[iamhadley]

My parents are considering retiring next year in either Maine or Vermont. Their friends have many opinions, although none actually live in either place. My parents live in San Fransico and are excited about a slower pace of life. Does anyone have any insight?

[flu189]

Vermont and Maine have many aspects in common, but also on the hand can be very different. Both are fairly expensive and of course both have in common the fact of long winter seasons. The only solid recommendation for anyone considering a permanent relocation to either state is to do your research and visit first and physically check the regions. There just are too many variables involved and of course personal preferences to be able to promote one state over the other. Before deciding on either state it would wise to do a financial checkup and really understand the fiscal realities of living here. Speaking only for Vermont I can say that for retirees that have not accumulated healthy savings and/or a decent pension it can be stressful to make ends meet as all forms of income are taxed where other states tend to give retirees a break in that department.

[arctichomesteader]

Maine.

[flu189]

Originally Posted by arctichomesteader

Maine.

Your simple one word response brought back memories of an anecdote I either read or overheard many years ago that many hikers will appreciate. Some years ago an Appalachian Trail (2,175 miles) thru hiker somewhere down south came across a heavyset panting day hiker clad in sandals who asked "hey pal, where does this trail go"? The hiker's one word response "Maine" stunned the fellow.

[arctichomesteader]

Originally Posted by flu189

Your simple one word response brought back memories of an anecdote I either read or overheard many years ago that many hikers will appreciate. Some years ago an Appalachian Trail (2,175 miles) thru hiker somewhere down south came across a heavyset panting day hiker clad in sandals who asked "hey pal, where does this trail go"? The hiker's one word response "Maine" stunned the fellow.

LOL That reminds me of the last time my urban-loving (he'd love to live in NYC if he could afford it...) brother came into the woods with me. He wore sandals (no socks even), refused my offer of bugspray, and alterated between whining about his sore feet as he tripped his way through losing a sandal here and there getting his feet muddy and cut a bit on rocks in the process, and whining about how bad the bugs were (the bugs aren't stupid, there was a big cloud of mosquitoes around his head following him, pretty much ignoring me). Oh yeah, he was afraid of bears after I pointed out some bear tracks to him, but he absolutely refused to even touch a gun...

Okay, a little thread drift, but a little is always enjoyable.

[GraniteStater]

Vermont and Maine are largely rural, but have fairly high taxes and high COL. New Hampshire does not have a state income tax, or sales tax while VT and ME do! NH also has many natural geographical areas to choose from such as the northwoods, white mountains, lakes region, seacoast, merrimack valley, lake sunapee/dartmouth, and manadnock.
However, choose a town that has lower equalized tax rates. All towns in NH have different property tax rates!!!

If being close to the ocean is important than Maine definitely is the place to look at. NH has a small seacoast but is quite a bit more built up IMO.

[iamhadley]

Thanx all....My parents have a huge nest egg, they have planned well. Money is not a factor. They would love a small quaint coastal town or a small village. We here the people are nicer in Maine but dont know if that is true. We also hear that the crime in Maine in lower. Low crime is important to them. My dad likes to fish, so a river lake or ocean would be nice.

[Sherylcatmom]

Originally Posted by iamhadley

Thanx all....My parents have a huge nest egg, they have planned well. Money is not a factor. They would love a small quaint coastal town or a small village.

If your parents would love a coastal town, then Maine seems like a good choice since any Vermont "coast" is limited to lakes and rivers. I love Vermont's landscape, but it's not oceanside for sure.

Originally Posted by iamhadley

We here the people are nicer in Maine but dont know if that is true. We also hear that the crime in Maine in lower. Low crime is important to them. My dad likes to fish, so a river lake or ocean would be nice.

That's quite a generalization, that people might be nicer in one whole state than in another whole state. I live in Vermont and briefly lived Maine and still visit frequently. I find people were very nice in both states -- and both states have their share of people I would just as soon avoid.

Vermont happens to be where my husband and I feel most at home, but I think that's more about us -- how we live, what we enjoy -- than anything positive or negative about the people here. I wouldn't call one set of people "nicer" than the other.

[vter]

Don't let the no income tax in NH fool you....unearned income is taxed in NH. Plus the high property tax (not that we don't that here LOL, but as Plains said, it depends on where you land, and from what I understand from friends in NH, their property tax is a bit higher than ours generally), vehicle registration fees, tolls, etc. It all comes out in the wash IMO. Your parents will just need to do some number crunching to see what area would work best for them.

[arctichomesteader]

Some parts of Maine have much lower property taxes than VT or NH. VT is, I've been told and it seems likely to be true, a bad state for retirees because of the taxes. My father is retired, worked for the state (corrections), and he couldn't believe that the state would tax his pension and social security, but they do. They tax everything in VT. I can't honestly think of much that doesn't have a tax on it in VT.

But if you're after coastal areas, Maine's potentially lower property taxes may be a moot point since you will have higher taxes in those areas anyways. I made my suggestion precisely because of the property taxes in VT...