|
I would not retire to a state with high unfunded liabilities and high taxes. Call me silly.......
|
Originally Posted by Racer Ex
(Post 14254138)
Medical care there is iffy. Alpine Med is a pretty basic, anything beyond that and you either life flight or drive two hours to El Paso or Midland. Same with commercial flights.
In the past it had been a huge people/drug smuggling corridor. Not sure what the situation is now. |
Originally Posted by StanSeven
(Post 14254247)
I could back up everything I said with data but I doubt you'll accpet facts
|
Along with Retro Grouch, we want to be near our kids, as we are now. And, Andy needs our advocacy at all times.
Also, since Medicaid benefits for home and community based services are not transferable state to state, and waiting lists are insufferably long in almost all states, Andy, if we moved, would no longer receive the critical services he needs to survive. He would go to the bottom of the waiting list in the new state - generally 10 to 30 years+. So, we better like Colorado, cause we are stuck here. Please see www.noewait.net and http://www.facebook.com/NOEWAIT |
I am stuck in Minnesota for health insurance reasons. But I do love Minnesota. In the summer. I travel in the winter.
Dnvr, I gotcha. |
Originally Posted by lphilpot
(Post 14254303)
I've been going out that way (Ft. Davis, actually) since the late '80s and that's really never been obvious, from what I can see. But I've not looked at the stats. As with any (more or less) border area, there's a noticable INS presence. I've just never had a feeling of danger due to anything like that. Maybe I don't frequent the right places. :D
Drug (and people) smugglers aren't obvious. That's why they call it smuggling ;). Of course I lived and worked in Oakland for years... It is a very neat area. Wouldn't mind having a vacation home/ranch there. |
Originally Posted by Racer Ex
(Post 14254558)
Big Bend Park was a a huge point of smuggling for years....118 miles with a few inches of water between the two countries. Good article from '92. And a current assessment.
Drug (and people) smugglers aren't obvious. That's why they call it smuggling ;). . But, that was before all the smuggling and the so-call "War on Drugs!" If we didn't use them, they wouldn't grow and smuggle them. |
Originally Posted by Racer Ex
(Post 14251211)
Cost of living is on par or below most western states. Taxes a relatively low thanks to the gambling resort income. Low taxes can sometimes mean low service; NV's service level is pretty high, night and day compared to California where you pay 2x the taxes for 1/5 the service.
Nevada's finances ...I don't know of any state that's doing well. That said they have a reasonably diverse economy and a tax system that makes sense; the huge upside is a part time legislature that meet for 120 days every other year. A few years ago they had a surplus and refunded money back. The housing upside is the middle to low range housing is bouncing back, a lot of the "dead" inventory is in the $500k and up properties. You can buy high end stuff at about a 60% or more discount. Starter homes are getting multiple bids. I bought a foreclosure in Reno two years ago and we're right side up. Reno/Tahoe airport is an hour from most of the area (bad weather not withstanding). Very easy to deal with, not crowded at all, lot's of parking. As mentioned, Minden/Gardenerville are worth looking at, Reno and the outlying areas are pretty nice. PS: I'm not getting paid by the chamber of commerce on this. We lived there for 10 years until we relocated to TX for my wife's job, we're back now and split time between there and SoCal. As I said in a previous post, we are looking at many areas, and we often fly in for a few days to look around. Not only do we get to see the potential retirement areas - but we also get to take a lot of short vacations, and see the country :D |
I love my current neighborhood and don't want to leave these great people and nice town. I'm sticking around here for good. We have plenty of room for the kids and their families to come visit the house they grew up in. I'll update its entertainment value.
I AM considering looking for some regular rental locations for those terrible Jan-Feb-Mar months. Current possibilities include several gulf coast spots AL, MS, etc (beach property there is off-season and cheap in the winter but perfect for my riding and golfing). But I'd like to get some friends to consider the same idea. |
Originally Posted by trackhub
(Post 14252915)
In summary, I'm told that Vermont looks lovely on a post card, but if you have to live there, you better be independently wealthy.
I would live in VT in a heartbeat. And, I am not wealthy. Just retired middle class. |
Having watched a lot of people move to NC (where I live) to retire, be very careful to check out that the services that you might need are in fact available.
It's great to be affluent and healthy in a low-tax southern state. If either of those change, life can be not so good. The eastern part of NC - to which my parents retired - is pretty much in a "race to the bottom" against 3rd world countries as far as wages, taxes, and services go. As I prepare for retirement myself, I am more concerned about quality of life issues than low taxes. For example: When I can no longer drive, how am I going to get around this city? When I (or a loved one) need a rehab center, what do those look like? Can I get to/from medical facilities without a car? New Bern - at least when my parents lived there - was littered with empty "dream houses" built by folks who moved here and built the house they had always dreamed. And many of them go to live in the dream house for 2-3 years. Just my thoughts ... |
Originally Posted by bruce19
(Post 14258157)
https://www.retirementliving.com/taxes-by-state
I would live in VT in a heartbeat. And, I am not wealthy. Just retired middle class. I've spent most of my life in Vermont and now live across the lake in NY. Great quality of life in Vermont, schools rated in the top 5 in the nation, wonderful aha type of moments when driving (or biking) when the view says to you "I'm so lucky to be here". Every state gets their taxes somehow. Vermont has a high property tax as that's how their schools are funded. Here in NY, its an extra 15cents a gallon on gas, higher sales tax etc. Live where you'd like , but really you should not assume that paying a few hundred or a grand less in taxes will ensure that you chose the right place. I'd be thrilled to spend my elderly stage in Middlebury VT. Has a hospital, a respected college with a summer language program that draws people from everywhere, a small ski area and more then enough to do. Travel for 3 months to warmer climes. |
Originally Posted by on the path
(Post 14253828)
Cyclinfool, I just noticed you're in upstate NY. I'm not sure where you are, but I'm near Albany. My town has very reasonable taxes and great services. As a matter of fact, most of your criteria is met here. I'm just getting weary of the winters. I want to be able to ride my bike regularly 12 months of the year.
I live in taxation hell - North of Schenectady and South of the Mohawk. We are here for the schools but in about 6 years that will no longer be a need. |
On taxes in the various states... Yes, each state will collect their taxes in some manner, but some are much more retiree friendly than others. And some do have lower overall taxes, without a degradation of services. The state does get its income, but not necessarily from their residents. Take for example Texas, Alaska, and Wyoming who derive a great percentage of their state operating budget from natural resources, (petroleum in these states). Alaska even gives their residents a "tax rebate" every year. In Nevada, you have income from gambling, BLM leases to ranchers, and mineral extraction.
|
Originally Posted by BluesDawg
(Post 14250756)
Interesting thread, even if it is hard to relate. I'll be retiring to my shack in the country a few miles from the small Georgia town where I was born and have lived all but a couple of years of my life. I do hope to visit many of the places mentioned here, but home will be home.
Just send my mail to Box 444, West Texas. They all know me out here. |
Originally Posted by mikepwagner
(Post 14258346)
Having watched a lot of people move to NC (where I live) to retire, be very careful to check out that the services that you might need are in fact available.
It's great to be affluent and healthy in a low-tax southern state. If either of those change, life can be not so good. The eastern part of NC - to which my parents retired - is pretty much in a "race to the bottom" against 3rd world countries as far as wages, taxes, and services go. As I prepare for retirement myself, I am more concerned about quality of life issues than low taxes. For example: When I can no longer drive, how am I going to get around this city? When I (or a loved one) need a rehab center, what do those look like? Can I get to/from medical facilities without a car? New Bern - at least when my parents lived there - was littered with empty "dream houses" built by folks who moved here and built the house they had always dreamed. And many of them go to live in the dream house for 2-3 years. Just my thoughts ... |
Originally Posted by cyclinfool
(Post 14258493)
OK - I'm all ears. What town are you in?
I live in taxation hell - North of Schenectady and South of the Mohawk. We are here for the schools but in about 6 years that will no longer be a need. |
Originally Posted by Monoborracho
(Post 14259431)
You're a realist.
Those two factors explain about 95% of the empty dream houses my parents use to point out to me when we drove around New Bern. "There's the Jones's house. He has 1600 sq foot workshop, he was quite a woodworker. When he couldn't drive anymore, they had to move back up north. That's the Smith's house - they loved that boat. She took quite a loss when she had to sell it after he passed. I think their house has been on the market for 3 years, ever since she moved back to Connecticut to b closer to he daughter..." My big hope is that at least one of my kids is living in a college town when we are retired - from what I can tell, the only public transportation systems that run after dark in non-metropolitan areas in the US are in college towns. One other dismal note :) - a big part of the medical question has to do with auxiliary services. There are a number of towns in my home state where the local hospital is top notch, but the available medical rehab facilities look like something out of a Dickensian pauper's prison. If you can, try to investigate all tiers of health service! |
This is such a great thread.
I live in Antioch, CA, a distant suburb of San Francisco. It's awful. I love my job and my house. The weather is hot, but that means winters are warmish, which is great, But the community is the worst. The city planning is anti-cycling, crime is going up too fast, teh streets are covered with broken glass and teh drivers all think their SUVs are the only important vehicles on the road. Everywhere I'd like to retire is too expensive. I'd love Berkeley, near the university, music, art and theater. I think I'd like Ashland Oregon, home of the Shakespeare fest. Portland has more rain than I need, but otherwise is grand. Where can I escape conservative politics, find art and music, enjoy the California-style weather I love and still be able to afford housing? I have a list of places I know aren't for me: Texas, anywhere in the south, or anywhere that I'd have to shovel snow. Maybe a small college town within a reasonable drive to an actual city... Sugestions? |
Me??? I want to retire in the Appalachian mountains near Butler, TN. Watauga Lake? Gorgeous! No state tax in TN. 20 miles away is Boone, NC which is also awesomely pretty. Don't know how NC taxes compare to TN though.
|
Prescott Arizona or thereabouts for me.
More likely is somewhere in the mountains where the temp's are moderate all year round. |
Originally Posted by cccorlew
(Post 14261154)
This is such a great thread.
Where can I escape conservative politics, find art and music, enjoy the California-style weather I love and still be able to afford housing? |
Years ago I had a friend from CT who went to college in FL. He got married and settled in FL. He used to rail about the cost of living in CT and took every opportunity to tell people that's why he would never move back to CT. Then he had a child with special needs. He immediately moved back to CT because his kid could get the services he needed. Sounds to me like there's a lot of retired folks thinking the same way.
|
Originally Posted by chasm54
(Post 14262290)
Barcelona, Spain. Maybe, if you want a smaller college town, Siena, Italy. Both are on my list, if I do decide to move. Both wonderful places to live.
But that is a long way from family... I don't think my wife would buy having her (currently just one) grandchildren in a different country. |
It is kinda nice living close to grandkids.
|
| All times are GMT -6. The time now is 01:29 AM. |
Copyright © 2026 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.