Reducing Taxes: Which State did you move to?

[ziggy29]

I moved to Nevada 22 years ago for a job. My husband is a native. We have very low property taxes and no state income tax. I love the mild 4 seasons and all the festivals, etc so always lots to do. Plus we have a great friend network. I wouldn’t move for tax reasons. Someone on another forum did and a year later still unhappy.

I think that's worth a lot. If you are happy where you are, and you can afford to live where you are in a manner you are accustomed to, why move? Taxes are only one of *many* factors, and if all the other factors point to staying in-place, there's nothing wrong with staying put -- consider the tax as a cost of being where you want to be.

 

[Teacher Terry]

Sun, they moved from Texas to Colorado. They moved because of high property taxes. They are conservatives so not a good fit and they left behind family and friends. There house is cheaper than the one that they sold. Foolishly they bought a 2 story house so they cannot age in place and are in their 60’s.

 

[Spock]

Lookit the effort people here go through to move hot money around to the highest yielding saving account/CD paying 0.1% more
or tax planning/avoidance.
Property tax + state income tax = 14.13% of our 2018 income and we're in a fairly LCOL area now. Moving is definitely on the table.

 

[Dtail]

For us, FLA was a definite savings from our prior HCOL NE state. Lower insurances, no state tax and much lower housing prices.
Not to mention, we do love the hot weather, including the 6 month summer.

 

[USGrant1962]

Lookit the effort people here go through to move hot money around to the highest yielding saving account/CD paying 0.1% more
or tax planning/avoidance.
Property tax + state income tax = 14.13% of our 2018 income and we're in a fairly LCOL area now. Moving is definitely on the table.

It turns out that State and Local taxes were my biggest recurring expense last year, followed closely by unsubsidized health insurance, followed not as closely by Federal taxes (including some self-employment tax).

So yeah, way more important that 0.1% on a CD. I'm not in any hurry to move, but it is certainly an input to that discussion.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

Here in Florida, Re Taxes were 5% of our income. No state taxes. If I add insurance it goes up to about 7%.

 

[Walt34]

Although the COL is WV is lower than in MD where we moved from that is not the reason we moved, although it was an added incentive. The main reason we moved was to escape the traffic in the area of Washington, D.C. While taxes and real estate are significantly lower cost in WV everything else is nearly the same. Gasoline and groceries for example are a little cheaper but certainly nowhere near enough to justify a move.

 

[target2019]

We are staying in NJ - mil pension not taxed, they just added a $3k income tax exemption for veterans, sales tax is lower than many other states of interest, 4 actual weather seasons, lots to do location-wise (outdoors/dining/cultural things), military bases, VA clinics/hospitals, major airport...I could go on...

And an increasing pension exclusion is taking place as we speak. I agree with your other points as well. Thanks for serving, also.

 

[wyecrabber1]

We picked Florida, leaving Maryland

DW and I are driving to St. Augustine next week to settle on our new home. We won't move until early 2020 -- we purchased the model home and are leasing it back to the builder for 12 months.

We'll save a significant amount due to no state income tax, once RMDs kick in the savings will be over $10K per year. Moving to an area where we have a number of family and friends. It was also important to be near the water for fishing/kayaking and boating. Insurance is less than we are paying now, utilities are lower (except for water).

I'm done with the cold, the crime and the corrupt politicians.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

DW and I are driving to St. Augustine next week to settle on our new home. We won't move until early 2020 -- we purchased the model home and are leasing it back to the builder for 12 months.

We'll save a significant amount due to no state income tax, once RMDs kick in the savings will be over $10K per year. Moving to an area where we have a number of family and friends. It was also important to be near the water for fishing/kayaking and boating. Insurance is less than we are paying now, utilities are lower (except for water).

I'm done with the cold, the crime and the corrupt politicians.

That is where we live. If you PM me with the development info, perhaps I can get you some additional "Local" info.

We pay on average $45pm for water.

Congratulations......

 

[GNXGuy]

You have no idea what the value of what you incorrectly call a perceived benefit actually is. For someone I know, they can purchase a nice home and live in it for the savings of State income tax alone from a State with an income tax (Illinois)

Was is this not a good reason

Not really a good reason to pick up an move for only one perceived benefit though.

 

[RobbieB]

I moved to California to reduce my taxes.

 

[Teacher Terry]

A friend of mine is selling their house in New jersey because when retiring they cannot afford the property taxes anymore. It’s 20k/year.

 

[ownyourfuture]

I may be the only one here that will choose the State of South Dakota. No state income tax, excellent medical facilities and airport in Sioux Falls. World class hunting & fishing. Low cost of living and low crime. If winter gets long, fly someplace warm for a while.

You're not the only one. Lifelong Minnesota resident who is just fed up.

 

[travelover]

We were planning on moving to Oregon to be with our daughter but realized that just across the river in Washington there is no income tax and Oregon has no sales tax, should one decide to drive a few miles to save on a large purchase.

 

[Markola]

We were planning on moving to Oregon to be with our daughter but realized that just across the river in Washington there is no income tax and Oregon has no sales tax, should one decide to drive a few miles to save on a large purchase.

Good example of Geographic Arbitrage!

 

[Bamaman]

We moved from Georgia to Alabama--more to get away from Atlanta's traffic than to save on taxes. We seldom experience much of any rush hour in a city of 140,000.

Until RMD's kick in, we pay no state income taxes. 5% thereafter. Property taxes on our $400K lake house are $1,100 a year. My main home property taxes are $0 due to my wife being disabled.

Home prices on existing houses are as low as any in the U.S. We find food prices substantially lower than in surrounding states, especially in large cities. Healthcare is as good as there is in our city and in the three cities of 1 million people within 2 hours away.

We love having 4 seasons and virtually no snow in the winters. Our Summers are really hot, but we're setup to handle the heat.

But it's the quality of life that we enjoy. 2 colleges in town with 14,000 students bring culture. We're also have a thriving musical and theatre scene. Our homes are very beautiful (for the $ spent) and much larger than we deserve. It's nice having 2 Robert Trent Jones golf courses on our street and another RTJ course across the lake at the yacht club. We just live very big on a modest budget.

 

[audreyh1]

A strong motivation for remaining TX residents was our low income tax situation. Plus we don’t like cold winters.

 

[robnplunder]

My choice would be Nevada, Reno area. We are familiar with the place as we scouted the place for potential retirement place. It's a striking difference from Bay Area where we live now, and Los Angeles where most of our relatives reside. We can play golf most of the year. House prices are relatively cheap compare to CA, and there is no State income tax. Unfortunately, those are the only positives from our perspective (YMMV), hence, we are not serious about moving to Nevada. We accumulated enough to retire in Bay Area but we will see what happens when I have to start withdrawing from 401k.

 

[Another Reader]

We were planning on moving to Oregon to be with our daughter but realized that just across the river in Washington there is no income tax and Oregon has no sales tax, should one decide to drive a few miles to save on a large purchase.

Both states have an estate tax... Suggest you make that calculation and include it on your list of things to consider.

ETA: Here is Oregon's chart. https://pnwprobate.com/portland-estate-planning-blog/2018/1/18/2018-oregon-estate-tax-rates

And Washington's, which is a bit more generous. https://dor.wa.gov/find-taxes-rates/other-taxes/estate-tax-tables

 

[aja8888]

We lived in CT before it created an income tax and endured the winters. We did stints in Michigan also. We got sick of winter and ended up in California for a dozen years. Once the kids got in middle/high school, we decided to move to Texas where we are now and will be for the foreseeable future. Cool winters, hot summers and no state income tax. Probably the best of all worlds for us at thus point.

 

[audreyh1]

Both states have an estate tax... Suggest you make that calculation and include it on your list of things to consider.

ETA: Here is Oregon's chart. https://pnwprobate.com/portland-estate-planning-blog/2018/1/18/2018-oregon-estate-tax-rates

And Washington's, which is a bit more generous. https://dor.wa.gov/find-taxes-rates/other-taxes/estate-tax-tables

Winter weather and estate taxes is what keeps us from leaping over to the Pacific Northwest.

 

[Scuba]

I moved to California to reduce my taxes.

You must be kidding!

 

[Qs Laptop]

You're not the only one. Lifelong Minnesota resident who is just fed up.

Sure, but moving to South Dakota to get away from Minnesota? Not far enough, if you ask me.

The weather terrorists have been trumpeting the snow storm we are supposed to get tonight/tomorrow/next day for four days now. I guess they wanted to scare visitors that were in town for the Final Four. Prediction is 10" to 12", maybe more. Remember last April 15-16? Got 16" of snow.

 

[Qs Laptop]

A friend of mine is selling their house in New jersey because when retiring they cannot afford the property taxes anymore. It’s 20k/year.

Have a friend that moved from New Jersey (3,500 sq. ft home) where he was paying $18,000 a year in property taxes to North Carolina (4,000 sq. ft home) where he pays $3,800 a year in property taxes. That is plenty incentive, though there were other reasons.