If all you are worried about is your money, there are multiple states with no income tax. There are multiple states that have sales tax but very reasonable housing taxes. There are multiple states that have high housing tax and sales tax. There are multiple states with income tax and high housing tax and sales tax....etc.....for a lot of combinations.

You really have to look at exactly what the state you are looking at offers.

But, I really think you are missing the balance of taxes and such, to what is really important in your retirement life and enjoyment. Do you really just want to live somewhere in your "golden years" that the main impedance is just to save a dollar?

Or, would you rather enjoy the area where you have chosen for the activities, culture, outdoors and whatever you may appreciate instead of saving a few dollars in the end.

You can't take it with you.

Santa Fe, NM, SLO, CA, Hanalei Bay, HI, Amalfi, Italy, Tuscany, Italy, Key Largo, FL and Sedona, AZ are a few that pop into my head as good contenders. Fortunately (or maybe unfortunately) I have another 20-25 years to think about it...

I've been to 4 or 5, in Colorado, Wisconsin, New York, and ?? They suck. Tons of slot machines and only a few card tables that are always packed elbow to elbow. They don't rival Vegas in any way.

3rd time - have you been to Vegas? I suspect the answer is no, because if you've been you wouldn't make the above statement.

You're pretty much the kind of low life that has come to be expected here with a comment like that. You have no idea of who I am or what my life style is so go **** yourself.

I found a couple of pictures my parents sent last year of Wickenburg after they had all those rains:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1317743359.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1317743369.jpg

........ wow .......... :confused:

Jeez, why didnt you tell us you won the lotto?

Everyone of the above are real high $$ places with possibly the exception of Key Largo.

Well Ron,

Put me in that same classification as there is no way anyone could pay me to live there either. We do have a place here for people like you though... its out in the desert where you can play with the scorpions and rattlesnakes. Sure you would fit right in out there...

You people are really too much. You make assumptions about people you don't know or have any knowledge about. Does it make you feel smug and superior to be able to make comments like these and would you have the courage to make them if you weren't hiding behind the door of the computer world? Personally I think there are a lot of cowards on this site that sound like they lead milquetoast lives and if it weren't for the internet would be largely ignored by most of humanity. This started off as a discussion about places to live and as atypical of this site turned into personal attacks. My opinions of places to live are as valid as anyone's here and if you can't handle it maybe just keeping your mouth shut would be a better option than showing how stupid you are.

I would not do Albuquerque but I'd do Santa Fe, I wouldn't do Vegas nor Phoenix/Scottsdale. I would consider Austin but the summers will make you want to sob like a small child.

Edit: Didn't read the ****-storm above.

Santa Fe's market has come down a TON! I would also consider Denver and the surrounding areas, lots of fun things to do and absolutely beautiful outdoor areas. I wouldn't do Vegas simply because it's too hot. Same with Phoenix and Scottsdale, too much traffic, too hot, etc.

what's with all the anger?

Dude. seriously. What attacks?
I went back and read it again and didn't see any attacks at all until you went boom, unless I ain't reading between the lines well enough.
I took his comment about "lifestyle" to reflect your desire to walk and bicycle to commute etc.
Unless there's more to it that I didn't see, your reply was way over the top.
If there was more to it that I missed please point it out.
It kinda seems like one little misunderstanding that went from zero to explosion in a split second.

And I won't try to speak for anyone else here but I promise I'll never say anything to you or about you that I wouldn't gladly say to your face. I like that kind of stuff :)

Sheridan or Laramie - but not near town; a few miles away.

wickenburg looks nice! how far is it from a major town?

sammy, i see where ronster saw "Red". you cleared it up for me. seems like it came out of nowhere. "lifestyle" is the new "f" word?

funny..everyone simmer down. we are talking about happy retirement.

Put the guns and knives away. Geez guys can't there be one thread in OT that doesn't become some sort of pissing match ?

Back to the topic of the thread.

I have wondered about Santa Fe, and I have always loved St. Augustine.

I am definitely looking for a more mild winter. I am getting tired of losing 6 months to crap weather.

To enjoy my retirement, means I have to make my money goes as far as possible. So that is why I am looking at different areas. I thought about Virginia City and Fallon, NV

Son, you need to see someone for anger management treatment.

You seem to think that you are the only one who has been to all of these places and YOU are the only one who knows what these places are like. Hate to tell you but after living in 14 states around the country, and 8 countries around the world, then seeing another 94 countries, I have pretty much "seen the world!" Even with all that under my belt I do not post things like YOU did acting like a "know it all jerk" going after Paul, who has himself been around the world A LOT.

You IMHO need to CHILL and back away from the keyboard...

Sante Fe is nice but the hollywood types moved there years ago and its now kinda flakey and expensive like Taos and Sedona is. Beautiful but there are better places.

If you like Sante Fe, give St George Utah a try. Beautiful scenery, very nice people and just a down home feeling all around the city. Plus its affordable right now.

Wickenburg is an hours drive from Phoenix. To downtown Phoenix maybe 1+15 or so, but its not far. As well there is all the shopping you would ever need for most things in town.

Its also on the way to Vegas, and about a 3 hour drive from there, so not too far.

Dude I think Paul meant biking and walking are welcome things to do in PDX- he's right.. Taxes do suck there as an active earning.

rjp

Wow, chill out, its a discussion of places to retire and not get killed with taxes and quality of life. Not politics.

Hey! You said you wanted to live as a renter, use mass transit & ride bikes to where you wanted to go...that is the "lifestyle" I was referring to. That is what the "planners" of Portland want for the masses. No need to get upset...

I couldn't care less about your sex life, if that's what you're referencing.

I would consider Vegas... Plenty of entertainment, mild winters, and housing is at give-away prices. One could buy there and still have enough left over to go somewhere else in the worst part of summer. No state taxes is a bonus. For year round, Albuquerque is not bad. Mild winters and summers. My goal would be to retire some place with a mild winter...Cold/ damp is hard on us old folks.

Might add that Fintstone has lived in both of the above places for a fairly long time, so knows them pretty well.

ABQ is not my type of place but the outskirts of Vegas or Henderson would be worth a look at.

Only thing you might want to consider about moving out west is the landscape. Not everyone takes to living in the desert or semi-arid local. Personally, I loved living in Arizona (Lived in Scottsdale and Sierra Vista). Not many places you can live where you can drive 1-2 hours and be in a totally different landscape/climate.

i read this as "no lawn to mow"..

now get off my terrascaped lawn!!

Great that this has gotten back on track. I've been reading most of the replies with interest as my wife and I have started to look as well.

There have been a few posts on state taxes. Kiplinger has a guide to the state taxes for retirees:
Kiplinger.com

Interesting site...there sits Oregon...one of the 10 least friendly (tax wise) to retirees. No surprise to me.

I've been spending a ton of time in the area and the info on Santa Fe has not been my experience. I've never heard of St George in Utah, will look it up since I am hoping ot retire in the not so distant future.

One thing that we need to know is the numbers. What's too expensive? Is a retirement home in the 200k too expensive? How about 400k, 800k? 2 Million? Without the info, this is all just chatter.

I'm based out of the bay area but I know that eventually, we'll want to move on. The question is where.

My problem is that I don't want to live in a place I've already lived, although parts of California really appeal to me.

My criteria is pretty simple, although everything has to be within an hour or so drive: Good regional airline access, college town, mountains or high terrain or water, reasonable health care options, big enough for a garden for my wife.

I've actively looked at Montana (I was offered a job by the University) but the timing was poor since I wanted to get my son through High School here.

I love parts of the south but the summers are a deal breaker unless I can have a place to go where the summers aren't a slog. One of the best little towns in the country is in South Carolina, a place called Aiken. It is remarkably beautiful and sophisticated, and only 110 miles or so from the Atlantic.

A place that really intrigued me was outside of Walla Walla. My son and I stayed the night in Lewiston, ID and drove through Pomeroy and Dayton into WW. The drive was simply one of the best I had been on and the towns were really cool. I take another look soon.

Slovenia, its beautiful

Only if you are Mormon... I had friends that lived in Cedar City...gorgeous place..but they are not Mormon and the rest of the community would have nothing to do with them. I suspect that anyplace in Utah will be the same and there's no alcohol served at restaurants either.

Maybe that is Sammy's plan!

LOL, I was born in SLC and didn't have a problem with Mormons.
Only about 50% of the population in Salt lake is LDS the last I read.
In the smaller towns in Utah that percentage climbs a little but I don't think that will be a problem for me.
I don't drink liquor at all unless you count an occasional beer or 6.
Plus if no one has anythnig to do with me I won't have to tell em to GET OFF MY LAWN! ;)

I absolutely love the feel of small Utah towns with the tree-lined streets, the white church steeples, the nostalgic look, reminds me of how it used to be. I almost expect to see Opie Taylor riding by on his western auto bike.

I own a large lot on a hill overlooking Cedar City but I sometimes wonder if that's the best place because of the elevation.
St. George is at 2850 feet, cedar City is at 5846.That means the cedar city winters will be quite a bit stronger and longer. I didn't think that was gonna be a problem until a Pelican mentioned it and got me thinkin .......................

I bought the lot back when the Californians were over-running Utah (and Vegas, and Arid-zona, etc) and they had pretty much screwed up the real estate markets. They were borrowing money from the equity in their homes and building huge McMansions all over the place in St. George.

I have a feeling the bottom has fallen out of that and I may eventually buy a lot in St. George and sell the other one.

Whichever, the first thing I'm gonna do when I move there is get rid of the Kalifornia license plates and get bumper stickers that say "Utah Native". :)


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1317768767.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1317768793.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1317768821.jpg

Sammy,

Good to hear. I only heard that from one set of friends. They said it was awful but that was a decade ago. I've driven thru Cedar City a few times and found it to be one of the most beautiful places I've seen. I like my Manhattan cocktails at night but I'm sure one can buy booze at state stores...maybe not. I could stand to do with out for sure, ;) My wife will never leave Ca. so it's moot.

Vash, its not like this. 95% of us have "crushed granite" of various colors and sized and its really just large rough pebbles. Looks nice, lasts forever and requires NO maintenance nor water. What plants we have are either desert, meaning no water needed or drip irrigation.

Hugo,

Please do a google search for St. George. The photos there will help and it looks much like Sedona, just not as flaky (the aura the hippies there worship) nor as expensive.

DrDogFace (mark)

Its not that bad these days. We spent a week or so in SLC and up in the mountains and the booze restrictions have petty much been relaxed. We met a lot of "jack-Mormons" (non-practicing) as well as the faithful and all were very nice to us. I would move there tomorrow if I had to for the job.

I think it may depend on the person. My mother really didn't like Utah or the mormons, my father and I and my brothers really liked it there. At least two of us (out of 4 brothers) plan to retire there eventually.


George, it might be worth it to send an e-mail to a local RE agent. They'll know the secret places that don't hit the inter-webs.
Allot of times the stuff that gets advertised is the stuff that doesn't move quickly and the real good stuff gets snatched up in a day.

Maybe they have a secret jewel just waiting for you or know of what that might be coming on the market soon.
Couldn't hurt ........

I'm down wit that bro... but like Joe said most of those are pretty high rent (Hanalei being my #1 SLO #2) i may have to look into the Reno

My Vote: Stockton, Calif.......kidding, worst place in the State and worst State in the Union.

Steve

73 911 T MFI Coupe, Aubergine

No one is taking my Thailand comment seriously.