Retiring: lowest tax burden Texas or Florida?

[Rustic23]

We lived in Fl. a total of about 5 years. There is something to be said about living in an area that caters to your age group, and for Fl. it is the senior crowd.

 

[bbbamI]

It's that much in TX counties that require vehicle emissions testing. Not all TX counties require it (the less urban areas), and state inspection is very cheap.

Audrey

Son of a gun...I learn something new every day.

 

[REWahoo]

Son of a gun...I learn something new every day.

Out here in the sticks we pay only $14.50...even to inspect that thing in my avatar.

 

[Moemg]

I assume you mean state inspection? For the past few years we've paid $39.75 for the inspection of one vehicle.

In florida ,no need for inspection . You just drive your car without major parts until it stops .

 

[bbbamI]

In florida ,no need for inspection . You just drive your car without major parts until it stops .

First you tell me I would be considered a 'hot tamale' when I am 80 in Florida...now you tell me I can drive a bucket of bolts. Sounds like heaven to me...I'm on my way!

 

[Orchidflower]

Just to be clear - we were (temporarily) talking about property insurance rates, not property taxes.

Audrey

Sorry, Audrey, yes I meant insurance rates.

 

[Orchidflower]

I have never lived in Texas but Florida is a haven for older singles . There is a real active social life that you can join pretty quickly and feel comfotable in even if you are alone . So if taxes are equal I'd pick Florida for that reason !

Totally agree, Moemg, but I am really afraid of what will happen the longer Florida is having fiscal unhealth, which is a nice way to say broke. What will happen to the tax situation for retirees in Florida by, say, 2015? Will State services be cut badly? The usual paranoid thoughts... Florida is one of the seven States potentially going really under with the weight of a huge tax burden...not a good thing for residents.
What do you read in the papers about this down in Sarasota, Moemg?

 

[audreyh1]

For fulltime RVers, Texas, Florida and and South Dakota are the popular choices. Most mail forwarding services are also located in these states. Just fyi, you use the address of the mail forwarding service as your domicile.

Our address is Wichita Falls, TX. Uh.......we have never been there.

Well it's in the flat lands way northwest of Dallas/Fort Worth (close to the OK border), and famous for tornados. Just in case you thought you might want to visit.....

Audrey

 

[Orchidflower]

Ever hear Dr. Phil talk? THAT's Wichita Falls...and that's the way that dog hunts as Phil would say.

 

[Moemg]

Totally agree, Moemg, but I am really afraid of what will happen the longer Florida is having fiscal unhealth, which is a nice way to say broke. What will happen to the tax situation for retirees in Florida by, say, 2015? Will State services be cut badly? The usual paranoid thoughts... Florida is one of the seven States potentially going really under with the weight of a huge tax burden...not a good thing for residents.
What do you read in the papers about this down in Sarasota, Moemg?

Florida gets ton of money from tourism and that is still going strong . I have not heard one thing about any cuts nor have I seen any news about fiscal unhealth .

 

[audreyh1]

Sorry, Audrey, yes I meant insurance rates.

Interesting, I thought home insurance rates were out of control in FL and never heard about them being a problem in TX.

Article says different - I had no idea!

Maybe it's just certain sections of FL that have really high insurance costs.

Audrey

 

[Orchidflower]

This is an article from 2008 BusinessWeek, but there were some real eyeopeners for me on it like Alabama? Delaware? I thought they were healthier, but take a gander yourself:
States in Worst Budget Trouble: Shortfall States - BusinessWeek

A new article that I found really interesting about which States are closest to having some serious, serious budget problems and why not to retire in 7 States. There is another study on the net that has a list of 10 States, so they added 3 more (N. Carolina being one).
Here are the 7:
http://www.topretirements.com/blog/financial/4-reasons-why-not-to-retire-in-these-7-states.html/

 

[Orchidflower]

Interesting, I thought home insurance rates were out of control in FL and never heard about them being a problem in TX.

Article says different - I had no idea!

Maybe it's just certain sections of FL that have really high insurance costs.

Audrey

Amazing what you can find out when you do some digging, eh? Wish this computer had been around when I was still married...maybe I could have caught my ex- sooner..ha!

 

[Eladio]

I assume you mean state inspection? For the past few years we've paid $39.75 for the inspection of one vehicle.

Yes $13 dollars for the state safety inspection. We live in an area that does not require emissions testing. You know "Put Texas in your corner, stick up for the Lone Star State".

Eladio

 

[IndependentlyPoor]

Texas may (or may not) be also getting into budget trouble. I have been hearing about looming deficits, but respectable sources that are not obviously politically motivated are hard to come by. This is about the best that I can do.

Despite concern, state economic figures show improvement | Houston & Texas News | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

There also might be a shortfall in the fund for property tax reduction that the state enacted some years ago, but it is an election year and I can't find [-]much[/-] anything written about this that I trust.

 

[Orchidflower]

Yup, heard something on the news up here in Illinois about there may be a concern about the Texas economy's health but can't quote it or even paraphrase what it was. I will pay more attention in the future if it comes on again.

 

[audreyh1]

For fulltime RVers, Texas, Florida and and South Dakota are the popular choices. Most mail forwarding services are also located in these states. Just fyi, you use the address of the mail forwarding service as your domicile.

Our address is Wichita Falls, TX. Uh.......we have never been there.

One of the reasons TX and SD are popular for full-timers (besides no state income tax) is because the requirements for establishing residency are not as extensive as some states. FL - I'm not quite as sure, as I think there is some time requirement for residency. I think there are six? states that do not have state income taxes, but notice that they others (WA, WY, and ?) don't come up as fulltimer options.

Audrey

 

[audreyh1]

Yup, heard something on the news up here in Illinois about there may be a concern about the Texas economy's health but can't quote it or even paraphrase what it was. I will pay more attention in the future if it comes on again.

Seems like TX in general has lower than national unemployment rate and usually has less budget issues than many other states. I haven't heard anything that indicates this has changed.

The economic base in the state is very diverse and modern. The rural areas may suffer more with economic hardship, but the urban areas seem to go great gangbusters economically. You can see the affluence around the larger cities with the fancy neighborhoods and high-end shopping centers. Very obvious around Houston, Austin, San-Antonio, and the DFW metroplex.

After the 80s oil bust (followed by a real-estate bust) decimated the state, TX really went through a tremendous economic rebirth. This in turn brought a huge inflow of population seeking jobs.

We do have some pretty wild politics though (and it's not that pretty).

Audrey

 

[Rustic23]

For those that want to plow through Texas's economics here is a summary from their latest annual report:

http://www.window.state.tx.us/finances/pubs/cafr/09/pdf/CAFR09-analysis.pdf

the whole report can be found here

Texas Comprehensive Annual Financial Report

From the management summary

Energy prices are substantially lower than the previ-
ous three years providing state consumers some relief
from higher household expenses due to energy costs and
the national recession. The single-family housing market
is still weak due to declining property values. Weak credit
markets further undermined the housing market by reduc-
ing the volume of home sales and lower demand resulted in
a decline of housing starts. Growth in sales tax collections,
an indicator of taxable retail sales activity, was weak for
most of 2009, in contrast to three years of strong growth,
from 2006 through 2008.
Although a weakened economy is foreseen for the
immediate months, positive signs include an increase in
new business incorporations, an upward trend in retail
sales growth, rapidly increasing stock values of Texas
corporations and higher forecasted growth in the national
economy. Consumer confidence is also showing positive
trends. Negative signs are found in housing permits being
substantially lower than 2007 and 2008 levels and the aver-
age manufacturing hours per workweek, while increasing,
With the current economic instability and changes
occurring both in Texas and the nation, predictions are for
a weak Texas economy for the start of 2010, but trending
rapidly toward positive territory or growth.

 

[ziggy29]

We do have some pretty wild politics though (and it's not that pretty).

Which reminds me -- it won't be long before another redistricting fiasco again... (sigh)

 

[Hamlet]

I don't think that I would let the tax tail wag the retirement dog.

Figure out where you want to live based on the qualities that you want that place to have. Taxes are one factor of many. Sometimes (not always) the taxes are low because they've cut some pretty important services.

Having been to Texas and Florida, I don't know that I would put them anywhere near the top of the list for my retirement. .

 

[audreyh1]

They are both big states with a wide diversity of geographical regions, so you would really have to travel each state extensively to really determine suitability.

Of course, we have plenty of people here already!

Audrey

 

[REWahoo]

Of course, we have plenty of ...

... 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, amoebic meningitis lurking in area lakes, recurring ebola virus outbreaks, flesh eating bacteria, staggering homeowner insurance rates, unbelievably high property taxes, mandatory death sentences for DUI convictions, and polygamous religious sects.


And then there are the things the TX Chamber of Commerce really doesn't want you to know about...

 

[Rustic23]

like, well, like really huge RVs!

 

[ziggy29]

like, well, like really huge RVs!

Out here, at least in the spring time, it's more like the huge "biker invasions" every weekend. But as long as they're going to spend their money here, so be it...