Family of 3 Needs Insight

[artemis]

[quote=titanspreds_04;40239667]

Originally Posted by STL2006

STL2006- What do you pay into federal gov't after all deductions(including property tax)? Property tax is a huge deduction to your tax bill in some cases.

My brother lives in Metro East (St. Louis) and we both have similar homes and jobs. He always geys back far more than i do living in Middle TN. I typically pay in several thousand during tax time. My point is, you get more money back the more you pay in for taxes. in some instances, it can take you down a full tax bracket.

It sounds like you need to adjust your withholding.

[STL2006]

Originally Posted by titanspreds_04

Also the average gas price today in TN is 2.53. The average gas price in Missouri is 2.55. I really dont understand how this will make much of a difference. Ballwin, Mo area gas to Williamson Co. gas Is actually cheaper in most areas.

Sorry, we're starting to intermingle Chicago with St. Louis prices. Gas in STL isn't a consideration vs Nashville. Also, the Metro East vs MO isn't apples-to-apples. Their property taxes are double what they are in MO (which in turn are double what they are in Nashville area) and their gas tax is much higher.

I'm not counting anything as being different between STL and Nashville other than the quality of home in a great school district you can get (much better in Nashville), state income tax (6% in MO) and property taxes (1.3-1.4%in STL area), because everything else is essentially the same (gas, sales tax, personal property/luxury tax).

I'm in a situation where I'm pretty much getting a refund every tax return and there's not much I can adjust. A huge portion of my compensation is bonus income and the govt takes a huge chunk up front out of that, non-negotiable. Something that wouldn't be present in Nashville is I pay an extra 1% earnings tax on top of state income tax to the city of STL because my office is located inside the city limits. So essentially, both my wife and I are paying 7% state income tax in MO.

[titanspreds_04]

Lol! Yes, it is getting confusing. Best of luck on whatever you decide. Williamson County is a nice area. The Ballwin area is beautiful though. I kind on envy you. The Nashville area feels very prospective and transient now.

[STL2006]

Originally Posted by titanspreds_04

Lol! Yes, it is getting confusing. Best of luck on whatever you decide. Williamson County is a nice area. The Ballwin area is beautiful though. I kind on envy you. The Nashville area feels very prospective and transient now.

Thanks, these kinds of threads are really helping us in our decision making. My wife is from the South, I'm from STL. We both have our hearts in two different places right now.

Pluses and minuses for both. No matter what, we love both cities and I'm sure we'll end up being happy whether we stay here or move to Nashville.

[brentwoodgirl]

Here is a good chart with total tax burden by state. Your personal situation obviously has some impact, but if you are a homeowner and mid to high income earner, you will benefit more from the lower tax burden.

States with the highest and lowest tax burdens

I lived in Chicago briefly and loved living in the city, although I hated all the toll roads. My job was paying for my housing and my job was HQ'd in another state, so I didn't have to worry about the high property or income taxes. Chicago is a world class city and living in Nashville will be much different. I think Nashville is a wonderful, creative city that offers something special that you can't find in most mid-sized cities. But you won't find anything like the Field Museum, Pier, etc here. You also won't have access to public transportation like you do in Chicago. In fact, the difference is so great, it would almost be safer to assume there is no public transportation at all here.

The main thing to consider in taxation is what services you might losing for the lower tax rates. In Nashville and the suburbs, that would mainly be public transportation. But you gain better roads and our roads aren't toll roads. Other than that, you would have pretty much every service you would expect. The only thing we don't have in Brentwood that I would expect is trash/recycling pick up. We pay $48 a quarter for trash pick up from a private service. When we lived in Nashville, we did have trash and recycling pick up from the city.

If you were moving to a rural area, the difference in services can be vast. But in the Nashville area, you will find pretty much the same services as other major cities minus public transportation.