Statistically, what's the best state to keep most of your money?

N747JB said:
Florida has no state income tax, sales tax is 7%, gas taxes are higher too. Property taxes aren't terrible, depending on where you live, our beach condo was $5300 per year, just sold it for $587,500.00 :dunno: If you're awapy from the beaches it's more reasonable.;)
Click to expand...

Ill echo John here, with a few notes. Sales tax is by county and can vary across the state. And yes, the farther from the beach you live the less expensive it gets (almost exponentially where I'm from).

You will see a lot of Florida tags in the Northeast because those people that do well are doing what you do and protecting their money so they will live down here 6 months and 1 day (or whatever the legal requirement is) and spend the rest of the time up north.
 
JHW said:
america goes after income taxes from US citizens living everwhere. lately they've started going after foreign spouses of US citizens living abroad, in cases where the spouses have never lived or worked in america, are not US citizens, but are expected to pay US tas due to being married to an american. I've got some coworkers in europe who have been caught in that trap.
Click to expand...

Sort of. Under most double taxation treaties, salary income derived from work in one signatory country is taxed in that country.
 
weilke said:
Sort of. Under most double taxation treaties, salary income derived from work in one signatory country is taxed in that country.
Click to expand...
it all sounds good in theory, in reality the paperwork and audits are so exhausting to claim income has already been taxed elsewhere that people just give up and write a check, or give up their US citizenship
 
weilke said:
Sort of. Under most double taxation treaties, salary income derived from work in one signatory country is taxed in that country.
Click to expand...

After 99kUSD you still pay US taxes, the foreign income exclusion is capped to that.

Alot of people who live abroad have given up US citizenship because of this. This is also why on every immigrant/non-immigrant visa application form (DS260 and the other one) they ask if you have ever given up US citizenship because of tax purposes.
 
Doesn't Alaska actually pay residents a dividend for the mineral/oil rights or something along those lines?

Either way state taxes aren't really a big deal. I'd gladly pay most state's income/property/sales/etc taxes for the services provided. Most of the money for stuff you actually use like roads, fire/police protection, schools, etc comes from state stuff and it's a fairly reasonable taxation level.

The federal government OTOH takes huge chunks of your income and doesn't give most of us much of anything back for it. If you actually look at the federal budget it's mostly military and entitlement spending.... very little goes to anything we really need. And just to clarify I'm not saying we don't need a military nor do I want to belittle what people in the armed forces do- I just question why we need such a disproportionately large army and why we really need to use it to police the world.
 
cowman said:
Doesn't Alaska actually pay residents a dividend for the mineral/oil rights or something along those lines?
Click to expand...

Yes but the kicker there is the cost of living.



cowman said:
Either way state taxes aren't really a big deal. I'd gladly pay most state's income/property/sales/etc taxes for the services provided. Most of the money for stuff you actually use like roads, fire/police protection, schools, etc comes from state stuff and it's a fairly reasonable taxation level.
Click to expand...

Maybe, maybe not. Have to look up if the State is known for being a good steward of the funds collected. My county just paid over $600K a mile to pave a four mile dirt road rat no one out here needed paved.



cowman said:
The federal government OTOH takes huge chunks of your income and doesn't give most of us much of anything back for it. If you actually look at the federal budget it's mostly military and entitlement spending.... very little goes to anything we really need. And just to clarify I'm not saying we don't need a military nor do I want to belittle what people in the armed forces do- I just question why we need such a disproportionately large army and why we really need to use it to police the world.
Click to expand...


You forgot six of the richest counties in the U.S. that surround Washington D.C. There's folks they give PLENTY "back" to. Also forgetting that the majority of spending is no from collected taxes, it's from virtually unlimited debt. FedGov wouldn't have a pot to **** in if they had to operate on only what they collect.
 
From what I've see, the more desirable an area is to live (weather, scenery, recreation), the more you'll get financially a**raped. Politicians ain't stupid.
 
docmirror said:
If you can live with a modest priced home, in a rural setting(like me), TX is a very nice place, and has a bustling GA community as well.
Click to expand...

That sounds cool, but of course that just means high hangar rent and low availability. Something to factor in.
 
weilke said:
Sort of. Under most double taxation treaties, salary income derived from work in one signatory country is taxed in that country.
Click to expand...

When I lived in Japan, the company apologized for the "high" tax rate that I was paying since I was only there "temporarily." It was 10% . . .

I filed my US taxes for that year, converting each pay check from Yen to Dollars using the exchange rate on that day from the WSJ, and added what I had been paid here. After completing calculations, look up taxes owed in the table. Then I was able to deduct the taxes I had paid in Japan from the total due.

Somewhere in that netherworld, I made a mistake, and 2 years 11 months later received a registered letter from the IRS at the old address. Seems I had overpaid and was due a refund and three years' interest. Haven't heard much from the IRS since then. :D

Note, though, that tax law changes at least yearly, and that the situation may now be different.
 
Dav8or said:
That sounds cool, but of course that just means high hangar rent and low availability. Something to factor in.
Click to expand...

Then stay away. TX is a bad place, with poor schools, lousy weather, mean people and no GA worth your time and money. People should clearly move to FL or MT, or anywhere but here. Stay out.
 
Aeric said:
From what I've see, the more desirable an area is to live (weather, scenery, recreation), the more you'll get financially a**raped. Politicians ain't stupid.
Click to expand...
Well, VT has 2 out of the 3. The region is small enough that both can be had as a tourist living in a neighboring not so greedy state. Oh wait. All the neighboring states have high taxes. So if you want natural beauty and great skiing, you might as well stay until you go broke.

Yeah, that doesn't really make sense, does it? I think the applicable adage here is, never attribute to malice what can be adequately explained by incompetence.
 
The only way i would live in Florida is if I slept in a Corvette. That way when the earth opened up and swallowed your bedroom they will come and recover the corvette. But if you are just in bed they will leave you in the hole. Just ask the poor dude that was left in the hole. But the Corvettes, they recovered those. They were worth a million bucks for gods sake. the other was just a life. What is your life worth. that dude was not worth saving. But the cars where. I would never move to Florida unless i slept in a corvette.

Tony
 
If taxes got you down, just work less, earn less, enjoy your life more.
 
Sad that the OP hasn't enough family or friends to keep him in place. They're what's really important, far more so than tax rates.
 
docmirror said:
Then stay away. TX is a bad place, with poor schools, lousy weather, mean people and no GA worth your time and money. People should clearly move to FL or MT, or anywhere but here. Stay out.
Click to expand...

Wait, aren't you the guy that has a big plot of dirt in the middle of nowhere... in New Mexico???
 
steingar said:
Sad that the OP hasn't enough family or friends to keep him in place. They're what's really important, far more so than tax rates.
Click to expand...

That's reality for lots and lots of people. When my wife and I are ready to retire, we will very little family left to tie us to anywhere. We are thinking of being bi-coastal with the majority of time (for tax reasons) in Florida and the rest in California, but that's still 10 years off, so things could change.
 
steingar said:
Sad that the OP hasn't enough family or friends to keep him in place. They're what's really important, far more so than tax rates.
Click to expand...
Friends were not enough to keep me in Michigan when my position was eliminated. Even family would not have been enough, if I had any left. Unless you have a huge bundle of money or can live off the largesse of others, you have to go where the work is.

In fact, you said it to me yourself, in person. ;)
 
docmirror said:
I believe, having looked at this many years ago that a rural part of NV was the least offensive for manageable tax rates. There is no state tax, and many of the sin taxes support the entire state budget. However, property taxes can be offensive if you decide to have a huge, costly home - just like urban TX areas.
Click to expand...

NV is a nice place to live.. Our utility bills are less than they were in CA, and so are our other bills
 
azure said:
Friends were not enough to keep me in Michigan when my position was eliminated. Even family would not have been enough, if I had any left. Unless you have a huge bundle of money or can live off the largesse of others, you have to go where the work is.

In fact, you said it to me yourself, in person. ;)
Click to expand...

Of course, you have to work. But if I had my choice of where to go I'd choose where my friends and family are. As it is I have to go where my work takes me, just like you. I'm just glad it took me to a place where I have good friends.
 
1600vw said:
The only way i would live in Florida is if I slept in a Corvette. That way when the earth opened up and swallowed your bedroom they will come and recover the corvette. But if you are just in bed they will leave you in the hole. Just ask the poor dude that was left in the hole. But the Corvettes, they recovered those. They were worth a million bucks for gods sake. the other was just a life. What is your life worth. that dude was not worth saving. But the cars where. I would never move to Florida unless i slept in a corvette.

Tony
Click to expand...

Dear lord thats ignorant. You do realized there are parts of Florida not built on eroding limestone right?
 
steingar said:
Sad that the OP hasn't enough family or friends to keep him in place. They're what's really important, far more so than tax rates.
Click to expand...
My family lives everywhere now, from the West to East coast, from the Canadian to the Mexican border. "Home", as a concept, has changed -- especially for those lucky enough to fly.
 
sferguson524 said:
NV is a nice place to live.. Our utility bills are less than they were in CA, and so are our other bills
Click to expand...

I'm thinking on it for retirement, but I"m thinking way to the east side of the state. Maybe in the Virgin river area so I have year-round water, and access to a well. Pretty desolate though.
 
Do some research on Boquete, Panama. I took the family down there a couple of times to do some pre-retirement recon. You can live very well there on $1,500 or so per month. You can obtain 'pensionado' status and live even cheaper. John Hopkins built the health care system and the canal pumps $1Bln into the economy every year. DirecTV, broadband, cheap utilities, perfect weather (60s at night and 80 during the day) and spectacular geography.
 
Heard Puerto Rico has some nice tax incentevasions. Sort of expat-lite. Don't think you need to spend a lot of time their either.
 
steingar said:
Of course, you have to work. But if I had my choice of where to go I'd choose where my friends and family are. As it is I have to go where my work takes me, just like you. I'm just glad it took me to a place where I have good friends.
Click to expand...
Point taken. But I would go further. If you were independently wealthy, at least to the extent that you didn't have to work, had friends (and perhaps family) locally, but felt you were being taxed to death and hated the climate, would you stay?

Family would probably make the difference for me. With just friends in the equation, it would be a harder decision. I suspect I would not have stayed in Michigan if I did not have to work, but it would depend on what I could find in regions of the country I'd rather live in.
 
azure said:
Point taken. But I would go further. If you were independently wealthy, at least to the extent that you didn't have to work, had friends (and perhaps family) locally, but felt you were being taxed to death and hated the climate, would you stay?

Family would probably make the difference for me. With just friends in the equation, it would be a harder decision. I suspect I would not have stayed in Michigan if I did not have to work, but it would depend on what I could find in regions of the country I'd rather live in.
Click to expand...

VT is a perfect example. Great place to live if you don't have to work and can exempt your gold from taxation. That also assumes enough to go somewhere else for all or parts of winter. Curiously on cape cod in winter it seems every third car has VT plates.
 
KeithASanford said:
I'm changing careers and my new endeavor will be location independent. I'm looking to relocate somewhere where I'd have to visit snow to experience a lot of it.

Where would you live in the contiguous United States to best minimize the effects of being "bent over" by the IRS?
Click to expand...

The IRS is federal. They don't care what state you are in. (Or country.)
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
It is very inexpensive to live in Texas.
As far as snow, its a crap shoot. Drought, flood, ice, hail, earthquake, tornado, snow, the apocalypse... Pretty much any day of the year. Our weather is complete crap.

General aviation is alive and well here so that's a plus.
Click to expand...


Power Bills???
Homeowners Insurance?
Property Taxes?

I have never heard anyone say Texas was cheap to live.
 
Seanaldinho said:
Dear lord thats ignorant. You do realized there are parts of Florida not built on eroding limestone right?
Click to expand...

If everyone in Florida thought like this people would be on top each other. Not much land not covered by sink holes in Florida. I saw the pics of the last couple of years of sink holes. It was awe inspiring. Shock and awe. The place looked like swish cheese. :yikes:

Tony
 
azure said:
Point taken. But I would go further. If you were independently wealthy, at least to the extent that you didn't have to work, had friends (and perhaps family) locally, but felt you were being taxed to death and hated the climate, would you stay?

Family would probably make the difference for me. With just friends in the equation, it would be a harder decision. I suspect I would not have stayed in Michigan if I did not have to work, but it would depend on what I could find in regions of the country I'd rather live in.
Click to expand...

First, I hostly think this whole "gosh I have to avoid snow" stuff is the lowest form of bullcrap imaginable and I have very little respect for those who espouse it. Sorry, I have always run cold and have still walked through the worst winters the AMerican midwest has had in memory if not ever. Sorry if I offend, I just don't see it as that big a deal. Yeah, the winters are hard on VFR flying, that's about the biggest drawback I can see. Were I going to move I think I'd rather move north.

There are so many factors that play into quality of life. How easy is it to get around? I couldn't see myself in DC anymore, too many people all trying to do too many things all at once. It would make me bonkers in short order. Same in So Cal, folks piled up on top of each other like cordwood. I wouldn't care if they had the smallest tax base on earth. I don't want to live like that, not for me.

What's the local culture like? That trumps just about everything in my book. But yeah, the biggest thing is are you going to be near your people, whoever they may be. I think who has which taxes is likely to be a ways down on my list.
 
South Dakota has very low property tax, no capital gains, and no income tax. So, yeah, it's pretty cheap.
 
I think it just depends on your temperament. I personally really hate feeling sticky and sweaty so the hotter climates of somewhere like FL or CA would be miserable for me in the long run. I have an airplane, I can visit.

OTOH, I can live with cold. I moved up to WI about 7 years ago for work reasons... now moving back down to central IL for family/business reasons. I loved the arctic winters... made ground ops troublesome for flying but you can't do this in FL..
iphone144.jpg


I also couldn't live in a major metro.. heck even in a small town is too crowded for me at this point. I want to step outside my house, walk around the yard, and not see anyone... or anyone else's house. I want to do what I want when I want as loud or ugly as I want and not have anyone complain about it. Can't do that in the suburbs.

I've got friends in the Chicago Suburbs. We visit them, they visit us. I can't figure out why they lock their doors when they're home, they can't believe I never lock anything. I watch how they fret over what their neighbors are going to think about this or that in their yard.... I cringe and barely contain my internal rage at the traffic, the crowds anywhere we go. We went to some big Christmas event in Chicago once with them... literally standing room only, you could go in no direction without bumping into someone within inches of you. How do they stand that? An hour of this and I'm about ready to flip out. Nobody even thinks about respecting personal space in the city...

My current minimum salary to move to an urban area is $500,000/yr.... although I'm thinking that's too low considering life is so short.
 
While I agree with you on avoiding urban crowds, I also avoid scenes like your photo. Fine on TV, pleasant to watch from inside a warm house with a warm drink in my hand. Call me when the ground is visible and all living things aren't dormant.

Given the choice between 100°F or 0°F, I'll take 100 every time. Especially now that we have discovered air conditioning.

Spent thirteen years despising that white stuff that kept covering the roads, and hated every single shovel full I had to lift off of my driveway, to say,nothing of the frozen knee high wall the plows would leave across my driveway. Never again!!
 
azure said:
Family would probably make the difference for me. With just friends in the equation, it would be a harder decision. I suspect I would not have stayed in Michigan if I did not have to work, but it would depend on what I could find in regions of the country I'd rather live in.
Click to expand...

I'll see where my kids end up settling before I decide where to retire. It'll be either somewhere close to them or in central FL with good airline access to wherever they are.
 
steingar said:
First, I hostly think this whole "gosh I have to avoid snow" stuff is the lowest form of bullcrap imaginable and I have very little respect for those who espouse it.
Click to expand...

Wow, I can think of a bunch of things lower than a dislike for snow.

I dont mind the snow in ND, but that's easy to say because I have an apartment and the landscaping contractor plows from 6am on out.

What's the local culture like? That trumps just about everything in my book. But yeah, the biggest thing is are you going to be near your people, whoever they may be. I think who has which taxes is likely to be a ways down on my list.
Click to expand...

At retiree level income, the difference between MD income tax and FL income tax would pay for 6 business class trips for two back and forth every year. Drop that to economy+ and I could go see the kids once a week on the tax savings alone.
 
steingar said:
First, I hostly think this whole "gosh I have to avoid snow" stuff is the lowest form of bullcrap imaginable and I have very little respect for those who espouse it. Sorry, I have always run cold and have still walked through the worst winters the AMerican midwest has had in memory if not ever. Sorry if I offend, I just don't see it as that big a deal. Yeah, the winters are hard on VFR flying, that's about the biggest drawback I can see. Were I going to move I think I'd rather move north.
Click to expand...
Wow. Why don't you tell us how you really feel? :rofl:

FWIW I dislike wet barely above freezing weather a lot more than snow and serious cold, and in fact didn't really mind the past winter in VT too much except for the heating costs. Then again, I had the sense to stay indoors when it was below zero F, which was the overwhelming majority of mornings from Jan through Mar (I'm told this was an unusually cold winter here).

But anyway I said climate, not cold or snow. For some that might be heat and humidity. If it's completely irrelevant to you, then you're blessed, but I also suspect you're in the minority.
There are so many factors that play into quality of life. How easy is it to get around? I couldn't see myself in DC anymore, too many people all trying to do too many things all at once. It would make me bonkers in short order. Same in So Cal, folks piled up on top of each other like cordwood. I wouldn't care if they had the smallest tax base on earth. I don't want to live like that, not for me.
Click to expand...
Surely, and I really enjoyed the lack of crowding and traffic gridlock when I first moved here. Still one of the things I miss the least about MI, at least the Detroit area.
What's the local culture like? That trumps just about everything in my book. But yeah, the biggest thing is are you going to be near your people, whoever they may be. I think who has which taxes is likely to be a ways down on my list.
Click to expand...
The local culture is one of the few things I like about this place. Living in a college town with all the intellectual stimulation is great. And it's a *small* college town with all the neighborliness that goes with small town life. And I don't have to read about nutcases trying to pass bills to allow them to discriminate against people they don't like. Yes, don't miss that at all.

But the cost of living here is through the roof. It's not just the taxes I pay, it's the pervasiveness of high taxation that's partly to blame for everything being so expensive. The cost of living here is high enough that although I'd like to keep my airplane and am trying everything I can to keep from having to sell it, I think my chances are less than 50-50 at this point. And that's even though I'm making more at my current job than I did back in MI.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top