"Half Back" Retirees Flooding Into Georgia! (seniors, taxes, income)

[donald cherry]

a lot of hafebacks are heading for tenn. no income tax

[Jimrob1]

Originally Posted by donald cherry

a lot of hafebacks are heading for tenn. no income tax

As long as the person can handle a very high sales tax then Tenn is a good option. There are people that will do worse in a state with a high sales tax vs income tax. Especially if the state is taxing just about every purchase. It depends on the persons situation in life.

[Escort Rider]

Jim Rob has a good point. Kiplinger's website has a retiree tax map showing which states have no income tax, no sales tax, etc. Clicking on a state brings up a discussion of that state's tax situation for retirees. But they've all got to get revenue somehow, so if one tax is low or non-existent, the other will be high, or maybe property taxes will be high. California is one of the worst states for taxation of retirees because they get almost no breaks. Some states exempt a certain amount of pension income from income taxation and some do not. Some states tax Social Security benefits and some do not. So the whole thing is complex.

[texdav]

Originally Posted by KevK

Not year around. We have a very pleasant 4 season climate. Today in Atlanta it was around 89 but it felt nice because of the low humidity- in the 44% range. In Florida it is much more humid and hotter all year.

You have to be kidding;I was stationed in gerogia;its hot with liitle breeze compared to on the coast of florida.44% is not low humidity by any means. Even with the humidity I'll take the ocean breeze with the 90's near the coast of florida and great 8 month weather in florida rather than goergia in winter and summer.Spring is nice but short . That is why so many moved past many states to live in florida but of course its expensive for just that reason; To say nothing of the great beaches by the mile.Its just gotten to crowded and too expensive for many now tho. As far as hurricanes where i lived on teh texas coast they never had a direct or storm that didn't weaken until Rita. 103 MPH sustawined winds where completely different espeailly veen 100 miles form the coast if there where a large number of trees.Hopefully it doesn't happen again for another 125 year where I lived; as people thought it just doesn't happen here. If your within 100 miles of the coast it can in such a storm.Galveston had never had such a surge storm like Ike since 1900.cat 1 and two strorms never really bother them.They akways weaken before hitting here is a famous line in new orleans.

[Johanna25]

"Halfbacks" to Georgia? I've heard of "halfbacks" coming here to coastal North Carolina, but Georgia hardly seems half back from Florida, more like a half-step. I don't much like the term, it seems rather derogatory. Many of my Florida relatives bought homes in the Georgia mountains, but they were summer homes.

[SUSMUSIC]

You mentioned that FL has many pools. Are they just swim clubs, located in condos, or can you find local pools? Also do they stay open during spring and fall? Up north, most pools are only open 3 months in the summer. Thank you

[nicet4]

Originally Posted by Jimrob1

Im not sure Georgia is really all that low cost any longer. Seems to me there is alot of taxes for everything there including taxes on retirement income, food, high taxes for owning a car there. Im not sure about property taxes vs other states though. I think its a nice state though.

I live in South Georgia about as far south as you can go and still be in Georgia.

Regarding taxes for retirees

Georgia Eases the Retirement Income Tax Burden

Although Georgia has not repealed the income tax on individuals, the Georgia General Assembly has taken steps in recent years to provide for the exclusion of increasing levels of retirement income in order to ease the tax burden on retired individuals and lessen the benefit of “retiring to Florida.” Why move to the land of the Marlins if you can remain in the home of the Braves?

snip

How much retirement income can a taxpayer exclude? The maximum amount of retirement income for tax years 2003, 2004 and 2005 which may be excluded is $15,000 per taxpayer per year. With a married couple filing jointly, each spouse could exclude up to $15,000 in qualified retirement income or a total of $30,000 on the joint return. For tax year 2006, the exclusion increases to $25,000 per taxpayer. For tax year 2007, the retirement exclusion increases to $30,000 per taxpayer, and beginning in year 2008, the exclusion goes to $35,000 per taxpayer with a potential exclusion of $70,000 on a joint return.

My property taxes are ridiculously cheap. For comparison if I lived in the same house 30 minutes farther south my property taxes would go up by at least a factor of 3 and probably closer to 5. I save $5,000 a year just on property taxes.

In most areas comparable housing is less than half of what Florida is.

Homeowners insurance is many times cheaper because while we could get a hurricane it would be dissipated by the time it crossed the border. I could see lots of rain and maybe 60 mph winds which is a far cry from 140 mph.

By state law electric golf carts are permitted to be driven on public roads with the exception of state highways. It's up to each individual small town, obviously no golf carts in Atlanta or Savannah, but in the smaller towns you see them all the time. In our small town you can drive anywhere in 20 minutes (back streets parallel the two state highways that we can cross but not drive on) on $3 electric per month. All you got to do is behave, operate it as you would an automobile, stopping at lights and stop signs, and not be stupid. Our mayor drives one and with our climate you can drive 12 months. Doctors office, post office, both grocery stores, banks, hospital and pharmacy's are all within an easy 10 minute golf cart ride. At night you need lights and there are some running around that have radios and geared to go 30 mph.

With some the only time they use their car is when they leave town.

It does get hot and it does get humid. Does it ever but it beats the snow and cold. Speaking of cold last December we actually saw snow flakes for about 15 minutes. Didn't stick, was gone in 30 minutes and was the first snow since 1988.

You need to turn your heat on from December to March but if your heater went out it's not a disaster as in colder climates. If we leave for a few days in January we turn our heat off.

Losing air conditioning is a different story. Can't live without it in July.

Housing is cheap compared to the rest of the country.

You can purchase a very nice house in a nice neighborhood for $100k and a great house for $150k.

There's an very nice apartment complex and if I had to estimate I would say 30% of the people living there are retirees escaping out of Florida.

Some photos

The road in front of the complex http://img708.imageshack.us/img708/869/apart1.jpg

Typical fronts http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/5042/apart2.jpg

Typical back where everyone has a somewhat private porch. Some people even plant small gardens http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/1483/apart3.jpg

More back space http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/9115/apart4.jpg

There is a community in ground pool.

Obviously in a wooded area it's 2 miles from downtown, 1 1/2 mile from hospital and doctors and 3 miles from post office. I mentioned golf carts which is very doable here.

If you are into apartment living, sure beats a trailer in Florida, rents are $550 for a one bedroom/one bathroom and $650 for a two bedroom/two bathroom. If you are from New York I double checked, those figures are not typo's.

All utilities except electric are included. We lived there for a year after moving and keeping the apartment comfortable our electric averaged $100/month.

A couple can retire here very comfortably on $2,000 a month while a single person should be able to live comfortably on maybe $1,500 a month.

We estimate our retirement income will be close to $4,000 a month and having everything we want we figure we should be able to save $1,500 a month from our retirement income. Of course we won't, we'll be traveling and stuff but you get the point.

Very safe with low crime rate. Every town has their "bad side" and ours is no exception but in classic southern fashion it is "on the other side of the tracks".

Downsides.

Hot in summer but it is cheap living.

Restaurants do leave something to be desired. Lots of fast food and only one what I would call "decent" restaurant but did I mention it is cheap living?

For a mall (a nice one with few empty places) you will have to drive 20 miles but did I mention it is cheap living?

For a nice selection of restaurants and movies you will have to drive 20 miles but did I mention it is cheap living?

Oh, I almost forgot. A decent country club where full membership, unlimited golf which includes golf cart if you want it, runs $150 a month. You get pool, restaurant and full... well... drink up. Play all you want it's about 4 miles outside town.

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by Jimrob1

As long as the person can handle a very high sales tax then Tenn is a good option. There are people that will do worse in a state with a high sales tax vs income tax. Especially if the state is taxing just about every purchase. It depends on the persons situation in life.

Baloney. TN has the 44th largest tax burden in the country. That means only six states have lower. And the services that you get for those taxes is staggering.

The sales tax may be high, but there is no income tax, properties taxes are crazy low, and they don't kill you with registering vehicles and all the hidden taxes that so many states have.

The Tax Foundation - State and Local Tax Burdens: All States, One Year, 1977-2008

[seain dublin]

Originally Posted by texdav

You have to be kidding;I was stationed in gerogia;its hot with liitle breeze compared to on the coast of florida.44% is not low humidity by any means. Even with the humidity I'll take the ocean breeze with the 90's near the coast of florida and great 8 month weather in florida rather than goergia in winter and summer.Spring is nice but short . That is why so many moved past many states to live in florida but of course its expensive for just that reason; To say nothing of the great beaches by the mile.Its just gotten to crowded and too expensive for many now tho. As far as hurricanes where i lived on teh texas coast they never had a direct or storm that didn't weaken until Rita. 103 MPH sustawined winds where completely different espeailly veen 100 miles form the coast if there where a large number of trees.Hopefully it doesn't happen again for another 125 year where I lived; as people thought it just doesn't happen here. If your within 100 miles of the coast it can in such a storm.Galveston had never had such a surge storm like Ike since 1900.cat 1 and two strorms never really bother them.They akways weaken before hitting here is a famous line in new orleans.

8 months of great weather in Florida??? How about 5 months of nice weather and 7 months of brutal heat and humidity.

Have lived in different parts of the country and see less people outside here than any other state, even the kids stay inside as the summers are miserable.

[jghorton]

Originally Posted by KevK

Not year around. We have a very pleasant 4 season climate. Today in Atlanta it was around 89 but it felt nice because of the low humidity- in the 44% range. In Florida it is much more humid and hotter all year.

With kids in Georgia (Canton), we've considered a northerly move, but it's too close to the North Pole for about 5-6 months out of the year!