Texas is a good place to retire

[Antares]

As someone who moved here in the late summer I tend to agree with this poll. I just can't believe that Texas is number 40 in healthcare when there is a lot of hospitals within 30 minutes of where I live. In MO my wife and I had to drive over 70 miles to go to a big hospital to see specialists. I consider myself lucky to be less than 5 miles from a big hospital. I also love the benefits that a disabled vet has in Texas, free hunting and fishing etc. I am still waiting for my CHL that I sent in on December 17th, but I can understand that the end of the year was very busy. My God they had 40 people in my CHL class far different than my CCL class in MO. when I was the only one. It is also great to be in a state that appears to be more conservative except in the big cities.

https://wallethub.com/edu/best-and-wors ... ire/18592/

[RoyGBiv]

The cost of property taxes in Texas will likely force us out of State when we retire.
My NC property taxes were only 20% of what I pay in TX for a similar value home.

[ELB]

Since they don't really tell you how they calculated the numbers or where the information came from, it's hard to know. They list factors and weights, but they don't tell you what numbers were actually used or their precise sources. For example, the healthcare rating is heavily weighted towards resources: numbers of hospitals, nurses, docs, etc per 100K of population, but don't tell you what those numbers are. Only two of the factors in the Healthcare rating actually have anything to do with actual measures of health (as opposed to resources): life expectancy and death rate of those 65 and older.

I'm happy to retire here. Property taxes are high, but other taxes are low. Before you move to some other state because of Texas property taxes, make sure you understand what your total tax burden will be in the new state as compared to Texas: property, sales, income, licensing fees, etc.

[JALLEN]

In California the weather is good, the people are ahhh, not so much. Here it is the reverse, somewhat.

I paid more state taxes in California than most people make, property taxes even with Prop. 13, sales taxes, income taxes, business taxes, bogus fees. Luckily,
I came up with a brilliant tax saving scheme that is perfectly legal.

My main gripe is there are too many people here now, and not nearly enough Texans.

[Pawpaw]

The cost of property taxes in Texas will likely force us out of State when we retire.
My NC property taxes were only 20% of what I pay in TX for a similar value home.

How does that work out when you factor in NC income tax?

If you don't add that in, it's not a fair comparison.

[pushpullpete]

I moved here, after more than 3 decades, from cali. I grew up in NY (not the city). I'm used to taxes for everything. Texas people for the most part are courteous & polite. The simple manners that are somewhat difficult to find in cali I find are quite plentiful here & while the north east has the manners, the DRY sense of humor turn off most not born there. I moved here in the summer of 2011. hahaha holy cr@p hottest summer ever. All that being said, I will likely (hopefully way in the future) die in Texas. Overall I believe it is a good place to live, but... it's not for everyone.

[Bitter Clinger]

The cost of property taxes in Texas will likely force us out of State when we retire.
My NC property taxes were only 20% of what I pay in TX for a similar value home.

How does that work out when you factor in NC income tax?

If you don't add that in, it's not a fair comparison.

For an overall evaluated look, see:

http://taxfoundation.org/article/facts- ... te-compare

[RoyGBiv]

The cost of property taxes in Texas will likely force us out of State when we retire.
My NC property taxes were only 20% of what I pay in TX for a similar value home.

How does that work out when you factor in NC income tax?

If you don't add that in, it's not a fair comparison.

It is definitely a fair comparison for retired people who are typically not earning a paycheck. No income tax if you don't have income.

Texas is less total tax (by a few %) while I'm working.

[Bitter Clinger]

The cost of property taxes in Texas will likely force us out of State when we retire.
My NC property taxes were only 20% of what I pay in TX for a similar value home.

How does that work out when you factor in NC income tax?

If you don't add that in, it's not a fair comparison.

It is definitely a fair comparison for retired people who are typically not earning a paycheck. No income tax if you don't have income.

Texas is less total tax (by a few %) while I'm working.

No income? At all? Even Social Security is taxed now, sad to say...I am still filing income tax for my 90 year old mom...

[RoyGBiv]

The cost of property taxes in Texas will likely force us out of State when we retire.
My NC property taxes were only 20% of what I pay in TX for a similar value home.

How does that work out when you factor in NC income tax?

If you don't add that in, it's not a fair comparison.

It is definitely a fair comparison for retired people who are typically not earning a paycheck. No income tax if you don't have income.

Texas is less total tax (by a few %) while I'm working.

No income? At all? Even Social Security is taxed now, sad to say...I am still filing income tax for my 90 year old mom...

Forgive me.. I'm recalling this from memory... but.. wife and I ran the numbers a few years ago...

IIRC, we had to have combined income over $100,000 living in Colorado for Texas to be less total tax (state income + school + property... Not including sales tax) burden. Break even income level was a bit less for NC, since NC has higher state and property rates than CO. (Income CO 4.63 vs NC 5.75) (property CO 0.61 vs NC 0.85).

In reality, we could stay in Texas if we moved to a smaller house after the kids are out. I was just trying to make a point. Texas property taxes are pretty high. And they don't go away when you retire.

[3dfxMM]

No. But depending on what county/school district you live in, they can go down quite a lot when you reach 65 years of age.

[cb1000rider]

It is definitely a fair comparison for retired people who are typically not earning a paycheck. No income tax if you don't have income.
Texas is less total tax (by a few %) while I'm working.

How can you retire without income? Social security won't get it done. I understand you could do it with SS and a Roth IRA, but I don't think that's the majority of Americans...

Your point is well taken. While you've got substantial income, better to steer clear of income tax states.. at least if you can live in reasonably moderate housing.