Where can a US citizen retire outside the US? (housing, hubby, family)
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Did you read the part of her post that said there likely is no signal for your phone to hook up to the internet with? Did you think every store has Wifi?
you do not need wifi or internet connection to search the dictionary. They are downloaded ahead of time. They do not take up too much space either. though I would not download every language under the sun.
My family and I live overseas and we are planning to move back to the USA for 5 years at some point in the future. My Wife who is 30 years younger than me is not a US citizen. According to social security regs, She must live in the USA for five years in order to collect my social security when I pass.
We are currently considering TX and FL. We have a bit of trepidation over FL due to Hurricanes/Tornadoes/flooding/bugs/sinkholes/etc but apparently is better than TX for the following:
Texas is infested with ......rednecks, huge piles of flaming mulch, spontaneously combusting playgrounds, the stench of natural and unnatural gasses, pirate attacks and amoebic meningitis lurking in area lakes, recurring ebola virus outbreaks, flesh eating bacteria, mandatory death sentences for DUI convictions,etc...
Lol!
Did you add some of these just to see if somebody was reading it all?
My family and I live overseas and we are planning to move back to the USA for 5 years at some point in the future. My Wife who is 30 years younger than me is not a US citizen. According to social security regs, She must live in the USA for five years in order to collect my social security when I pass.
We are currently considering TX and FL. We have a bit of trepidation over FL due to Hurricanes/Tornadoes/flooding/bugs/sinkholes/etc but apparently is better than TX for the following:
Texas is infested with scorpions, rattlesnakes, fire ants, crazy raspberry ants, cockroaches on steroids, killer bees, mosquitoes, ticks, chiggers, tarantulas, brown recluse spiders, love bugs, swarming crickets, copperheads, cottonmouths, rabid skunks, wild hogs, alligators, oppressive heat & humidity, bleak desolate scenery, dirty beaches, polluted air, dust storms, drought, wildfires, water shortages, recurring floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, rednecks, huge piles of flaming mulch, spontaneously combusting playgrounds, roads hot as flowing lava, the stench of natural and unnatural gasses, pirate attacks and amoebic meningitis lurking in area lakes, recurring ebola virus outbreaks, flesh eating bacteria, the highest homeowner insurance rates in the US, unbelievably high property taxes, mandatory death sentences for DUI convictions, polygamous religious sects,etc.
When did this (bolded) come into effect?
I lived in TX for 10 years ... and believe me, this native northerner does NOT like even the idea of poisonous snakes, scorpions and the like but I never once saw any of those (thank goodness) nor most of the rest of your list. The worst things for me there were the high heat and humidity, and the threat of tornadoes (several passed nearby and most houses don't have basements so that was not fun). My late husband spent 30 plus years in TX and he never mentioned any (except what I did) of your list either.
Yes, it can seem as though the property taxes are high there but there is also no state income tax. Governments get your money one way or another. I have lived quite a few places and found if one thing is low generally another is high to balance it out and make sure you don't leave with more than the $1 you came with.
I didn't absolutely adore TX but it certainly was nowhere close to what your list makes it sound. I would prefer it personally to living anywhere in FL to be honest. I do hope you were being a bit tongue in cheek about all this. Exactly where in TX were you contemplating living ... in the boonies somewhere or in even a relatively small town? Maybe some of your list can be found some places in TX but it certainly is not completely valid everywhere.
...how many retirees get stuck in the same humdrum life day in and day out with no change or challenges? ...The intellectual and physical stimulation involved with moving to an entirely new country can be a great thing for a retiree. At least that's my perspective, but I must admit to having more wanderlust than the average human.
It stands to reason that a surfeit of wanderlust means that the people in question will explore and venture into the unfamiliar, regardless of what's said on an online forum. I wish them all the very best. The operative question here, I think, is for more conservative and skittish people, who seek serenity more than adventure. Should they move abroad, not for reasons of adventure or stimulation, but to enjoy a more commodious, lower-cost or politically more palatable life? Maybe they should. But caution is merited, even if they are intimately familiar with the culture, are fluent in the language and so forth. In the example that I cited, the thought is about Tom Wolfe's "You can't go home again". Never mind international questions. This even applies say to a person who hails from a small American town, who moves away for college, settles in the big-city, and after a rewarding and remunerative career hankers to return to said town. But it is no longer welcoming or idyllic. It hasn't grown the way that the person in question has grown. One feels, as it were, a foreigner there.
Being some years away from retirement myself, but with a workplace-tenure that most people would find to be sufficient to justify retiring in the near-term, I often wonder regarding the "ideal" location. This is because I moved to where I presently live, merely for the job - and not for quality of life, or the culture, ore the climate, or the economy. My career has been a sort of deployment, where I took it upon myself to live in an undesirable place, but one that was necessary for the "mission" of my job. Upon completing said mission, what then? Desire for change is in competition with inertia and acceptance of the now-familiar.
I lived in TX for 10 years ... and believe me, this native northerner does NOT like even the idea of poisonous snakes, scorpions and the like but I never once saw any of those (thank goodness) nor most of the rest of your list. The worst things for me there were the high heat and humidity, and the threat of tornadoes (several passed nearby and most houses don't have basements so that was not fun). My late husband spent 30 plus years in TX and he never mentioned any (except what I did) of your list either.
Yes, it can seem as though the property taxes are high there but there is also no state income tax. Governments get your money one way or another. I have lived quite a few places and found if one thing is low generally another is high to balance it out and make sure you don't leave with more than the $1 you came with.
I didn't absolutely adore TX but it certainly was nowhere close to what your list makes it sound. I would prefer it personally to living anywhere in FL to be honest. I do hope you were being a bit tongue in cheek about all this. Exactly where in TX were you contemplating living ... in the boonies somewhere or in even a relatively small town? Maybe some of your list can be found some places in TX but it certainly is not completely valid everywhere.
I have family in Houston, Dallas, and west Texas, travel to the Panhandle for business, and have lived near El Paso and have seen or heard of all of this list except for the mandatory death sentence (which was a funny joke), high home insurance rates, and the playground. My brother near Houston makes 1/2 of my income but pays more for property tax than I pay for property tax and state income tax combined (and I pay some of the highest property taxes in my state). And with the oil bust and many unemployed in that area (and west Texas), his property taxes have increased $2K in the last two years. Not a very progressive tax structure.
I have family in Houston, Dallas, and west Texas, travel to the Panhandle for business, and have lived near El Paso and have seen or heard of all of this list except for the mandatory death sentence (which was a funny joke), high home insurance rates, and the playground. My brother near Houston makes 1/2 of my income but pays more for property tax than I pay for property tax and state income tax combined (and I pay some of the highest property taxes in my state). And with the oil bust and many unemployed in that area (and west Texas), his property taxes have increased $2K in the last two years. Not a very progressive tax structure.
Your brother also pays county and city taxes. I am sure you do to. The odds are 1.9% of his home value does not exceed your state income and property taxes combined.
New Mexico income tax is 4.9% for every couples income over 24K. The state property tax rate is 0.73%.
From a March 2015 article.
Quote:
The appraisal district said almost 90 percent of the homes in Harris County increased in value this year by about 15 percent. That means a home valued at $250,000 last year will now be worth about $287,500 this year.
That is why your brother's taxes went up. Nothing to do with layoffs.
The OP was planning to move for political reasons.
This is a good point. The political winds of the US change with... well, the winds. I sure wouldn't plan a major life step like emigration based on who happens to be sitting in the Oval Office.
Granted, every change of executive branch results in so many people on internet message boards declaring their intention to move to another country, with follow through rate probably less that 0.000001%.
Did you read the part of her post that said there likely is no signal for your phone to hook up to the internet with? Did you think every store has Wifi?
1. A given language can be downloaded for use offline. They really don't even take up that much space since text is about as frugal as you can get.
2. Most people who are actually moving to another country would probably have actual cell phone service, so the store having wifi isn't relevant.
3. If you've moved somewhere and shop for the same household items over and over, how long do you think it really takes before you've figured out where your preferred shampoo (or whatever) is in your located and what it looks like?
The complaints about finding shampoo in Walmart are especially puzzling given #3 above, what does someone retire to Mexico then every month when buying shampoo have trouble finding the aisle all over again, and can't recognize the bottle they've been reaching for in the shower every day? I'm not a goldfish, 2nd or 3rd trip to the same store I know exactly where stuff is.
Texas is infested with scorpions, rattlesnakes, fire ants, crazy raspberry ants, cockroaches on steroids, killer bees, mosquitoes, ticks, chiggers, tarantulas, brown recluse spiders, love bugs, swarming crickets, copperheads, cottonmouths, rabid skunks, wild hogs, alligators, oppressive heat & humidity, bleak desolate scenery, dirty beaches, polluted air, dust storms, drought, wildfires, water shortages, recurring floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, rednecks, huge piles of flaming mulch, spontaneously combusting playgrounds, roads hot as flowing lava, the stench of natural and unnatural gasses, pirate attacks and amoebic meningitis lurking in area lakes, recurring ebola virus outbreaks, flesh eating bacteria, the highest homeowner insurance rates in the US, unbelievably high property taxes, mandatory death sentences for DUI convictions, polygamous religious sects,etc.
Knew there were many reasons to stay away from TX. Thanks for taking the time to make a list.
I love my family, friends, and life in the US. I'd miss the get togethers, The hey want to meet me on the strip for a daycation. Etc.
Also love the 2 long trips we take internationally per year. Always glad to see the strip from the inside of a silver tube coming home.
If I was to move overseas, I'd buy a game reserve in SA. sure that would get old eventually.
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