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I am in a bit of a dilemma, my family and I currently live in NY and are planning to move when my sons graduate (June 2020) and looked numerous times around the St. Johns/St. Augustine area. My wife and I love the area, being close to the beaches and the palm trees and all. But now we are also considering Waxhaw NC, which I had visited about 3 years ago and thought it was nice as well. So now as the countdown is getting closer and my kids are going to be graduating high school soon, now is the perfect opportunity to relocate. Question is has anyone else considered these 2 locations and how they chose them. I also been looking at the expenses in both, where Florida does not tax my pension and NC does. NC charges a personal tax on having an automobile. All these things add up and need to be calculated into the move as well. Does anyone have any advice on pros/cons of both and if anyone else was in the same situation.
You have two major considerations. The economics of the move and climate change. Living through a couple of severe hurricanes with extensive damage to what may be your last home can be very tramatic. Everyone thinks that Florida is paradise on earth, until Mother Nature reminds them that paradise comes with a price. A few summers in Florida's heat and humidity can also get old ...fast!
In Waxhaw, as well as Florida, you'll find a lot of fellow New Yorkers, as well as former New Jersey and Connecticut residents to commiserate with. While NC is never going to be hurricane-free, it's a lot less likely you'll be staring at the "rubble-by-the-sea" that used to be your home, due to one.
Both Florida and North Carolina will extract money from you in different ways. In NC, your pension, unless it's a NC State or Federal pension with some conditions, will be taxable (with a small 65+ senior deduction) and given NY's much more generous pensions than NCers have, that can amount to a large yearly sum. I have NY friends who have pensions several times larger than my own Federal pension and some of them get "schlonged" by NC's state income tax. YMMV!
Florida, on the other hand will bleed you like a stuck pig when it comes to paying for that all-important homeowner's insurance. Some people's homeowner insurance costs may start to resemble mortgage payments.
Most New Yorkers, as well as anyone from the high-tax areas of the Northeast, realize they'll save thousands on property taxes but fail to take into account that other states have ways of getting their hands on your wallet. Being originally from NJ, I looked into moving to Ft. Mill SC, until I realized NC didn't tax Federal pensions and SC just gave a $5000 exclusion. That changed things considerably. Shop carefully for your new home!
I would choose being very close to the ocean if at all possible. Just a thought ... Lots of retirees in Maine spend winters in FL and summers in Maine. They are called snowbirds. Then you get into the issue of which state did you live in for I think 185 days so you will know how to file your taxes. I had a friend who registered his motor home in FL (because it was so much less expensive) and lived in it in Florida long enough each year to be a FL resident during the winter months+ then spent the rest of the year (warmer months) in Maine. If you are set on a place in NC, you might want to look at some place on the coast. It gets HOT in FL in the summer and it also gets HOT in NC in the summer.... very HOT.
Another consideration for you to think about, is where your sons go to college. I'd give the nod to North Carolina in this aspect. NC has a very good community college system which your sons could use for the first two years and then transfer (with all earned credits) to one of the big schools in North Carolina's extensive University system. This might save you and your sons a bundle of money! Whatever state you move to, you'll probably have to pay out-of-state tuition for the first year.
When your sons graduate, they'll be looking for jobs and I think North Carolina will offer a greater diversity of employment than Florida will. That may keep them in the area, so once they have families, you'll avoid another "move" to follow them and be near the "grandkids".
Another consideration for you to think about, is where your sons go to college. I'd give the nod to North Carolina in this aspect. NC has a very good community college system which your sons could use for the first two years and then transfer (with all earned credits) to one of the big schools in North Carolina's extensive University system. This might save you and your sons a bundle of money! Whatever state you move to, you'll probably have to pay out-of-state tuition for the first year.
When your sons graduate, they'll be looking for jobs and I think North Carolina will offer a greater diversity of employment than Florida will. That may keep them in the area, so once they have families, you'll avoid another "move" to follow them and be near the "grandkids".
You make a good point about colleges and cost considerations. The OP says his kids will be graduating high school "soon." If they have an idea of where the kids want to go to college, it would be a good time to establish residency while the kids are still in high school or younger. Isn't a 12-month residency required for that? It would be good if the are 9th or 10th graders or younger at the time of the move so they won't be accused of just making the move for the sole purpose of establishing residency for college.
You make a good point about colleges and cost considerations. The OP says his kids will be graduating high school "soon." If they have an idea of where the kids want to go to college, it would be a good time to establish residency while the kids are still in high school or younger. Isn't a 12-month residency required for that? It would be good if the are 9th or 10th graders or younger at the time of the move so they won't be accused of just making the move for the sole purpose of establishing residency for college.
If his kids have an idea about what their major might be, that could help narrow down possible school selections. For instance, if they both wanted to be marine biologists and were strongly committed to that goal, I'd re-think a North Carolina move and give Florida a lot more weight in the relocation equation.
Establishing residency as a goal to save on tuition, isn't a nefarious choice -but a sound economic one. Anything parents can do nowadays to help their children avoid crushing education debt, makes life easier for all parties involved. It's "perfectly legal" too!
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to follow them and be near the "grandkids". 
