What state is the cheapest place to retire at?

[HGM]

I've got a little ways to go before I can retire, but being a Southern boy all my life, I think I would try to keep a few places. Tennessee is one of the most beautiful places in the south, I would like a small mountain home with some land(remote as possible), I like to see seasonal change and some snow too... I still have a soft spot for North/Central Florida, theres something about the big Oaks and Cypress trees.......Of course a nice lake home would be relaxing too... So, maybe I'm gonna be picky, but when you work all your life, dont you deserve to be /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif.. I dont think you can go wrong(money wise) between Central Florida and Illinois, geographicly. Of course the closer you get to the coast, the more you'll pay.. Like anything else, you need to visit and spend time there before you make plans. If you just look online and find something affordable, you may find its a bad area.

 

[Sigarms]

I know of very few southerners who retire up north /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Ever notice all those RV's going north on I95/I81 in springtime? They all have Vermont/Mass./N.H or N.Y plates /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[HGM]

Pretty ironic huh? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif.. I must say I have traveled up north a little in the past couple of years(for the first time) and must say some areas are beautiful. I just dont know if I can get used to shovelling out of my house in the winter time. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Sigarms]

I was born in Maine, and when I left upstate N.Y (not N.Y city "upstate") we had over 220" of snow for the year. My wife is from Vermont, most of her life as a matter of fact. We both agree that there is no way we would ever move back up "north".

It is however very "interesting" when we get a couple of inches of snow in N.C /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[KentT]

Just ran across this link and thought I'd bring it back here. It shows the state, local and federal tax burdens, by state, as a percentage of income:

http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/Common/Flash/P111507.asp

BTW, Tennessee was ranked 48/49 out of 51 (counting DC)...

 

[SnowRidge]

<font color="blue"> I don't know what's going on in Cookeville specifically, but Tennessee (outside the 4 bigger metro areas) is still one of the least expensive places in the country. As an example, East Tennessee and Western North Carolina are seeing huge influxes of retirees -- surprisingly not just from the snowbelt, but actually many (most, it seems in some areas) are people who'd retired to Florida, but are now moving out of Florida due to costs, over-population, crime and hurricanes... </font>

And they have a name for them, Halfbacks. They are said to move from the North to Florida, then half way back to Tennessee.

Cookeville may be a high cost of living area because of high taxes to pay for all that police insurance. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif Remember the dog shooting at that interstate traffic stop that made the national news? /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

I wouldn't call Oregon a cheap place to live just because they have no sales tax. They have relatively high real property and income taxes.

Tennessee is one of the cheapest states to retire to. You do have to be careful about where you relocate to. Property tax rates vary quite a bit. We are about thirty miles from Knoxville, but our taxes are only about 1/3 of what they would be in that city, and that's at the same valuation. Higher property values there would drive the taxes much higher still.

I also own property in Florida. The assessed value there is only 40% of the assessed value of our place here, yet the taxes are three times what they are here. High sales taxes may seem bad, but you have to remember, you only pay taxes on a percentage of what you spend. Thus, if you have limited income, you will only have to pay limited taxes. With property taxes, you have to pay whether or not you have any income available to pay the tax.

I would rather have high sales taxes and low property taxes than high property taxes and low sales taxes. High property taxes have caused a lot of retirees to lose their homes.

 

[midlf]

This MSN website appears to only cover income tax burden. In WI we also have sales tax @5.5%, and property tax. The property tax can be a killer. In Milwaukee, assessed 325K property tax was $8600 two years ago (when we moved because of high PT).

 

[KentT]

The MSN site does include state sales tax, otherwise there would be 0% showing for Tennessee... Tennessee has no income tax for individuals.

It doesn't include property taxes, as far as I can tell.

 

[SnowRidge]

<font color="blue"> Tennessee has no income tax for individuals. </font>

Then why do I have to pay it every year? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

Tennessee has an individual income tax on certain interest and dividend payments -- the so called Hall tax. The tax return is clearly labled "Individual Income Tax Return."

Tennessee has no income tax for individuals on earned income (wages or salary). /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[KentT]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( <font color="blue"> Tennessee has no income tax for individuals. </font>

Then why do I have to pay it every year? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

Tennessee has an individual income tax on certain interest and dividend payments -- the so called Hall tax. The tax return is clearly labled "Individual Income Tax Return."

Tennessee has no income tax for individuals on earned income (wages or salary). /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif )</font>

In other states such as Massachusetts, that would be considered capital gains tax, and paid along with the 5.25% income tax -- except capital gains is a flat 12%....