we have always been farmers (4+ generations) putting up food is the norm.

Visitors say we have a 'Continent' in our kitchen for an 'Island' (5' x 13' = largest Formica available). Last night I was wondering what we were gonna do with all the kitchen items stored in cabinets UNDER the continent! (Add to the estate auction?)

Our food driers and apple press are busy this time of yr. Chest Freezer is full and running silently (as it has for over 40 yrs / non-stop)

We do the metal building / shop converted to home on many of our rural rentals / investment props, as it makes a FAST transition to housing (<60 days), and allows us to set aside the 'prime spot' for future 'dream house' of next buyer. We add RV connections as well as internal living space for future versatility. (taxes are sometimes better too (not in WA, but yes in CO and TX)

but... my next home will be much cheaper (construction materials... no finish materials required (walls) interior or exterior) and will take MUCH more work. Rammed earth...(quite pretty if you have colorful soils as we do in TX location) it will be very SMALL compared to my 'shop' homes.
Rammed Earth Construction

[soulsurv]

Originally Posted by marino760

This thread was about retiring on a budget. It wasn't about finding Shangri La and having champagne tastes. It wasn't about people not paying taxes and sucking up taxpayer money. If someone has VA benefits, they obviously earned it. It's not free.
I don't understand why there's always the same one or two people on here who will put others down for doing the best they can with what they have. Maybe it's jealously that some people try and and are able to live good lives without retiring with millions. Maybe these people have always been negative about everything in their lives and have to try to make others as miserable as they are like when they call an affordable house that may need some work a "dump" because it's beneath them to even consider such a house regardless that it might be in a beautiful small town with low crime and even a decent hospital near by.
I suppose the few very negative people here would rather see other people retiring on a limited or small budget dig a hole and just die because retiring on a small budget doesn't meet their standards.

Brilliantly said!!! Does anyone think I ENJOY being on the ACA (for example)? I don't; I'm mortified by it. But juggling 4 part-time teaching jobs (no pension or benefits) that still doesn't get me to 20K left no other choice.

I guess I should have dumped my parents in a home instead of quitting a decent job to care for them; I guess I should have gone without health insurance instead of spending my life savings (150K) entirely on independent health care while I did so. I guess I should have known that my field wouldn't welcome back a then upper middle-aged person, regardless of experience. Guess I blew it, huh?

Some of us are doing the best we can WHILE ALSO trying to save others (various low-pay jobs with youth-at-risk - BECAUSE THEY MATTER). Would love to see how the complainers fare in that situation. Sorry to be such a burden.

[Pilot1]

Originally Posted by eliza61nyc

lol, Pennsylvania is pretty retiree friendly but unfortunately us liberals maybe too much for you. (tongue in cheek)

Once you get out of Philly, and Pittsburgh the state is largely Republican, and PA voted for Trump in the last election. The income tax is pretty high though, and energy rates around Philly are high, but not too bad in the rest of the state. I don't believe SS income is taxed here. You could do a lot worse than PA. Most lists I see puts PA in the middle of the pack.

[Serious Conversation]

Originally Posted by marino760

This thread was about retiring on a budget. It wasn't about finding Shangri La and having champagne tastes. It wasn't about people not paying taxes and sucking up taxpayer money. If someone has VA benefits, they obviously earned it. It's not free.
I don't understand why there's always the same one or two people on here who will put others down for doing the best they can with what they have. Maybe it's jealously that some people try and and are able to live good lives without retiring with millions. Maybe these people have always been negative about everything in their lives and have to try to make others as miserable as they are like when they call an affordable house that may need some work a "dump" because it's beneath them to even consider such a house regardless that it might be in a beautiful small town with low crime and even a decent hospital near by.
I suppose the few very negative people here would rather see other people retiring on a limited or small budget dig a hole and just die because retiring on a small budget doesn't meet their standards.

It isn't about wanting folks to crawl in a hole and die. It's about what can be reasonably expected at that budget.

Are there houses out there that meet the OP's land requirements and are habitable? Sure there are, but they are going to be relatively few and far between, and in rural areas where there may not be much in the way of services. Rural hospitals across the country tend to struggle with low reimbursement rates, a sicker than average population, a lack of access to specialty care, etc. Many are having trouble staying afloat and many have already closed.

If someone wants $75k worth of buildable land, that's easy to do. Even a house at $75k with a large yard is easy to do in many areas (though it may need work), but toss in acreage and your options narrow.

[Goin' Coastal]

Originally Posted by JOinGA

If people really want to live a simple, green lifestyle, vegan is the best for health and the planet.

I must have missed the post where Submariner said he and his wife wanted a simple, green, meatless life.

[barb712]

I'm sure that for $75K the OP could get a decent mobile/manufactured home or small house on an acre or two, maybe even more if he finds land that he could put a mobile on. He did include mobile homes on his list of possibilities. I keep thinking of the Aiken SC/Augusta area, which has a VA hospital system. Yes, hot humid summers but amid some nice greenery, near the beautiful NE Georgia mountains and lakes.

[Chickrae]

Originally Posted by old fed

"Also where can I get the information about sales tax rates, property tax rates, etc?"

the internet?

utah has state income tax
utah has sales tax on almost everything, including groceries
utah has a fair amount of corrupt politicians/fraud/graft.
your choices to be close to VA or clinic can be found on the VA website. i think utah is in VISN 19
the only thing i found cheaper here is property taxes but i'm not on the wasatch front.


nevada?

Property taxes are very cheap where I live in Southern Utah. 200,000 home, we pay 1,000 a year. City of 28,000.

[TRex2]

I found some places in Searcy and Stone Counties in Arkansas that meet, or come very close to meeting, his requirements. I decided not to move to those counties, so I don't have the data any more, but they weren't too hard to find on Realtor. Arkansas does have an income tax, but in my tax bracket it isn't very much.

[nalabama]

Originally Posted by Chickrae

Property taxes are very cheap where I live in Southern Utah. 200,000 home, we pay 1,000 a year. City of 28,000.

That is about what we pay in Alabama where I live. But I live in the next to the highest tax district in the state. Some of our tax districts have rates that are less than 50 percent of what we pay.