Are you contemplating relocations?

army judge

Super Moderator
Some things that you might wish to consider, other than climate.

Nine states — have no state income taxes: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming.

Five states — do not have a sales tax: Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon.

Note: Alaska has neither a state sales tax, or a state income tax. However, some localities can impose a 1.76% sales tax.

Note 2: TN will be a TAX FREE state in 2021.

Note 3: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia do not tax Social Security transfer payments, which some today call earned income.
 
Unfortunately, the lack of sales tax and/or income tax is often offset by higher property taxes and vehicle registration fees and other fees that aren't called taxes when they really are.

An example of that last is the $32 per year per car "public safety fee" that was back door finagled by our governor who previously got elected on a "No new taxes" platform.

The state gets your money one way or the other.

If you plan to relocate to another state, consider all the costs, not just taxes. Somebody's paying for schools, roads, law enforcement, etc. Guess who. ;)
 
Alaska does not have a state sales tax or state income tax.

However, many cities do have fairly high local sales taxes. In my location it is currently 6.5%.

When we turn 65 we can apply for a tax exempt card for sales taxes and also a reduction in property taxes. (There's gotta be some perks for becoming an official senior citizen, right?!)

Alaska property taxes are relatively high, as is the cost to buy a home or property to build on.

Our overall cost of living is fairly high, although not as high as it used to be when compared to many other areas of the U.S.

Our household median income tends to run about 15% higher than the U.S.in general.
 
Brrr. Way to cold in the winter.
Small price to pay for the other 3 seasons, stellar healthcare, the food and lilacs. ;)

I can't say enough how truly lousy the fruit/veggies are here. And I have tried all the grocery stores in a 10 mile radius of my home. Even stupidly overpriced WholeFoods is crappy...less crappy than other stores but still no where are good as Massachusetts.
 
Note 2: TN will be a TAX FREE state in 2021.

For clarification, Tennessee in 2021 will remove the last vestiges of its income tax, the 1% tax on investment income that it currently has. It will still have sales taxes, property taxes, and a variety of other taxes and fees.

And, of course, taxation is but one factor to consider for retirement.
 
For clarification, Tennessee in 2021 will remove the last vestiges of its income tax, the 1% tax on investment income that it currently has. It will still have sales taxes, property taxes, and a variety of other taxes and fees.

And, of course, taxation is but one factor to consider for retirement.

Damn, I was about to move.
 
There is another option, if the 21st letter of the English alphabet is one of your selection criteria.
:D ;)

But your property taxes make up for your lack of income tax.

Is it still the law if you have a cow on the property (likely any livestock) that property tax is lower?
 
Is it still the law if you have a cow on the property (likely any livestock) that property tax is lower?

Those outrageous property taxes exist in places I'm certain wouldn't interest you.

Texas is a massive republic.

In most places, but its a bit more complex than one livestock critter.

The easiest way to avoid, eliminate, and escape the property taxers is use a senior homestead exemption.

An even better one for the recipient is use one's "disabled veteran" status.

Texas law requires school districts to offer a $25,000 exemption on residence homesteads. Counties have the option of also offering a separate residence homestead exemption of up to 20% of a property's appraised value (but not less than $5,000).

Age 65 or older and disabled exemptions: Individuals age 65 or older or disabled residence homestead owners qualify for a $10,000 homestead exemption for school district taxes, in addition to the $25,000 exemption for all homeowners. The taxing unit must decide before July 1 of the tax year to offer this exemption.

Oh, there is another one that can be most useful.
Texas homeowners who are over the age of 65 or legally disabled may file an affidavit to defer any collection of their property taxes until after they sell the home or die.

Homestead exemptions are available for all Texas homeowners to reduce their property taxes, with a superior exemption available to those over 65 years of age. The over-65 homestead exemption permanently freezes the amount paid for school property taxes. The over-65 homestead exemption is also portable within The Republic of Texas.
 
I'm the opposite. I'm a Northern girl and start melting round about Philadelphia. DH would like Arizona but I've been there in November and couldn't tolerate it - July would kill me.
 
I'm the opposite. I'm a Northern girl and start melting round about Philadelphia. DH would like Arizona but I've been there in November and couldn't tolerate it - July would kill me.
It's 100 out today. Right now. In October. ;)


Tonight the Martians are gonna be really close...close enough you don't need a telescope to view. If you want to get a good look at Mars look to the lower eastern sky just after dark. If you see this:
upload_2020-10-6_15-53-15.jpeg

you know you are looking in the right place. :)
 
"No one would have believed in the first years of the twenty first century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man's and yet as mortal as his own; that as men busied themselves about their various concerns they were scrutinised and studied, perhaps almost as narrowly as a man with a microscope might scrutinise the transient creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water. With infinite complacency men went to and fro over this globe about their little affairs, serene in their assurance of their empire over matter. It is possible that the infusoria under the microscope do the same. No one gave a thought to the older worlds of space as sources of human danger, or thought of them only to dismiss the idea of life upon them as impossible or improbable. It is curious to recall some of the mental habits of those departed days. At most terrestrial men fancied there might be other men upon Mars, perhaps inferior to themselves and ready to welcome a missionary enterprise. Yet across the gulf of space, minds that are to our minds as ours are to those of the beasts that perish, intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic, regarded this earth with envious eyes, and slowly and surely drew their plans against us. And early in the twenty first century came the great disillusionment."


(Taking a liberty or two with the opening paragraph of H. G. Wells "War of the Worlds.")
 
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