Ten LEAST Expensive States to Live In the USA

SeaBreeze

SeaBreeze

Endlessly Groovin'
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Something seniors on a budget may want to consider when looking for a state to spend their retirement years. States include Kentucky, Texas, Kansas, Tennessee, Idaho, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Michigan, Indiana and Mississippi. This list is from 2017, more here.
 

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When my brother moved from Houston to NW Arkansas, he suggested I also move there from Texas.

But two major things prevented me from doing so.... winter weather and taxes.

Texas has high real estate property taxes but no state income tax and no state personal property tax.

Arkansas real estate property taxes are cheaper... but it also has a state income tax and a state personal property tax.
Too many different taxes for this simple Texan to keep up with.
 
I think I'll stay in Kansas. I thought about moving closer to my daughter in Texas but they are having another big oil boom right now. My newly married granddaughter pays 1,000.00 a month rent which is twice what I pay and my apartment is larger, I have a balcony with a little lake, there is a pool and a fitness center, fishing and it's located in a quiet area. I could get a super nice apartment for 1,000.00 So Texas is out for now. I kind of like to eat so don't want to spend all of my money on rent. It's sad because housing is in short supply there really aren't any houses for them to buy unless they want to spend 200,000.00 which is way out of their price range. In their area people rent out real dumps for extreme rental fees. Should be a law against that.
 
99% of the people here in Florida, absolutely would NOT move to a state that gets snow. Wife and I are in the 1% that are seriously looking at doing just that. IOW, going back to Colorado. Spent 5 1/2 years 28 miles south of Denver, from mid 2002 thru Oct 2007 and endured snowstorms and a few blizzards. It had been years since my wife had been in "winter", but she loved seeing the snow. Snow and Christmas just seem to go together. After we moved, I definitely didn't miss driving 28 miles each way to work in downtown Denver during or after a snowstorm or blizzard, but we will both be pretty much-to-fully retired when we go back. This time, it will be in northern Colorado.

We really thought we'd love living in northeastern Florida (Jacksonville), but the crime, population and traffic has become horrible in the last 10 years. Even with a Del Webb Senior Community not to far from here, Jacksonville is definitely not for Seniors. Very fast paced.

Visited Loveland and Fort Collins, Colorado a few weeks ago for a week and ended up really liking basically both. Driving up or down the I-25 and seeing acre after acre of corn and soy bean fields, cattle grazing, tractors and round bales of hay...….we LOVED it. Seeing Elk Crossing signs along highways. Much, much smaller population than here and a heck of a lot less crime. Rodeo action and freshwater lakes for boating and trout fishing.
 
I've posted this before, but it gets updated regularly:

State-by-State Guide to Taxes on Retirees
Click on any state in the map below for a detailed summary of taxes on retirement income, property and purchases, as well as special tax breaks for seniors. See more maps below, including the most tax-friendly and least tax-friendly states for retirees.
Kiplinger magazine Nov 2017 (updated regularly)

https://www.kiplinger.com/tool/reti...by-state-guide-to-taxes-on-retirees/index.php
 
for a lot of retirees , if they planned smart , state taxes are not an issue . i mean we live in new york and have a 6 figure retirement income and pay so little in state tax that it is not even a factor . most of our income is not taxed by nys

social security is not taxed , our pension is not taxed , our treasury interest is not taxed and the first 20k in retirement money is not taxed . so yeah nys is a high tax state but as a retiree do i care ? . real estate taxes are low in nyc because we have a nyc tax but as a retiree that does not effect me since our state and local taxes even with a high retirement income are tiny .

so to me there are are far more important issues to look at and none are addressed in these silly click bait articles . .

having a great extensive public transportation system is very high on the list in case i can't drive or don't want to drive.

having the best medical facilities and specialists in close proximity is important who take my insurance .

having lots of senior housing and senior perks for renters too . here in nyc if you are a senior and the rent takes up a certain percentage of your income , in stabilized housing you may be exempt from any rent increases .

having a place to do some work if i wanted that actually pays enough to make it worth my time is important . i don't want to waste my time at the local deli for a tiny wage . .

not having to fear hurricanes , fires and tornadoes on a regular basis .

having so much to do that it keeps us busy daily . we had a house in the poconos and after just 5 years , fishing and that walk around the lake had us bored stiff .

being able to age in place , or if medicaid is needed , you want lots of decent local facilities so as not to be shipped 100 miles away from family and friends .

there is so much more that can end up being really important in retirement then these silly articles base things on like the cost of a steak or taxes .

we can all adjust our incomes to work no matter what groceries cost . but there are things we need that we can not control like i mentioned above that can be deal breakers in many areas because they lack these things .
 
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exactly , because living near family and friends to us can surpass the benefit of expenses for us any day. here in nyc we are part of all our grand kids daily lives and not some vacation stop over like our kids were to our parents . my kids never even really knew their grand parents since they lived so far away because they had to live somewhere cheaper .

my wife and i swore we would never do that to our kids and grand kids as our choice .
 
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I live in the same state where God first planted me.

I have thought about moving elsewhere and still do.

But the fact is, after living here all my life, this is familiar, this is where I am comfortable, this is home.

Anywhere else I would only be visiting.
 
Over the years, we've lived in MI (my birth state), PA, CA, TX, back to PA, and now AZ.

When we lived in TX, housing was very affordable and taxes low. Groceries were reasonable and gas prices were competitive and our pensions were not taxed. Hubby was retired but I was still working and wages were very low. The real drawback (for me) was the weather. I hated the humidity. Being outside was not an enjoyable thing and the mosquitoes were the size of chickens...it's a Texas thing :)

Then both of our mother's passed away within 2 weeks of each other. Mine lived in MI and his mom lived in PA. The next summer was a memorial service for his mom and we went and so did all of his family (he is the oldest of 5). It was so nice to be back with family and when we returned to TX I got very "homesick". Within a year we moved to PA to a very beautiful small town. Our families were about 30 miles away from us and you'd think we lived on the moon! No one came to see us...ever...unless we specifically invited them, which we did. Then my husband had a life-changing accident and the winters were very hard on us. That's when we decided he needed to be in a less humid environment, so we moved to AZ in 2014.

We don't have any grandchildren and our family in PA that I thought it would be so nice to be near was non-existent.

I will say that PA was a whole lot less expensive to live in then AZ is. I hate that everything is so much more expensive here and our pensions are taxed here. Our sales tax is almost 10%!! I guess it's a trade-off.....money or health. I can't say I love AZ (the scenery is breathtaking though!), but that's where we are and that's where we'll stay. My 2 stepkids have moved here from Anaheim, CA to be closer to their dad so we see them and talk to them often. That's a plus :)
 
KingsX said:
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I live in the same state where God first planted me.

I have thought about moving elsewhere and still do.

But the fact is, after living here all my life, this is familiar, this is where I am comfortable, this is home.

Anywhere else I would only be visiting.
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I hear ya! I've moved around so much in my life that nowhere is home to me. It's just another place to "visit" for a while :( I don't know what "roots" are and I envy anyone that's had that.
 
Colleen said:
Over the years, we've lived in MI (my birth state), PA, CA, TX, back to PA, and now AZ.

I will say that PA was a whole lot less expensive to live in then AZ is. I hate that everything is so much more expensive here and our pensions are taxed here. Our sales tax is almost 10%!! I guess it's a trade-off.....money or health. I can't say I love AZ (the scenery is breathtaking though!), but that's where we are and that's where we'll stay. My 2 stepkids have moved here from Anaheim, CA to be closer to their dad so we see them and talk to them often. That's a plus :)
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when we had our 2nd home in pa we found we could make do with about 1/3 less income than we do in queens in nyc . but salaries were 1/2 so it really was a worse deal .

we did not even save money on housing . here in nyc no one lives with us so we have a 2 bedroom 2 bath apartment in a high rise . all the kids are local .

in pa we needed a 3000 sq ft home since everyone stays over . our apartment cost less on a yearly basis .
 
Colleen said:
Over the years, we've lived in MI (my birth state), PA, CA, TX, back to PA, and now AZ.

When we lived in TX, housing was very affordable and taxes low. Groceries were reasonable and gas prices were competitive and our pensions were not taxed. Hubby was retired but I was still working and wages were very low. The real drawback (for me) was the weather. I hated the humidity. Being outside was not an enjoyable thing and the mosquitoes were the size of chickens...it's a Texas thing :)
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It's an east and south Texas thing... west Texas [where I was born] has a dry climate similar to NM and AZ.

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I get what you all are saying, but if I ever had to move to an assisted living facility, I could never afford it here (Hawaii). I'd have to move to somewhere that I could afford.
 
Olivia said:
I get what you all are saying, but if I ever had to move to an assisted living facility, I could never afford it here (Hawaii). I'd have to move to somewhere that I could afford.
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Use every last time on a Hawaii "Bucket List" vacation! While there sign on to Medicare Plan G and live your remaining days in paradise
Medicare Plan G:





The plan gives anyone 75 or older a gun (Part G for gun) and one bullet. You may then shoot one worthless politician. This means you will be sent to prison for the rest of your life where you will receive three meals a day, a roof over your head, central heating and air conditioning, cable TV, a library, and all the health care you need. Need new teeth? No problem. Need glasses? That’s great. Need a hearing aid, new hip, knees, kidney, lungs, sex change, or heart? They are all covered! As an added bonus, your kids can come and visit you at least as often as they do now!

And, who is paying for all of this? The same government that just told you they can’t afford for you to go into a nursing home. And you will get rid of a useless politician while you are at it. And now, because you are a prisoner, you don’t have to pay taxes.





Is this a great country or what?










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DGM wrote:

Use every last time on a Hawaii "Bucket List" vacation! While there sign on to Medicare Plan G and live your remaining days in paradise
Medicare Plan G:

The plan gives anyone 75 or older a gun (Part G for gun) and one bullet. You may then shoot one worthless politician. This means you will be sent to prison for the rest of your life where you will receive three meals a day, a roof over your head, central heating and air conditioning, cable TV, a library, and all the health care you need. Need new teeth? No problem. Need glasses? That’s great. Need a hearing aid, new hip, knees, kidney, lungs, sex change, or heart? They are all covered! As an added bonus, your kids can come and visit you at least as often as they do now!

And, who is paying for all of this? The same government that just told you they can’t afford for you to go into a nursing home. And you will get rid of a useless politician while you are at it. And now, because you are a prisoner, you don’t have to pay taxes.

Is this a great country or what?
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I don't quite know how to respond to that, but thank you anyway. It's always good to have options. :eagerness:
 
The good thing about being old in prison is that they separate the elderly from the rest of the prison riff raff. At least that's what I've seen on those real life prison TV shows. I forget what they're called now. I guess that makes it a little more worthwhile if that's what you've got to do. :playful:

RadishRose, I could have gotten the flu shot today but I just wasn't in the mood.
 

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