10 Worst States to Retire In (AARP)

I was all set to move to North Carolina next to the Albemarle Sound, but I guess Virginia is the better retirement state. I never would have guessed.

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Originally Posted by N2RJ

NY state is still expensive as hell. The catskills are nice though.

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Most of NYS is not. I'd challenge people to find a city with property taxes lower than Buffalo's (Averages about $2000 a year, skewed up by some of the mansions here). Cost of living is lower than most other areas I've considered (Even Texas, which has a rather low cost of living).

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Originally Posted by n2ize

It's not just skewed by NYC but also by many of the affluent communities surrounding NYC, such as my area and some of the very rich neighborhoods bordering my area. . NYC property taxes are high but my property taxes are higher than what some people I know in NYC are paying. Couple that with some of the highest heating and electricity rates in the country and this is an extremely expensive place to live. When winter comes I look forward to the cold weather but I am grateful when it is mild in terms of heating costs. Ditto for hot summer weather. I like the heat but I don;t like the cost of cooling the place down. This break of cool weather we are having right now is an economic blessing.

Main reason i stay hear is because in so many other ways its a great place to be. There is so much to do here and all within short distance of home. Plus I can get the best pizza in town. And I'm only a few minutes drive from NYC (appx 20 min drive from Manhattan). it would be very hard for me to part this area, even in retirement. If I do ever retire and leave I'll probably head to Alaska or Northwest Canada or the Yukon territory.

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That's what I'm surmising. It's mostly downstate and Ithaca skewing it so high.

If this list follows suit with many others the top and bottom lists will just about reverse themselves by the time the next list comes out. People will flock to those places listed best driving the cost of living up and bringing crime with them. Automatically two strikes toward certain decline.

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Originally Posted by KC2UGV

Most of NYS is not. I'd challenge people to find a city with property taxes lower than Buffalo's (Averages about $2000 a year, skewed up by some of the mansions here). Cost of living is lower than most other areas I've considered (Even Texas, which has a rather low cost of living).

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Fulton county in the Adirondacks is (or at least was) one of the economically poorest counties in the state. But one of the most beautiful in terms of landscape and scenery.

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That's what I'm surmising. It's mostly downstate and Ithaca skewing it so high.

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Oh yeah. Downstate is wwhere the high taxes and high cost of living prevails. It definitely drives up the average for the entire state.

Stafford, TX (gotta love TEXAS!) has no property taxes. In fact about a dozen cities in Texas have no property taxes. And yes, they have services and no debt.

Stafford also has a fraction of the population of this general area (excluding NYC) and also probably a fraction of the expenses.

No matter what, im quite sure Maine will stay off a LOT of retirees to-do list. Were sticking with that one.

If I ever retire and it so happens to be in the states it will be in either Kentucky or Tennessee. I have felt this way since I was 9 years old. I do have particular areas in mind too. The pace is slow, the weather is decent, lots of space and time to fish, cost of living is fair, etc.

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Originally Posted by N2RJ

Stafford, TX (gotta love TEXAS!) has no property taxes. In fact about a dozen cities in Texas have no property taxes. And yes, they have services and no debt.

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Texas also has pretty high other taxes too, and their services are minimal, at best. And, they get bokku dollars from the Federal government due to the military installations (8 of them I believe, one of which is the largest CONUS installation).

I lived in Texas for 6 years, and saw first hand.

An example? I got my Driver's licenses in Texas without taking a written or road test.

Health care programs for low income? Barely there.

In Texas, you one of the following (Generally, of course there are exceptions): A soldier, a worker at Walmart, or a wealthy rancher.

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Originally Posted by KC2UGV

Texas also has pretty high other taxes too, and their services are minimal, at best. And, they get bokku dollars from the Federal government due to the military installations (8 of them I believe, one of which is the largest CONUS installation).

I lived in Texas for 6 years, and saw first hand.

An example? I got my Driver's licenses in Texas without taking a written or road test.

Health care programs for low income? Barely there.

In Texas, you one of the following (Generally, of course there are exceptions): A soldier, a worker at Walmart, or a wealthy rancher.

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My uncle is now a social worker in Texas. Before that he was a teacher. He said he had a hard time buying groceries. He ofc used to teach in PA so I assume that the pay scale for teachers down in Texas is significantly lower.

Before that, you guessed it, he was a soldier. Lol.