Moving for retirement tax reasons

[Accidental Retiree]

Oh, I had forgotten about the ebola outbreaks down on the monkey farm in my hometown. Thanks for posting REWahoo's list again.

My DH has never visited this forum, but he has heard from me about this list.

Whenever I get lonely for family and talk about moving to TX, DH tells me to remember "that guy's list.

 

[REWahoo]

You're welcome.

 

[MichaelB]

Our kids left NY so we decided to move south when we retired to get out of the 200" of snow a year. After visiting several states and communities, we chose Florida. By doing so our property taxes went from 8,000 to 2,000 on the same priced house. We went down to one car. We can walk, golf cart and bike ride almost anywhere we want to go. Our utility bill decreased $75 per month. We now pay no state income tax. We can have a much higher standard of living here with traveling much more than if we stayed in NY.
Also, we are outside so much and get so much more exercise than in all the ice and snow we are much more healthy.
To each his own. Many people have told me they would never move to the villages where we moved to but they have never been here. Their opinions are based on rumors and suppositions. But I love it here. My kids love to visit and they are happy we made a good choice for us. We can afford to do so much more than we ever would have if we stayed in NY. We have met many wonderful people from all over the country and I only wish we had done it sooner.

We moved from NY to Fl 10 years ago. Most of your sentiment we share, we also have many more visitors now, but at least in our case, the oppressive late summer heat here is also pretty bad.

 

[Sirka]

Nothing wrong with Iowa, are you sure your co-workers don't just happen to like warmer weather?

Remember, the most important thing to most of us is the people we are around.

Ha

+1
Put aside the taxes, it is family that matters, when deciding about where to retire. We drew 50 mile radius around our daughters house and looked for a house on the beach or in the local mountains. We believe in 'love them from a distance' and it has worked. We are available for babysitting our grand kids often- it is only an hour away. We would not see them much if we lived in Hawaii, even if we payed for airfare and the cost of living is very high.

 

[45th Birthday]

My situation: large home in Illinois, but no major ties here we couldn't maintain if elsewhere. Except, kids (in college in the northeast) don't want us to sell "their home." Costs lots to maintain.

We have always wanted to be somewhere warm in the winter and had started looking even before this winter's nastiness. We don't like much of Florida, but have found a place we actually like very much. We have a summer home in Mass, so we will not experience the FL summers.

The weather is a factor, but taxes are a pretty major difference. Income taxes aren't such a big deal, but will most likely continue to rise as Illinois can't seem to get its act together on the public pension problem. The real kicker is the estate tax. Even after exclusions, it would amount to the cost of a very nice place in Florida. I would rather leave my kids an asset like that than a large tax bill. Real estate taxes are actually a little less in FL on a $/value basis than where we live in Ill.

So, we're on our way to FL soon for a second house-hunting trip. Will keep the Illinois house for several years, then maybe downsize to a condo.

 

[lynxville]

I became a snow bird, best of both worlds. Don't care much for snow anymore. Not much you can do outside in winter but shovel. Yes you can save some tax money but it's not a lot. It's more of a quality of life issue. The kids fly down for winter vacation, I have different friends in each state, and I look forward to going south in winter and look forward to going north in summer.

 

[Brat]

For those headed to FL: be sure to factor in the cost of property (home) insurance. Income taxes are at least deductible.

 

[travelover]

For those headed to FL: be sure to factor in the cost of property (home) insurance. Income taxes are at least deductible.

Just don't insure. I think the losses are deductible.

 

[AllDone]

We had some pretty extreme cold here in San Diego last month. My gas and electric bill was nearly $50. I'll be glad when summer returns next month.

 

[jebmke]

Just don't insure. I think the losses are deductible.

Under some circumstances and only the excess over 10% of your AGI. Remember that the deduction is only worth the amount (less 10% of AGI) times your tax rate. Insurance pays for the amount less your deductible -- of course you are out the premium.

If a cane sweeps your house out to sea, that is a pretty big nut to recover via tax deductions.

 

[travelover]

Under some circumstances and only the excess over 10% of your AGI. Remember that the deduction is only worth the amount (less 10% of AGI) times your tax rate. Insurance pays for the amount less your deductible -- of course you are out the premium.

If a cane sweeps your house out to sea, that is a pretty big nut to recover via tax deductions.

Thanks for clarifying this. Now I understand why people buy home insurance.