Statistically, what's the best state to keep most of your money?

KeithASanford

KeithASanford

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MyTurnToFly
I'm changing careers and my new endeavor will be location independent. I'm looking to relocate somewhere where I'd have to visit snow to experience a lot of it.

Where would you live in the contiguous United States to best minimize the effects of being "bent over" by the IRS?
 
KeithASanford said:
I'm changing careers and my new endeavor will be location independent. I'm looking to relocate somewhere where I'd have to visit snow to experience a lot of it.

Where would you live in the contiguous United States to best minimize the effects of being "bent over" by the IRS?
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BFE nowhere where they can't find you.
 
Any state with soft soil.
 
I believe, having looked at this many years ago that a rural part of NV was the least offensive for manageable tax rates. There is no state tax, and many of the sin taxes support the entire state budget. However, property taxes can be offensive if you decide to have a huge, costly home - just like urban TX areas.
 
KeithASanford said:
Statistically, what's the best state to keep most of your money? QUOTE]

Liquid!! That being said, its not the IRS that will make a difference. Its state and local. And, that not by all that much (in the long-run). When doing your comparison, don't forget taxes on retail sales, gasoline, liquor, real-estate, and personal property.

Personally, I don't want to live in California. But, that's because the "Franchise Tax Board" is so screwey, they think they can take taxes out of my military pension, even though the whole time I was stationed there, I was an active-duty non-resident. And, the property tax set up, at least in San Diego, was rediculous when I owned property there.
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It is very inexpensive to live in Texas.
As far as snow, its a crap shoot. Drought, flood, ice, hail, earthquake, tornado, snow, the apocalypse... Pretty much any day of the year. Our weather is complete crap.

General aviation is alive and well here so that's a plus.
 
I like to keep all the money in $100 bills......and buried in the backyard. :D
 
trade it in for fun fast, time is running out
 
Not sure if the question was where to keep non-liquid assets as opposed to where to live, but they're likely to be different. Taxes in Michigan are not low, but the cost of living is fairly low and the state hasn't yet recovered from the housing crisis, so if you're largely liquid, Michigan might be a good state in which to invest in some property. Values can't go down too much lower than they already are.

Vermont must rank as one of the worst, on both counts. High taxes, high property costs, high cost of living (especially energy costs), low wages.
 
The best thing is to keep it in a state of denial. Anything you admit to will be taxed.
I'm preparing for retirement and moving money to realestate so my income is not wages and I can avoid Social Security penalties.
All States need money to run the programs the people want. The options are income, sales, property, and corporate. If you want a big house find a state with low property tax. If you plan to consume alot then look for low sales tax. If you are going to make allot of income then several states have no income tax.
I like Alabama. I will not be taxed on my retirement income and my property tax is low. The weather is great and there are plenty of airports to visit.
 
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Bury your cash next to Jimmy Hoffa. The FBI's been searching for him for forty years and hasn't found him yet. :lol:
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
It is very inexpensive to live in Texas.
As far as snow, its a crap shoot. Drought, flood, ice, hail, earthquake, tornado, snow, the apocalypse... Pretty much any day of the year. Our weather is complete crap.

General aviation is alive and well here so that's a plus.
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Au contraire. Texas is VERY large.

*Our* Texas weather is uniformly awesome. No snow, no ice, not too hot. It's why we are packed with "Winter Texans" from November - March.

And the same low taxes as those who live in the DFW area (which we call "Snow Country").
 
cgrab said:
I like Alabama. I will not be taxed on my retirement income and my property tax is low. The weather is great and there are plenty of airports to visit.
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Alabama is good. I've been back for a year and a half. Property tax is the lowest I've paid (GA, NC, OH, WV). Shop around for airports, hangar rent, fuel costs and don't forget sales tax. Here in a college town, even the City seems out to rape the students (more so than when I was a student here). Sales tax is 9% in the city. Answer: live and shop outside the city limits.

And for snow--one snow event every few years. The last one was late Jan '14, about a half inch. Town was shut down, and the University cancelled classes for three days. My kind of place!

P.S.--barbecue is a religion, iced tea is sweet and avgas is cheap ($4.02 right now).
 
You gotta try the Vermont thing to believe it eh? Last weekend bought a carvel ice cream cake in a supermarket up there, just noticed the same cake down here in ma for half the vt price. Was in one of the more expensive ma supermarkets as well. You getting more conservative living up there?
azure said:
Not sure if the question was where to keep non-liquid assets as opposed to where to live, but they're likely to be different. Taxes in Michigan are not low, but the cost of living is fairly low and the state hasn't yet recovered from the housing crisis, so if you're largely liquid, Michigan might be a good state in which to invest in some property. Values can't go down too much lower than they already are.

Vermont must rank as one of the worst, on both counts. High taxes, high property costs, high cost of living (especially energy costs), low wages.
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Sorry for not being clear. I want to live and spend there.
Texas, Tennessee and Alabama are on my short list, but I've lived through enough of what I classify as bad winters(Missouri, Illinois, Indiana)
 
KeithASanford said:
Sorry for not being clear. I want to live and spend there.
Texas, Tennessee and Alabama are on my short list, but I've lived through enough of what I classify as bad winters(Missouri, Illinois, Indiana)
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Texas is the only sane choice. uploadfromtaptalk1433116043738.jpg
 
The downsides to TX in suburban and urban areas is the cost of property tax. I think with the new guv we have it's going to be going up as I suspect he has aspirations to even higher office in the future, and might have Big Plans that will cost money.

If you can live with a modest priced home, in a rural setting(like me), TX is a very nice place, and has a bustling GA community as well.
 
ClimbnSink said:
You gotta try the Vermont thing to believe it eh? Last weekend bought a carvel ice cream cake in a supermarket up there, just noticed the same cake down here in ma for half the vt price. Was in one of the more expensive ma supermarkets as well. You getting more conservative living up there?
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I didn't exactly want to move here in the first place, I'm an exile from MI. I'm still struggling to understand this state's philosophy. I don't think it's liberal vs. conservative. In some ways they're very liberal - social issues, high taxes/nanny state stuff - but in that they're just par with the rest of New England. In others they're super conservative - check out Vermont carry. It's a whole separate country in a lot of ways - but they don't have the resources to pull it off and the low income folks - who are just about everyone except for rich New Yorkers with their summer country homes - are the ones who bear the brunt of the idiocy.

But no, I'm still a flaming (social) liberal. Also against gun laws, the lack of which seems to work pretty well here. Not sure what that makes me.

Anyway, sorry OP for the threadjack. If you are looking for a place to live and hate winter then MI is not your state either.
 
Minden NV area, or the lands to the east a bit. Dry, not much snow, low taxation, near skiing, hiking, short flight from the coast and San Fran, wine country, maybe the occasional night out at Reno, golf, etc.
 
Pick a state with no income tax. Some states do not tax pension income but will take investment income. States with no income tax will have higher sales and property tax.

There are tons (a lot) of retirement magazines that cover "where to retire" on a regular basis and not only factor taxes, but other amenities such as entertainment, outdoor/indoor senior activities, medical care, etc.
 
Do NOT come to California, for that purpose. At least not while Jerry Brown is still here.
 
BillTIZ said:
Pick a state with no income tax. Some states do not tax pension income but will take investment income. States with no income tax will have higher sales and property tax.

There are tons (a lot) of retirement magazines that cover "where to retire" on a regular basis and not only factor taxes, but other amenities such as entertainment, outdoor/indoor senior activities, medical care, etc.
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Florida has no state income tax, sales tax is 7%, gas taxes are higher too. Property taxes aren't terrible, depending on where you live, our beach condo was $5300 per year, just sold it for $587,500.00 :dunno: If you're awapy from the beaches it's more reasonable.;)
 
docmirror said:
Minden NV area, or the lands to the east a bit. Dry, not much snow, low taxation, near skiing, hiking, short flight from the coast and San Fran, wine country, maybe the occasional night out at Reno, golf, etc.
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Agreed. Genoa is nice too, just a few miles from Minden. KMEV is a nice airport too with an on-field restaurant.
 
RalphInCA said:
Oh God.... There is NO WAY I would ever live in Texas. Except perhaps Austin.
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Yep, we live in Austin. Property tax is 2.5%, but no state income tax, good wages, and low cost of living. AvGas is easily found for less then $4 and airports are plentiful.
 
bartmc said:
Wait until the IRS takes interest in his whereabouts.
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Had he attended Boston University, the alumni department would have found him years ago.
 
RalphInCA said:
Oh God.... There is NO WAY I would ever live in Texas. Except perhaps Austin.
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Have you been to Texas? After a couple of business trips to Dallas and the surrounding countryside, I'm convinced that all the ******* Texans moved to California, leaving some of the nicest, kindest people I've every worked with.
 
BillTIZ said:
There are tons (a lot) of retirement magazines that cover "where to retire" on a regular basis and not only factor taxes, but other amenities such as entertainment, outdoor/indoor senior activities, medical care, etc.
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And most of those rankings are meaningless given the multitude of factors involved.

Take the information for your personal situation and run through the expected tax load for specific towns you are interested in. Things can be very different if you have a government pension vs. interest income, whether you want to live in a double wide in the mountains vs. a palacial estate in the burbs of a college town.
 
Move outside the US and stay out at least 11 months out of 12. Your earned income will be exempt for the time you are abroad. You will have to file with the IRS but your tax will be low.
 
NoHeat said:
Move outside the US and stay out at least 11 months out of 12. Your earned income will be exempt for the time you are abroad. You will have to file with the IRS but your tax will be low.
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something doesn't compute, I'm a US citizen in Australia and my earned income is taxed in both countries. And taxed, and taxed, and ....
 
JHW said:
something doesn't compute, I'm a US citizen in Australia and my earned income is taxed in both countries. And taxed, and taxed, and ....
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Is there a double taxation treaty with Australia ?
 
weilke said:
Is there a double taxation treaty with Australia ?
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america goes after income taxes from US citizens living everwhere. lately they've started going after foreign spouses of US citizens living abroad, in cases where the spouses have never lived or worked in america, are not US citizens, but are expected to pay US tas due to being married to an american. I've got some coworkers in europe who have been caught in that trap.
 
I'm quite happy with Florida. No state income tax and Sun n Fun as well as the LSA air show every year. A plethora of general aviation here as well. Hurricanes are predicted DAYS in advance so if you're in the middle of one your just stupid.
 
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