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To me, while beautiful, Maine and New Hampshire are COLD and expensive. How can an elderly person be expected to shovel snow in his driveway? That does not feel like retirement to me. I would think the South would be better, with less snow and cheaper to live...
Most people in those areas have snow blowers- often multi-stage, meaning less exertion needed to remove snow. Newer houses are far more efficient and much better insulated than most in the South. I have seen an ICF house with R60 insulation with low average heating costs. The lower the square footage the lower the operating costs. I would never retire in the South because I can't stand the heat and humidity along with the brutality of the sun. It is only April and the sun is already far too strong, and I'm in the Upper South/Lower Midwest.
Every time I read these stories of the best or the worst states for retirees, the list they come up with are completely different. It makes me start to think that they just make this stuff up.
I settled in the Phoenix area but it was too hot and too crowded. Now I live in Sierra Vista, on the border. It's at 4800 ft so it is cool, Taxes are low, We could use better healthcare. I can see Mexico but I have not had a problem in ten years. I used to see the Border Patrol every day but haven't seen much of them lately. I can't wait for them to start building that graffiti covered monument to stupidity that I will be able to see from my yard
San Bernardino, ca ranks #4 as the worse place to live. I totally agree. The state of ca ranks #42 out of 50. I am not surprised.
People vote with their feet (or hired moving trucks). California is extremely overcrowded because it's a great place to live, but less so because of the overcrowding. (That's sort of a vicious circle, isn't it?)
And no, I am not naïve and I am not unaware of certain disadvantages to living in California in addition to the overcrowding. However, the thread is not about pro's and con's of living in California so I tried to be brief here.
San Bernardino is certainly one of the worst places to live in California, so I hope you're not judging an entire state by San Bernardino.
Many thanks to all those who responded about wood stoves!
I certainly appreciate those who took the trouble to answer my questions about wood stoves, especially Submariner in his detailed post #66. I find it all fascinating, but doubt if I would be a happy camper with one because I have been spoiled by too many years of just setting and forgetting the thermostat. It might be quite fun for a couple of weeks, though.
People vote with their feet (or hired moving trucks). California is extremely overcrowded because it's a great place to live, but less so because of the overcrowding. (That's sort of a vicious circle, isn't it?)
And no, I am not naïve and I am not unaware of certain disadvantages to living in California in addition to the overcrowding. However, the thread is not about pro's and con's of living in California so I tried to be brief here.
San Bernardino is certainly one of the worst places to live in California, so I hope you're not judging an entire state by San Bernardino.
I see ALOT of illegals in S.B. & I am not judging the state by one crappy & dirty city.
Indeed. If I intend to live in my house for the rest of my life (and I do) - why would I want the value to go up? So my tax bill will go up?
What you describe, I think can be found for one place around Spokane, or even around the Tri-Cities, depending on how set you are on the "big town" part of the equation. Around here you will be stuck with driving a car to that walkable downtown, or Uber. Interestingly in Eastern Europe there are many small towns out along rail and tram tracks, said train will take you downtown quickly, in my experience safely, and for a very low price.
When I was much younger and going to college, I took 6 months off from school and traveled to Italy and lived with my grandparents. Their home was situated close enough to where almost anything I wanted to do was within walking distance. The downtown with a glorious piazza including a large fountain, had everything I needed and the beach was walking distance too. I always felt safe. My grandmother lived to be 103 and she rode her bike into downtown until she was in her late 70s.
Now that I'm closer and closer to retiring I hope to find a town with a population of about 2000 - 10,000 people with a nice historic town center where most things will be within walking distance for me. I've discovered there are hundreds of towns like this in middle America (without the beach) that might get an occasional dusting of snow but most years nothing major. I'm in the process of narrowing it down, but that's my goal. Ironically, the states I find most appealing are not anywhere near the top of that list
A friend of mine sold their house for $230,000 in Hollywood Florida and it was only 1000 sq. ft. Taxes was around 4000.00 a year.
That's 1.7%, so not much, for a state with no income tax and low sales taxes.
Property taxes are just a part of the tax picture. I've researched various places in TX and Louisiana, for example.
TX has one of the highest property tax rates in the nation. LA is one of the lowest.
I paid 2.74% property tax when I lived in Dallas. Houston area can be 3% or more. Louisiana, by contrast, can be .009%. BUT:
Homeowner's Ins rates are close to double in Louisiana vs TX areas I looked in. (Plus some ins. cos. simply don't sell in La., so less competition)
Louisiana taxes grocery foods (Texas doesn't).
TX sales tax in city I was in: 8.25%
LA sales tax in city I looked in: 10.45% (even for cars and big purchases) (possibly $1k more a yr)
LA flood insurance is required in a number of places (even if not required, may be wise to get it).
Health ins. is about $200/mo. more for me in LA vs TX (that's $2,400 a year).
LA has a state income tax, while TX does not (altho the LA income tax is low).
Auto ins. is more in LA than TX, generally.
So taxes & COL in LA total to be more than in TX (in cities I researched).
People vote with their feet (or hired moving trucks). California is extremely overcrowded because it's a great place to live, but less so because of the overcrowding. (That's sort of a vicious circle, isn't it?)
And no, I am not naïve and I am not unaware of certain disadvantages to living in California in addition to the overcrowding. However, the thread is not about pro's and con's of living in California so I tried to be brief here.
San Bernardino is certainly one of the worst places to live in California, so I hope you're not judging an entire state by San Bernardino.
I agree. That's where we are here in Texas. It's a great place to live and because it is, it has gotten quite overcrowded. And now that it's overcrowded, its appeal has worn off for many residents: more traffic, toll roads, pollution, taxes, etc. . .
As for the list, I'm convinced it was written by a snowbird. Retirees generally prefer warmer weather. I think the writer is off base.
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