Are you "lucky"if you have a secure retirement?

[TomSeller]

California has plenty of problems but the rest of the country has just as many and we have the weather which to me is well worth the "sunshine tax" we pay.

Right. California is cool. If it were not for the population, I would like to live there. Very nice place.

 

[ultrarunner]

Surprised at the number of bright people I work with with ties to Michigan... some have roots going way back.

Two are doctors that met as students... I've asked them if they plan on ever moving back and the answer is no... over 20 years, even the in-laws have relocated to the SF Bay Area...

The most recent home sold around here had plenty of East Coast license plates at the open house... I did speak with some and all had a job offer for a High Tech firm... some had planned to live in SF and found their dollars go farther living across the Bay....

Tech is certainly the driver... computers, biotech, power generation, etc... at one time Defense was a huge part of the Bay Area economy and only a fraction of what it once was...

Today, it was 75 with dark blue sky and not even a trace of breeze... really idyllic... now, if we could get the water issue solved and some common sense in governing... it really would be paradise.

Any doubts... just catch the news clips of the AT&T open at Pebble Beach today....

 

[JDgreen227]

I hear what you are saying, but I am all for any kind of limit on any and all taxes. I pay somewhere around $10K a year on property taxes alone.

TomSeller.....how much property do you have to pay taxes on? Mine are currently about $3400 a year on 11 acres. My taxes are about the same as others nearby who have 1/4 acre lots because the law here limits the amount my taxes can increase each year.

 

[ultrarunner]

Washington State had it's own version of Prop 13 called I-747 which also enjoyed vast voter approval... one judge was able to nullify and taxes soared...

My 16.9 acres with 1977 home is currently taxed $12,500... the home is rented for $1,800 per month and it takes more than 7 months rent just to cover taxes... tax was $6,950 based on my purchase price 18 months prior.

Comments on sustainability go both ways...

 

[newbury]

Washington State had it's own version of Prop 13 called I-747 which also enjoyed vast voter approval... one judge was able to nullify and taxes soared...

My 16.9 acres with 1977 home is currently taxed $12,500... the home is rented for $1,800 per month and it takes more than 7 months rent just to cover taxes... tax was $6,950 based on my purchase price 18 months prior.

Comments on sustainability go both ways...

I just looked up my taxes that I can view online in Itawamba county, MS. About 300 acres and $900 annually.

So that's another thing to consider if your lucky is if the property you own is not taxed highly. Many of us can't decide where we are going to retire. Our location is because SWMBO's family is down there. I pay about 5 times as much for property taxes on one house in northern Virginia. But off the cuff that house on 1/4 acre is about the same value as the 300 acres in northeast Mississippi.

 

[ultrarunner]

That is amazing... 300 acres taxed at $900

My parents have a strip of land about 4 x 100 that is needed for their home... for various reasons it cannot be combined and the tax bill on the land valued at $400 is $900 a year consisting 99% of special assessments that apply to all taxable parcels...

 

[KennyG]

I think that type of borrowing is more commonplace than we can imagine.

As someone mentioned earlier, my wife works with a lady that is 67. She just signed a 30 yr mortgage.

I am over 65 and have two mortgages on two different properties. One is at 3.25% and one is at 2.75%. I could pay them off tomorrow but I prefer to keep the money in investments. The Federal government policies that have driven fixed interest (and income) rates to unrealistic low numbers skew the decisions. If you have the assets to take the risk, the logical approach is to borrow at low fixed rates and invest for the long term in equities.

 

[Parkanzky]

Surprised at the number of bright people I work with with ties to Michigan... some have roots going way back.

Two are doctors that met as students... I've asked them if they plan on ever moving back and the answer is no... over 20 years, even the in-laws have relocated to the SF Bay Area...

The most recent home sold around here had plenty of East Coast license plates at the open house... I did speak with some and all had a job offer for a High Tech firm... some had planned to live in SF and found their dollars go farther living across the Bay....

Tech is certainly the driver... computers, biotech, power generation, etc... at one time Defense was a huge part of the Bay Area economy and only a fraction of what it once was...

Today, it was 75 with dark blue sky and not even a trace of breeze... really idyllic... now, if we could get the water issue solved and some common sense in governing... it really would be paradise.

Any doubts... just catch the news clips of the AT&T open at Pebble Beach today....

The bright ones are probably the people that get out! :rotfl:

We originally planned to head somewhere with nicer weather when we finished school. Then my wife started her job while I was finishing up graduate school and did very well. Since then, there has never been a "good" time to leave. :ashamed:

But the pay is good and the benefits are great. Couple that with the relatively low cost of living here and we can stick it out here until it's time to buy a winter home somewhere warm. :dance1:

 

[JDgreen227]

The bright ones are probably the people that get out! :rotfl:

We originally planned to head somewhere with nicer weather when we finished school. Then my wife started her job while I was finishing up graduate school and did very well. Since then, there has never been a "good" time to leave. :ashamed:

But the pay is good and the benefits are great. Couple that with the relatively low cost of living here and we can stick it out here until it's time to buy a winter home somewhere warm. :dance1:

I have lived in the Central Michigan area all my life, meaning all my friends and family are here. It's well below zero right now (minus 28 degrees with the windchill) but that is part of living here.

 

[Parkanzky]

I have lived in the Central Michigan area all my life, meaning all my friends and family are here. It's well below zero right now (minus 28 degrees with the windchill) but that is part of living here.

Right. Most people would call it the downside to living here...

I've also lived my entire life in the midwest (half in northern Ohio and half in Michigan).