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Early Retirement / Re: Can I retire? I'm so tired of this job/HCOL area!
« on: March 22, 2021, 09:42:25 AM »
Let me give you some perspective since we did exactly what you are contemplating, namely moving from NY to TN. We made the move a little over ten years ago and it absolutely was the best decision we could have made. We lived in very, very snowy Upstate NY, just to the north of Syracuse, and left all the snow blowing and snow shoveling behind us. We wanted out of the political atmosphere in NY as well, which in our estimation has only gotten worse over the last decade. But let me give you some points from our experience:
1. The COL is everything you think it will be. We moved to a small town in TN so our costs are even lower then if you went to the larger cities of Memphis, Nashville, and Knoxville, which seem to attract the people from the North and West who push for more services and the like, meaning higher local taxes and higher property values. We moved into a house twice as large as what we had prior, on 10x the size lot, and our property taxes dropped 75%. And btw, our property taxes have NEVER gone up over the ten years (what do you think would have been the case in NY over ten years). As you mentioned we also have no state income tax, since the Hall tax on dividends and interest went away permanently as of last year. We do have a high state sales tax which funds everything, including our schools, but that is also reduced for things like food, and in some cases items are tax free. I would still rather pay a higher sales tax than never ending increases in property taxes and the like, since the latter always increased year after year in NY. Besides, there are many areas in NY, CA, IL and elsewhere that probably excess our sales tax already due to local sales tax additions, and they still have all their other taxes.
2. Do you like the outdoors? Then you would love TN. Abundant fishing, hunting, etc and a lot of beautiful scenery. Looks like UNY in many ways.
3. One big point - we are a very conservative state. The whole state is red except for pockets in the large cities. It actually was one of the attractions for us but if you are not conservative you might struggle here. We have had people in our development actually move back to Long Island and elsewhere because of this reason, so be honest with yourself in this regard.
4. We are also a very pro-2nd Amendment state. In fact, the state legislature is about finished with a new bill that will allow concealed carry in TN whether you have a permit or not. Personally I am a CC permit holder so I am tossed up on this one, but it will give you an example of how pro gun we are here.
Hopefully this helps some. If I can help anymore with any specifics let me know and I'll do my best.
1. The COL is everything you think it will be. We moved to a small town in TN so our costs are even lower then if you went to the larger cities of Memphis, Nashville, and Knoxville, which seem to attract the people from the North and West who push for more services and the like, meaning higher local taxes and higher property values. We moved into a house twice as large as what we had prior, on 10x the size lot, and our property taxes dropped 75%. And btw, our property taxes have NEVER gone up over the ten years (what do you think would have been the case in NY over ten years). As you mentioned we also have no state income tax, since the Hall tax on dividends and interest went away permanently as of last year. We do have a high state sales tax which funds everything, including our schools, but that is also reduced for things like food, and in some cases items are tax free. I would still rather pay a higher sales tax than never ending increases in property taxes and the like, since the latter always increased year after year in NY. Besides, there are many areas in NY, CA, IL and elsewhere that probably excess our sales tax already due to local sales tax additions, and they still have all their other taxes.
2. Do you like the outdoors? Then you would love TN. Abundant fishing, hunting, etc and a lot of beautiful scenery. Looks like UNY in many ways.
3. One big point - we are a very conservative state. The whole state is red except for pockets in the large cities. It actually was one of the attractions for us but if you are not conservative you might struggle here. We have had people in our development actually move back to Long Island and elsewhere because of this reason, so be honest with yourself in this regard.
4. We are also a very pro-2nd Amendment state. In fact, the state legislature is about finished with a new bill that will allow concealed carry in TN whether you have a permit or not. Personally I am a CC permit holder so I am tossed up on this one, but it will give you an example of how pro gun we are here.
Hopefully this helps some. If I can help anymore with any specifics let me know and I'll do my best.