Taxes in Canada vs US

[Rob]

Hi all,
I have a chance to both retire (at a later date) in Canada and get Canadian PR. I'm applying for the PR soon. I taught at a university and internationally for a number of years, so a Canadian university is making it a bit easy for me to do some part time lecturing and teaching at the same time while working on my PR application. I like Canada, and appreciate the more relaxed lifestyle.

I'm having second thoughts. however. I have a nice personal retirement plan already that is taxed only on the earnings. If I lived in the States, my retirement income taxable would maybe be only 7 or 8%. I've heard some stories that retirement income can be taxed as high as 30% as a single person. Is that correct?

There is also the possibility that I might get married with a woman who works at the same school as I do, and she's Canadian. We could live in the States, and she might work on her US green card. However, we both prefer Canada. Is there quite a tax break for married couples in Canada? How does that work?

The part about Canada I like is the free health care, however slow. But if the 2 of us lived in the States, we'd pay less taxes and perhaps need to but our own health care. Are there any of you out there that actually are Americans retired in Canada? Do you ever have any regrets?

Regards,
Rob

 

[kcowan]

I answered in your duplicate post. Where are you planning to settle down? Here is an example of how you can achieve low enough overheads that you can still be a snowbird all winter: $69,500 completely furnished and carries for under $350 per month:
Photos and video clips of Saskatchewan home for sale cheap - low cost real estate Regina Moose Jaw Estevean Weyburn

 

[Red_y]

A bit of news to add to your considerations:

It looks like the Canadian taxation system will finally be recognizing Roth IRAs as 'pensions' and not taxing the earnings:

Serbinski Accounting Firms :: View topic - New protocol to US-Canada tax treaty agreed

The US/Canada tax treaty had previously NOT allowed earnings in Roth IRAs to go untaxed if you were subject to Canadian taxation. This is great news for myself and the other Canadian board members with substantial Roth IRAs accumulated while working in the US.

 

[Milton]

But if the 2 of us lived in the States, we'd pay less taxes and perhaps need to but our own health care.

Something else to consider: the weather in the States is much nicer than Canada. While it's true that some Canadians winter in Florida, etc., they have to maintain a residence in Canada too ... if you move back to the States on a permanent basis, you'll only need to buy and maintain one home, which will typically save a lot of $ and hassles.