Retirement in the Black Hills Area (Spearfish, Hot Springs: homeowners insurance, homes, campers)

[Stone1]

I'm just curious what retirement may be like in the Black Hills? I'm from the mid west, northern areas. Winter can last 9 months and -20 is not unusual so I think the winters in the Black Hills may be as long but not as harsh. What really hurts where I live is 7% of you income goes to the state for income tax but SD does not have income tax so I would save there. Property tax in my area on a newer 1600 sq. ft. ranch home will cost $3600. this would be in the country with no services, the same home in the city would cost you about $5800. a year in property tax. My retirement income would be about $48,000. a year if I do not do any other work. I would likely want to do some part time work so ther would most likley be added income. The wife has an Okay pension but would have to do a little part itme work as she wouild be to young to retire but can freeze her pension until full retirement.

This is a lot of information but we have been thinking about this for some time and wanted input from locals as to what type of living a person would have if the wife and I each work part time and earn a total of $80,000. with pension and part time work. Once the wifes pension kicked in it would put us at over $100,000. per year.

Thanks for any in put from the local Black Hills Residents.

[Jammie]

Hi Stone, not a BH resident here, but honestly~you could live very well on an income like that any place in the state. I don't know which state you are from, but there seems to be many things that are cheaper in our state compared to a lot of others. Car insurance for one. Homeowners insurance for another. License plates and driver's licenses themselves are much higher in some states then they are here. Some states still tax personal property (cars, boats, campers, furniture, etc)~none of it is taxed here. Of course, food, clothes, gas, etc would all be quite comparable.

I'm just curious about the tax you figured that you will be paying on a comparable house~did you factor in the third discount for living in your home? We do have a high property tax rate, but nearly 6,000 per year seems a bit high.

[DannyBanany]

Stone I believe you would live very comfortably on $100k per year in the Black Hills. Are there any specific areas you may want to consider for retirement?

[ashnat]

Yep, you would live very comfortably with that kind of money. Median income here is only $40,000. Just to give you a heads up, not sure where you're coming from, but homes are a bit pricey.

[uncleharley]

I am guessing you are living in Wisconsin now. If so, you will find that typical property taxs in the Black Hills are about 2/3 of what they typically are in Wisc. Of course property taxs will vary considerably for one locality to another.
Someone mentioned that homeowners insurance and auto insurance will be less in South Dakota. I would not take that statement for granted. Homeowners insurance can be quite expensive in the Black Hills because of the danger of forest fires and hail damage. Like anywhere else, your homeowners insurance will be higher as you get farther away from a fire hydrant. Your dog will roam more to. [just kidding]
How well you can live on a given amount of income depends on how you define "living well." The cost of living in small towns is generally less than in urban area's, but the main reason for that is that there are usually fewer services in the small town and there will be fewer things to spend money on in a small town. Your cost of living will have as much to do with how you live as it will have to do with where you live.
You are also assuming you will have some income from part time work. You probably will find the pay scales for unskilled labor are a bit lower in the Black Hills area than they are in many other places. If you have some education or training in some field, you should do as well in the Black Hills as anywhere else.
The only other item I can think of right now is that if you like snow you will probably want to be around Custer or Spearfish. If you like milder winters, head for Hot Springs or north to Rapid.

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