#1 There’s a high chance you will be paying more in taxes
As humans, it’s normal to long for things that we don’t have or to want different things. Maybe that’s why you are considering moving away from your home state: to trade the cold winters of Minnesota for the beachy Hawaii or California! Or maybe some other warm states. Or maybe you’re the exact opposite type and are longing for more subdued weather and crave to see the changing of the seasons.
You should then be very careful about where you are moving since you may end up having your retirement income taxed. If you’re thinking about relocating to the sunny state of Hawaii, be prepared to pay a hefty 11% in individual income taxes (rumor has it that this will be increased to 16%).
The starting point is to thoroughly research the taxes in the state to which you intend to relocate. It may turn out that staying at home is the best thing for your pockets.
I moved 6 yrs ago when I was 64. Having now only one income, living in our family home and town was too much. But moving to a slightly impoverished area has been really hard. Food stores and healthcare is the worst I’ve ever seen. Moving expenses were terrible and doing everything without help was insane. Settled in now and planning to die here before going through that again.
I would like to stay where I am despite the colder weather in upstate NY. The summers are good.Did the article mention the cost of movers unless one sells all their furniture? It is expensive. My 5 adult children plus 3 young grandkids are scattered- Fla.Mi,Ca,Az. My husband would like to divide the yr by going to Az. and certainly save a lot state taxes. We are in Az visiting now. I would still prefer not to spend half a year and prefer to be home and visit our family. I have been looking at smaller houses and so far nothing meets my fancy. For me it would be a struggle. What the take;What not to take; what to you sell; what To donate. My husband says we should rent a place and put everything in storage that we can until we find a house we want. It means moving twice. It means putting stuff away elsewhere and then not being able to find what I Need when I need it. I just don’t feel I’ve got the energy to do all that.It would take a lot of energy to move especially moving Twice.
This is crazy. Move if you want to. It’s about the next chapter. Not constantly reliving the same life. Some of us moved originally to be promoted at “Corporate”. We have had to travel to be with family. Not now. This is not universal and should never have been published. Really? You’re going to tell us that we have to pay commissions on the sale of our house? Unreal.
Great article! I am staying put because I live in a duplex and get rental income. If I need to raise the rent I can in order to meet increased costs of living. I have a yard for my two small dogs to enjoy and 2 chickens for eggs. What more can an 83 year old want or need?
Losing money when selling my house? I do not expect to make any money off the sale of my house. I will sell my house for what I owe on the mortgage. My house will be sold as-is, where-is with all faults and defects. No warranties of any kind. Buyer will be responsible for any and all taxes, fees, escrow, etc. Basically I sell the house, sign the papers turn over the keys and walk away with zero money out of my pocket.
All of these are good points but that only means you have to consider them in advance to be sure you know what you’re doing. I retired in ’18 and moved in ’21. The price of the new house was about the same as we got for the old one but there definitely were expenses that cost us. However we weren’t near any relatives in the first place; we have far better weather here (10″ of snow per winter instead of 10x that much), two great hospital systems within just a few miles; property taxes are actually lower too. We have been here 2 years and are totally satisfied withour move. We were in our old place 23 years and those were good years – but the weather drove us to relocate.
My wife and I moved with our 9 year old son – I am retired – 300 miles south. We got better weather (lake effect snow by Lake Michigan is awful), our taxes are no higher in fact lower, we’ve got access to equally good medical care if not better. We did not move away from other relatives in the area where we were so it isn’t like we’re missing them. There will always be expenses to moving but we sold our old house for about the same as we paid for the new house. Which I might add we like better!
We had this move in the planning for 2 or 3 years and knew what we were doing.
This list must have been developed by someone living in a liberal high tax cold weather state with poor doctors. Does not apply to most of us.
I already have a very difficult time finding a good internist……VERY DIFFICULT
For another perspective, my wife and I moved 15 months ago from our home (of 27 years) in Glenside, PA, to a Continuing Care Retirement Center just 30 minutes away in Ambler, PA. Our church and doctors have stayed the same and many of our long-time friends are close enough for a visit – three will be joining us for Christmas dinner tomorrow night. We see this is THE BEST of all the options. Our care is assured and our surroundings are familiar. I believe that your article would have been stronger if you had mentioned this option.
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