@lizard If you are retired how much income are you going to have?
MaterMia, do a search here for Hilton Head. There have been several discussions about retirement in the area. If I can answer any questions, just ask. We’ve had a second home there for 5+ years now.
Yeah, I guess most retirees living in states that have a personal income tax like Georgia or New York aren’t going to get hit too hard with state income taxes…everyone has their own financial situation. For ultra wealthy retirees who have big-time income still…get an oceanfront mansion in Palm Beach, Florida and pay no state personal income taxes.
Something to remember too expense-wise when selecting a community is if the taxes are low, services are probably low too…parks, schools, libraries, police, fire & rescue, ambulances, etc. can be iffy or nonexistent if proper funding isn’t in place. Retirees want good schools in their retirement community area too so they are not surrounded by ill functioning idiots who aren’t able to provide needed services to retirees. You get what you pay for. In a lot of the retirement communities homeowners get tagged big time for community fees, homeowners association fees, common area maintenance fees, road maintenance fees, etc. in addition to regular taxes. Sometimes things like roads in retirement communities are privately owned by community association too and common maintenance fees for all this stuff can cost many hundreds of extra dollars/month on top of regular taxes including property taxes.
Our plan is Asheville in the summer and Naples, FL in the winter. We’re still working so the plan is pretty much a dream.
We really like Winston Salem, NC. When the time comes, we will look there. Love the small town feel, good medical facilities. Close enough to three airports. Nice people. Nice blend of older and new homes. Our kid lived in the Ardmore area but that was before 2009…and it was a great location.
We will also look in Delaware.
^^ my parents had planned on retiring in NC but stayed in VA for the tax benefits. They said that NC taxes your whole portfolio - 401K included and VA didn’t. That may have changed.
http://www.kiplinger.com/slideshow/retirement/T037-S001-worst-states-for-retirement-2015/index.html
NC is on the 2015 list but was not on the 2013 list.
The “bad” facts Kiplinger mentions includes a higher than average poverty rate for the entire state and for over-65s. But if you know where your income will be coming from, those averages won’t apply to you.
D1’s bf is from St Simons. We have a friend just retired there after years of owning a vacation condo on the Island. Another friend is moving there this summer as her nest empties.
We have the perspective of a kid that grew up there, a 65 year old single woman and empty nester couple in their 50’s. All love SSI and the slower pace of life. We live in Atl, so I guess they are all used to the weather and the southern stuff.
I would rent a place down there for a month in Sept/ Oct and see what you think.
This thread has some really interesting replies so far. Thanks all for sharing. I live in Central FL and even though I occasionally get a hankering for a place like Cali or Colorado or Ashville NC or Winston-Salem NC, the truth is, I don’t think I would really want to retire anywhere other than where I am. I plan to travel to all those places, I plan to enjoy the hell out of being there, and then rushing back home.
I have a feeling, just a hope at this point, that my two kids will live and work in FL so I’d like to have everyone near each other. One day there will be grandkids and the prospect of spoiling the heck out of them sure sounds good to me,. The heat in FL is ridiculous but I’m used to it and, frankly, with air condition it’s no big deal. When I am out being active I like a good clean sweat anyways.
I’d love to live in Cali, or somewhere but who the hell am I fooling? I didn’t work my butt off building something just to hand it away in confiscatory combined state and federal taxes not to mention obscene real estate costs (renting or buying) so I’ll just have to pass. There is crime everywhere but I’ve never been the victim of a major crime so I feel safe. My family is safe. We are not far from the ocean, if that is your thing, it isn’t mine, but it’s nice to have it nearby. I’m hoping, when I am older, I can entertain the grandkids and we can have the whole crew over not just for the holidays but quite often. It doesn’t always work out that way.
They could end up across the country or the world and if that happens, hell. I’ll set them free.
We live in Georgia and have been thinking about Jeykll Island for retirement. We were just there this last weekend and visited St Simon. I think St. Simon seems too busy while Jeykll is more laid back. However there is no way we would live there in the summer months. It’s way too hot and humid. Most likely we will have to go some place cooler like Michigan in the summer.
How about South Carolina? Beaches and islands around Charleston and Beaufort. Can anyone comment on these areas? Thanks.
I personally have an aversion to hurricanes…and I do not want to buy a house where flood insurance is needed. So those SC locations are off the table for me.
thumper, SC rarely is hit by hurricanes. Interestingly, when we purchased a home many years ago in the Finger Lakes area of NY, we were required to have flood insurance for a small creek in the backyard!
HI has hurricane insurance, and flood insurance for many properties, but its still paradise. 
I agree with the small airport being one of the only down sides of Asheville NC. My fiance and I had our first visit there last month and went bananas about the place. What a fantastic town.
Hurricane Hugo in 1989 killed over 30 people in South Carolina and did around $6 billion in property damage in South Carolina. Hurricanes can hit anywhere…don’t let your guard down.
I am waiting to see where my kids wind up before committing to a place to retire to. I too want to be close to them and the (not-yet-born) grandchildren. Unfortunately the younger one still has four years of grad school to complete before he gets his first real job.
I said rarely and it’s true. Most hurricanes that head up the coast skip over SC and hit NC. Of course, hurricanes can hit anywhere. Look what happened with Sandy. I guess no one should live in NJ or New England, or anywhere along the eastern seaboard, for that matter.
Florida hasn’t had a major hurricane in almost 10 years with Wilma. Don’t want a big hurricane to ever again hit Florida, but just because we haven’t had one in 10 years doesn’t mean we can’t get more in future. It would be a nightmare if a category 5 hurricane ever crept up either heavily populated coasts of Florida. Too, Florida’s present off the wall little insurance companies, state owned Citizens Ins. Co., and the few remaining ‘pup’ property insurance companies operated within Florida by national insurance companies would not have enough money to pay all homeowners insurance claims with a catastrophic storm. Too, people wouldn’t even be able to evacuate on crowded and flooded highways along coasts. My parents’ had a home finally totaled on Gulf of Mexico around 1993 after about the third tidal surge that flooded their old house. It’s nice living on coast…except when your home ends up in the ocean flooded. .Also, with future uncertainty of affordable federal flood insurance for coastal homes…I’d avoid buying a home in special dangerous flood zones…unless one can afford paying annual premiums in the 10s of thousands of dollars. Better getting a home inland on higher ground and just getting a trailerable boat for doing water activities in gulf or Atlantic.
2015 hurricane season officially begins this coming Monday, June 1st.