<p>“For the people that this will matter to - the 2014 figure is actually $5.34 million”</p>
<p>I guess that adds up to 10.68 Million, but state taxes can really zap you much lower.</p>
<p>Finally caught up on this thread.</p>
<p>MIL and FIL are 85 now; when MIL retired from school, she asked me to listen in and help her with retirement pension options. One option was lump sum - at the time, MIL was not in great health - I gave her a wake up call to take better care of herself, otherwise she has to consider her options, and she did take better care of her health with retirement. Took the survivor spouse option (FIL only had SS). They can comfortably live within the incoming, and actually build up some savings. We think MIL will outlive FIL due to strokes FIL has had in last couple of years which has been limiting his mobility.</p>
<p>Years ago we watched Sun Microsystems go up and down and up again in the stock market. We bought one swing too many and lost about $15 K (although probably not really, since we made more than that earlier).</p>
<p>H’s company was sold, and is continuing only 401(k) - so pension was ‘canceled’ - got lump sum of pension benefit, but the loss is that for the years since, and the years to retirement, we would have been building up more of a pension, which was lost. </p>
<p>H worked for 7 1/2 years with his first job that has ‘partial vesting’ - so I imagine we can see at age 62 what is there - and if we should wait until 65.</p>
<p>I have purchased both 2007 and 2009 Bogle Books - thanks for the lead. It is always good to think through these things (even with my two graduate business degrees).</p>
<p>The Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Aug issue has on the cover ‘10 smart places to retire - surprise college towns’. One place I had not considered was Boise; it says it has four distinct seasons, but its location on a high desert plain keeps winters mild and humidity low. It would be interesting to at least check out the area. I think most people like to retire around family/friends, however tax considerations do come into play.There is something to be said about reducing the amount of money tied up in primary/secondary residences - that $$ could be invested to generate income in retirement. Article lists best and worst 10 states regarding tax friendly, and explains retirement income, SS benefits, and estate taxes. </p>
<p>In addition to retirement funds, the use of insurance, and being smart about taxes is key to the whole picture. Buy long term care insurance while you are healthy enough to qualify for it - H and I got policies in our 40’s (before my cancer at age 52). Keeping healthy is really key to quality of life and not using up time and assets with medical interventions. H and I are taking off lbs now and conscientious in regular exercise.</p>
<p>I have started both DDs on 401(k), Roth IRA’s. DD2 has matching at her paid internship after so many hours of employment, so I had paperwork for her to have withdrawal at the get-go, so when it gets matched she was already use to the money being taken out. DD1 earned some money last year from a job, so that amount got put into a Roth with Ameritrade and with indexed fund. They will see the time value of money. After year end, I can see what they both earned in 2014 to put into Roth accordingly.</p>
<p>Having enough to retire comfortably so no worries.</p>
<p>North Carolina allows you to file your sealed will (before death) with the clerk of the superior court. If you die, this is the will that will be probated. You can remove it at any point up until death. </p>
<p>I wish more states did that. It made it easy. (Especially given hurricanes, floods and other disasters that hit the coastal communities!)</p>
<p>I called our credit union, and they said we could add as many names as we liked for access to safety deposit box. (Not sure if we’d get extra keys). Still leaning toward storing the will in a strongbox at home. </p>
<p>The lawyer that ran our class in CO said only the original will is valid, not copies. But state laws may vary. </p>
<p>The link above mentions that Form 706 must be filed with the IRS when the first spouse dies to get the portability of estate tax exemption.</p>
<p>Our lawyer had two originals made of our will. His firm has one and we have one.</p>
<p>@busdriver11 - yes, in Pennsylvania the rates are 4.5% for direct heirs, 12% for siblings, and 15% for everyone else.</p>
<p>@dadinator, in Washington they are up to 20%. One can plan to move to avoid these things, but you never know when they are going to change the law in a state.</p>
<p>Aren’t there exemptions before the tax kicks in?</p>
<p>@Iglooo, in Washington they exempt the first two million (actually it’s a little more than that because they index it to inflation every year), and have a sliding scale up to 20%. But even the lowest rate isn’t that low.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>in the states that have the taxes, the exemption amount varies, and is not usually up at the new federal level. See this article from last year as a guide to the taxes.
<a href=“Where Not To Die In 2014: The Changing Wealth Tax Landscape”>http://www.forbes.com/sites/ashleaebeling/2013/11/01/where-not-to-die-in-2014-the-changing-wealth-tax-landscape/</a></p>
<p>What ends up happening quite a bit is that people plan to shift their “domicile” to the no tax states…often Florida. I had a client years ago who was very wealthy (he founded an industrial cleaning service business) and who watched the time he spent in his home northeastern state very carefully to make sure they didn’t declare him a resident.</p>
<p>In a lot of these states, the exemption about is a million or more, but that could easily pick up a couple of career teachers who happened to have bought a house in the right place in 1978, and who were frugal. </p>
<p>A few of my friends have bought homes in Wyoming and spending enough time there to qualify as residents to lower their taxes. They are also establishing trusts there.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.livinginjacksonhole.com/index.cfm?id=tax-friendly-wyoming”>http://www.livinginjacksonhole.com/index.cfm?id=tax-friendly-wyoming</a></p>
<p>Wyoming sounds like a great place as far as not paying through the nose in taxes. Then again, if Florida also has no estate tax (and no income tax), I think I’d rather have a winter home there than in Wyoming!</p>
<p>There must be some other issue with FL. From what I understand probate law in FL is quite complex. Looking at the map from the link dadx posted, many states do not have estate/inheritance tax, like CA, CO, etc.</p>
<p>“Our lawyer had two originals made of our will. His firm has one and we have one.” - Interesting. Didn’t realize there could be 2 originals… that could make things easier in some cases. </p>
<p>Maybe FL isn’t good then. I guess we’ll check it out more carefully as we get older. I can’t see that CA is going to be a good state to do anything in, be it live, work or die. Even with no estate tax, who knows when they’ll go bankrupt and declare a massive tax on everything they can. Plus with that income tax, who wants to pay that? It’s crazy high.</p>
<p>Just met some folks at church today that bought a motor home so they can park at two daughters’ homes while visiting (considered second home, so I guess they are financing). They have some years before retiring. Unfortunately their neighborhood restricts them from parking at home, so they will have to pay monthly fee to park at storage.Sounds like they want to stay in their current home for retirement.</p>
<p>We will think long and hard about any form of a camper, but being in different places, vacation-like is appealing. I hear better things about having one that hooks behind pickup/vehicle.</p>
<p>One really has to think about patterns of life, and how aging/limitations might change over time. Buying and selling homes and campers gets expensive. </p>
<p>@Colorado_mom, I think the will could be part of a trust. </p>
<p>My grandparents and my father (during different times) travelled across the US in a motor home during retirement and we are starting to talk about the same thing. My grandparents went with two or three other couples and made really good friends with other retired couples. My dad took his dog and was mostly a loner, but that suited him. Again, it depends on our health limitations … and health limitation of the dogs :)</p>
<p>Though you see the folks driving those huge motorhomes - in their 70’s and 80’s. Do you really want to be driving a bus when you are that age!!! :eek:</p>
<p>Am I the only one who aspired to take off cross country with my tent and sleeping bag? I figure a hotel every few nights if I haven’t wrangled a shower in a campground or if the weather is lousy, but I aspired to camp in state forest campgrounds, etc. across the country someday in the next 10 years. No motorhome for me…</p>
<p>Tent and sleeping bag? Nope.</p>