Best Place To Retire Early

[wheatonFJR]

Don't come to South Carolina! Too much cold and ice, freaking hot in the summer, crap roads and meth Everywhere!

Go to Illinois...low taxes, zero crime and awesome straight roads.

(How'd I do Duane?)

 

[Bappo]

I'm a year out and really like Idaho but don't want to winter here. Plan on heading to FL for winters and to help with mom and dad and summers in Idaho and the UP of Michigan where I have a cabin and 40 acres. Idaho will probably drop out at some point or maybe FL. Being able to ride year round and continue to enjoy my shooting sports are my personal priorities. And live frugally of course.

 

[PhilJet09]

Retire? I'm going to have to work until I drop dead...which will probably be bad for my passengers.

 

[beachy]

Don't come to South Carolina! Too much cold and ice, freaking hot in the summer, crap roads and meth Everywhere!
Go to Illinois...low taxes, zero crime and awesome straight roads.

(How'd I do Duane

Right abut where you live would have my vote

 

[Knifemaker]

Best place to retire is wherever you want that you like. More to consider than just taxes or medical costs.

I think Missouri is like 34th on that list, but I got a great spot on a nice size lake, the perfect sized house for us, a three car garage and a nice pontoon boat. Works for me.

The hassles of searching and cost of relocating to somewhere that offers the exact same thing just to save a few more bucks before I die seems like a waste of what little time I have left....

 

[want2ride]

Good list but they left out some vital information. Kentucky, Mississippi and New Mexico have more people on welfare than are working and are considered to be in a death spiral. Something else to consider.......

 

[101stpathfinder]

Interesting… Top 5- all red states 7/10 top red

bottom 5- 4 blue states 11/12 bottom blue

Strictly speaking of colors…

40's here in Florida for the lows- I need to move south, this is insanely cold.

 

[yamafitter]

... Winter does keep the riff-raff out, though.

NC got shafted somehow. That's a great place, especially the Asheville area...

Don't come to South Carolina! Too much cold and ice, freaking hot in the summer, crap roads and meth Everywhere!
Go to Illinois...low taxes, zero crime and awesome straight roads...

When Wheatie moved to SC the desirability of retiring to that state went way down the list according to most of the people here. South Carolina has poor ice racing conditions too.

A little more Global Climate Change and we will be able to ride year round on the roads in the Great White North and we can save the ice for our drinks. Heated riding gear is not going to help much this weekend at -20oC though.

 

[Fred W]

Cost of medical care should not really be the criteria. Availability of quality medical care nearby should. Like it or not, we are all getting older, and that will likely mean more trips to the doctor's and more tests and procedures. While living out in the country is greatly appealing to me, it has to be somewhere within about 45 minutes of a top notch medical center. That is influencing where we are looking to settle in our retirement..

Income taxes are worse when you have lots of income. For most of us our incomes will be somewhat smaller (and fixed) in retirement which means the state income tax is less of a penalty. Property taxes will do nothing but continue to go up. So starting low is key.

In NH the majority of your property tax bill is set (and spent) by your own town (school and municipal taxes). These are voted on at "Town Meetings" so the taxes are dependent on how much the residents feel they need the services. Tax rates vary by town from a low of $8 per k valuation to $41 / k, so choosing your town wisely can make all the difference. Not having income, or sales tax helps, especially if you happen to live in an $8/k town. Yeah, I could handle a $2k / year all-in state tax burden just fine.

 

[Bungie]

Cuenca, Ecuador

Whoa. I was gonna say this place. I keep reading about it and it sounds about perfect.

 

[Pterodactyl]

When we moved from AK to MT after retiring we strongly considered buying some really remote places. Some were 20 or miles off pavement and then 30-40 miles to town. Ultimately we bought a place about 15 miles from town and the hospital. Thank goodness we did, because a year after moving in I became very ill and was hospitalized for nearly three months. Even when I was at home we had to make daily trips to the hospital. Had we bought a more remote spot it would have done my wife in. She spent most of every day with me, was the caregiver for my 95 year old aunt and kept the house running and the animals fed. Think long and hard about access to care when retired. We're all going to die and will most likely spend a fair amount of time in hospitals along the way.

 

[SacramentoMike]

What could be more subjective than this? Even more than FJR colors or helmet fit. But Pterodactyl makes good points. I think proximity to a good cemetery should be high on the list.

 

[Pterodactyl]

All you need is a good fire pit.

 

[Fred W]

Either way it's a one way, one time trip.

 

[Larry33319]

I retired May 2014 and moved from Fort Lauderdale to Maynardville TN, just outside Knoxville. Fl and Tn both have no state income tax, but the biggest difference was in FL I had a 2400 sq ft home on 1/3 acre. In TN I have a 2000 sq ft home with a 2 car garage plus a second 1500 sq ft garage with a 3 room loft above it on 7.2 acres. My property taxes and insurance are about 6,000 less in TN than FL. It make a difference once you retire. My monies go further and I enjoy good riding for most of the year as well as privacy when at home. I am 12 miles NW of Knoxville so I am close to good hospitals and medical care but I can still walk around my home naked and no one will see me and start laughing. Just my opinion for what that is worth.

 

[El Toro Joe]

I don't really care where I retire...as long as it's before I die

 

[wheatonFJR]

What could be more subjective than this? Even more than FJR colors or helmet fit. But Pterodactyl makes good points. I think proximity to a good BONFIRE should be high on the list.

more betterer

 

[wheatonFJR]

I am 12 miles NW of Knoxville so I am close to some great atomic bomb factory sites, so radioactivity doesn't scare me...

whoa.

 

[Pterodactyl]

At the age of most of the posters on this thread a little radioactivity will not hurt. Cause cancer in 25-30 years.... get in line.

Same goes with asbestos. Causes various forms of lung cancer around 30 years after heavy exposure. Okay, only hire 60 year old smokers to deal with stuff, give them a case of beer and a dew rag and let them go to town.

 

[Fred W]

Interesting idea there...

"Hire the re'tahr'd. We'll be dead before we can sue you anyway."

Maybe someone could wordsmith that just a little for me before we go to market.