I have found the problem with tables like that is they don’t tell about all taxes. For example, we live in a state that also has county taxes, so comparing just the state tax rate would make our state look better than it actually is.
Has any found found a tool that actually provides an accurate tax picture for various particular locations (Meaning comparing 2 city/state pairs for example)?
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Yes, definitely local taxes (especially property tax, if homeowner) is a factor to consider.
I’ve often use COL (Cost of Living) calculators when comparing different locations, helping my kids research etc.
However I think they only look state and sales tax, probably because property tax can vary so much by home and neighborhood (plus many of the people using the calculators would be renters.) You could do spot checks though by comparing similar homes on Zillow in different places.
A dear friend of mine (they are the only folks in our neighborhood that we’re close to, and we started out doing the carpool together as both our kids were in the STEM programs starting in middle school, so we’re talking 20+ years now) came by yesterday as she and her H were walking their dog to say they bought a house in NC and will be moving this summer. Her H is going to work at his company’s office in Durham and wind down over the next three years. This gets them five hours closer to their only son, who’s in ATL and is in academia. Who knows where he’ll wind up, but he got his PhD in NC and has lots of friends there, so it’s a logical choice for our friends. I’ve known this was coming eventually, but it’s really hitting me hard.
H has no plans to retire for at least six years (age 67.5) and will probably go past that. He has no idea about what will happen after that and no interest in discussing it. Doesn’t want to move, has no other hobbies or non-work friends. The house isn’t set up well for aging in place. Our sons are thousands of miles away, in opposite directions, so that isn’t helpful in deciding where to live.
I know lots of folks who are buying retirement homes or moving out of the area altogether. My docs are retiring or getting out of medicine. The new docs describe me as “in poor health for my age” (and treating me accordingly) instead of realizing the odds I’ve been battling for the past 20+ years. It’s getting lonely much earlier than I anticipated.
As I think you can be , you have to be your best cheerleader! Let those docs know all the challenges you have managed. Let them know your desire for a more healthful life.
My husband can also sometimes have a blind eye for the future. I have been sharing more blunt comments “there is no bedroom space or bathroom space beyond a half bath on our first floor - that could be a disaster for either of us”. Though we are both in pretty decent health, I don’t hesitate to say “we are best we will ever be right now” . Largely true!
Big life changes can be overwhelming. Can you think of one thing that you can tackle to change?
I have had some of those “is this it?!” Moments the last couple of years. It is hard when you spouse isn’t in the same headspace or listening 
And so sorry about your long time friends leaving town!
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If yours friends are federal employees who started in 1984 or before, they may be getting their retirement earnings/withdrawals tax free in NC. I am in that situation and we have considered leaving the DMV area for NC.
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I’m sorry about your friends moving. Two of my good (best?) mom friends moved away during middle school. The first one hurt and the second one - I felt so defeated! It’s not easy to make friends again, after your kids are off to high school. And couple friends too, where everyone likes each other.
We are in NJ and I’d like to retire to VT. We have at least five more years here though. DH wants to retire sooner than later, and I don’t mind continuing to work for a while. NJ drives me crazy but I have really appreciated it more the last few years. We have a house in FL which is nice to visit, but not for me to live. Ideally, I’d be up in VT with regular trips to FL.
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It took me five years to convince my husband we should move. And if his mother hadn’t passed away (at age 99), he likely would not have agreed. We were in Chicagoland and she was on the east coast, but he went there four times a year for a week at a time.
One of my arguments (other than being done with winter) was that we should move before we couldn’t leave our doctors. We were in our late 50’s when I started my campaign. My final argument was that he likely wouldn’t want to be climbing up to our flat roof shoveling snow in his 70’s.
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My husband talks about moving to a patio home like our friends did. I’m not ready to leave my yard/gardens (much of it planted by my mother) just yet. We have a small bedroom/den downstairs and a connection bathroom with tiny shower - I would like to expand that since there is space. We will need to leave someday, but the patio home idea though appealing for one floor (plus basement) still has many homeowner responsibilities. (Yea, they shovel the sidewalk but not the driveway; they mow the big lawn but you still mow close to the house. Plus all the regular home stuff like roof, furnace etc). It would be better in ways, but not an age in place ultimate solution.
Friends make all the difference, don’t they? We have a couple of friends that we are were very close to. More like family. We had a fairly serious discussion last night about retirement locations (we’ve talked about this in general terms several times, but really did get specific last night). Thinking of a visit to the Palm Springs or the Henderson area near Las Vegas to scope out the area as a potential winter retirement location. New England would continue to be our spring/summer/fall home.
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Washington does have a low threshold for estate tax though (2 mil), a new long term care tax and a capital gains tax (on large transactions).
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True. LTC tax applies to earned income. Cap gains is on gains above $250k. Estate tax exemption is lower than federal, but there is no gift tax in WA. One can give away as much as they want to anyone they want, subject to federal gift/estate tax reporting and limits. Double check all of the above with a WA estate planning attorney, ‘cause I’m not one of them. 
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Agreed. The capital gains tax is very recent, and the long-term care tax is among the most stupid things I’ve ever seen government try and do. I am thinking they are going to have to go back to the drawing board on that one. Basically a very high payroll tax for a max $30,000 benefit (or something around there) that is not portable - meaning if you live your life in Wa paying for this nothing sandwich and move, you get bubkis. Of course, this is all meant to be a tax to subsidize medicaid with nobody in Olympia even trying to pretend it’s solving a long-term care problem. The problem is, they had to include an opt-out for people who can demonstrate they are privately insured. Most companies like mine offered a group plan and everyone signed up to pay more or less the equivalent (I think) for 10X the coverage, and it’s portable. I don’t think this one will live a long life. I don’t know a single person, liberal or conservative, who doesn’t chuckle when this one is brought up.
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Yep, we signed up for the lowest allowed plan. $35 a month. It’s the silliest thing ever.
I should amend my post to say it’s not a terribly high tax … .0058 on wages. But it’s a tax for nothing. If you make $600,000 / yr., you’re going to pay $3500 into this junk program and get nothing in return. I’m paying a little more than that for $300,000, which is also a waste of money unless something were to happen to me very soon.
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It is a good idea - in theory - but a terrible idea in reality. Plus, the $3,000 a month in today’s money adjusted for inflation is not going to cover much of LTC charges but might create an issue for someone not being able to qualify for Medicaid because the insurance payments would put them over the threshold. Of course, depending on how that law was drafted, maybe this is a non-issue.
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Great point. My understanding is that Medicaid qualification is a harsh system and little to no context is taken into account. It’s just a numbers game and you have to spend down to nothing. Fortunately they don’t make surviving / non-affected spouses give up their homes, but in terms of savings, forget it.
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@FallGirl - Just saw that you are a newish Twin Cities resident. So am I! We moved here in November 2021, so this was actually my second winter here. As you know, we’re now on track for the third snowiest winter ever. Lovely…
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I live in northern Michigan. For us it’s been a dry winter but a snowy March.
March is by far my least favorite month, April is just an extension of March.
Spring in the upper Midwest is not spring. Should be spent somewhere else 
. Winter is fun, lots to do. Spring just 
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In October 2021 my H and I sold our home in suburban Detroit and bought a new home in suburban Minneapolis, all to be closer to our only child and her family. I retired in November 2021 and we moved here two days later. Talk about a whirlwind!
Neither H nor I were Michigan natives, so we never assumed we’d live there after retirement. (I foolishly hoped we’d move some place warmer…but I guess D had other plans.) So far, I’ve found much to love about MN: genuinely friendly people (that “Minnesota Nice” thing is real), pretty liberal politics, fairly low COL - and of course, I now live 15 minutes away from D, SIL, and our three-year-old grandson. The big negative, for me, is the weather. Way too much winter, but at least it’s pretty sunny during the cold months, unlike southeast Michigan.
That’s why H and I visited my brother in Miami for 3 weeks in February.
That being said, I miss some crazy things about Michigan - like good Middle Eastern/Lebanese carryout. And my old Kroger grocery store. And I have yet to adjust to shade gardening (my old yard was flat and sunny and the new yard is wooded and shady). I miss my old friends from work and from church, but I’m slowly adapting. And did I say that I only live 15 minutes away from D and her family instead of 11 hours away?
I know this is already waayyyyy too long…but: when we were looking at houses in MN, I told our real estate agent that I only wanted to look homes within a 20 minute drive of my daughter’s house BUT not next door to her/them. (I didn’t want to alienate my good-natured SIL.) As it turns out, a tornado hit my D and SIL’s house last May - everyone was okay, but the house was severely damaged. My D, SIL, and grandson (and their 3 cats) moved in with us 10 months ago, and they JUST moved back into their home last week. So much for not living “too close”!!
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What I would do for some good middle eastern food? And that pita bread?
My daughter in Philly lives near a fancy middle eastern restaurant. Very chi chi. They have a carry out section. Put pomegranate seeds on the hummus! It was good, only because it’s been so long since I lived near a good middle eastern market! 