Retirement . Where to ?

#53
W54/XM-388 said:
Texas is a bit split as the invasion of SJWs from California and the waves of Illegal immigrants start taking over all the big cities.
The big cities are high taxes and high control becoming more so every day thanks to being californicated.

Out in the rural areas things are a fair bit different.

For example, for a small 1500 sqft house in the suburbs, I'm being stuck with $4200 this year in taxes, most to the school district that was not happy with their 70 million dollar football stadium and is not trying to get all the renters and apartment dwellers to vote yes on a HALF BILLION dollar bond package for "equality access to technology".... AKA all the freeloader illegals in the apartments and such get 'free' iPads each year or some such BS paid for by home owners like me.

But my Father lives out in the middle of nowhere, for his house, barns, shop, buildings and 5 acres, it's $400 a year in total taxes and the school district doesn't have enough money to get greedy.

One thing I've found in Texas over the past 20 years is that the more money the government gets, the more desperate and aggressive it becomes in trying to get more. Back when property prices were low and especially throughout the 2008 bust cycle, property tax increases were very modest, and somewhat reasonable and went down sometimes & if you protested, you had a good chance of winning.

Then once the property boom & development wave picked up and the county and cities were rolling in more money than they ever had in history, they started getting super aggressive and greedy. For the past 5 years they have raised my property taxes almost to the penny by the maximum allowable amount under state law. Then stuck us with bonds for extra..

Each of the years recently I have protested my property taxes they progressively got worse and worse, especially the females on the review boards who are just government shills.

On my last protest, the female government agent pretty much told me straight that sure the law says we have to value your property based on the condition it is currently in and what you could sell it for in a neutral market with neither the buyer or seller being motivated... BUT, we don't care, we need the money, we are going to tax you on what your house could be worth at maximum if you did every possible expensive upgrade to it because you should do that so we can have more money. If you don't like it, tough, see us in court.

This is why it's so important to keep the government small and starved for cash to keep it in check. Once it gets a taste of the big money, there is never enough to satisfy it and the greed and demands of the government grows exponentially.

At least however in Texas we don't have income tax yet.... Of course the Communists / Democrats want us to get that so we can provide more "equality" services and such to all the illegals they are pouring in to vote for them. I guess the Californians can't wait to turn Texas into the mess they just fled from.
Click to expand...

Too late. It’s already too large.
 
#57
THEIS said:
Hi,

Annual retirement budget/allowance?

Poland is nice. I have been thinking of opening satellite office there.

Austria..I found too expensive for what it is.

Split Croatia is really nice.

Kiev Ukraine but gets too cold for me.

Kremlin is nice but too cold for me.

Malta is really nice if you like your women on the short side.

Whatever you put on your short list, make sure they allow for easy tax free setup..even if you have to open a "shell" company in one of their foreign trade zones.

Sincerely,
Theis
Click to expand...
Poland is nice. I have been thinking of opening satellite office there.
Agreed. Somewhere in the country, with local rail service into Warsaw....

Austria..I found too expensive for what it is.
Love Austria, agree on prices, being overrun by mugrants though.

Split Croatia is really nice.
Absolutely the shizzle. Island of Vis. Town of Hvar and outlying communities.

Hungary/Budapest, outlying communities. Wonderful, Christian (based) culture. Viktor Orban is a Stud.

Czech Republic/Prague/outlying areas.

Slovenia/Ljubljana/outlying areas.
 
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#58
There’s not a “free” state in the union.From comments in this thread socialism is strong.

Public gun range?Public hunting?Public swimming pool?Public anything...

Socialist ideas where tax money is taking from all and not used by all...............

I I I I bought my own land.I I I I hunt on it.I I I I built a gun range.I I I I installed my own pool.Its all about the I I I I.

Alaska is likely the most “free “ state in the union.To dam cold!!!! GREAT TO VISIT.
 
#61
You guys do realize that Texas has high property taxes because we have no income tax right?
I do not know if moving to a state with no income tax is better for retirement or not.

If you don't want to pay taxes at all then you're gonna have to be comfortable being homeless. Or build an off grid house somewhere extremely remote. You're not going to enjoy the benefits of civilization without the tax man coming to your house.
 
#62
Srikaleak said:
You guys do realize that Texas has high property taxes because we have no income tax right?
I do not know if moving to a state with no income tax is better for retirement or not.

If you don't want to pay taxes at all then you're gonna have to be comfortable being homeless. Or build an off grid house somewhere extremely remote. You're not going to enjoy the benefits of civilization without the tax man coming to your house.
Click to expand...

I think the only way Taxing should be allowed is Sales Taxes (shown clearly) on ALL purchases and import taxes on goods coming in to the country &/or funds going out of the country.

The most abominable taxes are the ones that turn you into a "renter" of what you already own to provide free stuff to other voting blocks.

Keep the government small & starving, the same goes for the school districts, keep them lean and hungry.
Kids can learn basic practical education, we don't need to be paying for multi million dollar sports stadiums or "White Guilt" SJW teachers.
 
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#63
total tax, insurance, and fees charged by this state and local gov rivals many yankee commie states. I moved here from Fla this time and its about double of what Fla cost above the line of direct costs.

plus every 3rd car on teh road is a road pirate looking to extort more $

Srikaleak said:
You guys do realize that Texas has high property taxes because we have no income tax right?
I do not know if moving to a state with no income tax is better for retirement or not.

If you don't want to pay taxes at all then you're gonna have to be comfortable being homeless. Or build an off grid house somewhere extremely remote. You're not going to enjoy the benefits of civilization without the tax man coming to your house.
Click to expand...
 
#64
Perhaps if Texas didn't have to pay 11 Billion a year for "Aspiring Democrat Voters" from south of the river, things might be a bit different.
At the rate the Communists / Democrats are shipping them over no amount of taxes will be enough for the court ordered services the State of Texas has to provide to them.

We are second only to CA in the amount of money spent on services for Illegal immigration and there is little the state can do about it because it's all ordered by the courts / federal government despite the best efforts of the state here, so till the whole thing burns to the ground, it's not going to get better.
 
#65
Srikaleak said:
You guys do realize that Texas has high property taxes because we have no income tax right?
I do not know if moving to a state with no income tax is better for retirement or not.

If you don't want to pay taxes at all then you're gonna have to be comfortable being homeless. Or build an off grid house somewhere extremely remote. You're not going to enjoy the benefits of civilization without the tax man coming to your house.
Click to expand...


Florida doesn’t have income tax either
 
#66
Maggot said:
The world's getting to small.

Idaho and Montana are beautiful and remote but freeze your ass off.

Arizona, NM are warm but short on water and green stuff.

SE Colorado looks pretty good, reasonable winters, reasonable prices on land, fairly dry climate, and not far from the NRA Whittington Center. Not too far from good medical care in the Springs or Denver. Damn, I cant believe I put that last in there. Getting old...

SE Oklahoma is not bad but its....Oklahoma... ;).
Click to expand...
Why does the wind blow so hard in east Texas?... because OK sucks. :LOL:
 
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#67
W54/XM-388 said:
Perhaps if Texas didn't have to pay 11 Billion a year for "Aspiring Democrat Voters" from south of the river, things might be a bit different.
At the rate the Communists / Democrats are shipping them over no amount of taxes will be enough for the court ordered services the State of Texas has to provide to them.

We are second only to CA in the amount of money spent on services for Illegal immigration and there is little the state can do about it because it's all ordered by the courts / federal government despite the best efforts of the state here, so till the whole thing burns to the ground, it's not going to get better.
Click to expand...
Enforcing the border is not really a Texas problem (it's the Federal government's responsibility) but it is affecting Texas. I believe the current state legislature session was focused on putting hard limits on property tax raises that cities and municipalities could not ignore and using the rainy day fund to give raises to teachers in the state. I haven't kept up with what actually passed.

As far as a bunch of people immigrating to Texas and with the census coming up, I think we're in for some really interesting discussions. California and Texas are both guilty of propping up the number of people living in the state by using illegal immigrants and because of that, more tax dollars are being given to those states. Soon the federal distributions to the union will be 40% to California, 40% to Texas and the rest of the union will fight over the remaining 20%. The same will be true for the electoral college map. We might see the Supreme Court actually do something with the citizenship question on the census.
 
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#73
If it were me retiring, I'd try to live around an hour or two away from any tier 2+ city with the lowest tax burdens. If that area backs up to a national park or BLM land even better.

Close enough to a good set of hospitals, city entertainment (professional sports, museums, concerts) but far away enough so I can do whatever the hell I want (try my hand at homesteading and such)
 
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#76
Wait, you want multiple vacation homes but only have ~$100k in retirement? I mean, the vacation homes could be a potential income stream but you'd want to be in them during prime season, no?
 
#77
If I wanted to bounce around, I’d buy land with a power drop and a well, put a septic system into it, and get a used tractor to pull the fanciest fifth wheel I could afford to said properties. Multiple homes are too expensive and difficult to maintain easily, especially in the golden years, but the land would hold every ounce of its value with minimal maintenance costs. Add to that keeping your homestead in the most tax friendly area possible, and you maximize your savings.
 
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#82
If anyone visits Slovenia give me a ring you might even see some shooting action if your timing is right :).

Spoke with some old guy working on Midway (museum ship) and it appears a lot of you old geezers like to travel to Europe and Slovenia in particular.

PS: ER is decent and if you stroke out you'll be quite fine (if not gone) but for those hip/knee replacement parts i think you should look elsewhere.
 
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#83
sharac said:
If anyone visits Slovenia give me a ring you might even see some shooting action if your timing is right :).

Spoke with some old guy working on Midway (museum ship) and it appears a lot of you old geezers like to travel to Europe and Slovenia in particular.

PS: ER is decent and if you stroke out you'll be quite fine (if not gone) but for those hip/knee replacement parts i think you should look elsewhere.
Click to expand...

Hey, not all of us are old. Lmao. I’m not even 40 yet!
 
#84
W54/XM-388 said:
Texas is a bit split as the invasion of SJWs from California and the waves of Illegal immigrants start taking over all the big cities.
The big cities are high taxes and high control becoming more so every day thanks to being californicated.

Out in the rural areas things are a fair bit different.

For example, for a small 1500 sqft house in the suburbs, I'm being stuck with $4200 this year in taxes, most to the school district that was not happy with their 70 million dollar football stadium and is not trying to get all the renters and apartment dwellers to vote yes on a HALF BILLION dollar bond package for "equality access to technology".... AKA all the freeloader illegals in the apartments and such get 'free' iPads each year or some such BS paid for by home owners like me.

But my Father lives out in the middle of nowhere, for his house, barns, shop, buildings and 5 acres, it's $400 a year in total taxes and the school district doesn't have enough money to get greedy.

One thing I've found in Texas over the past 20 years is that the more money the government gets, the more desperate and aggressive it becomes in trying to get more. Back when property prices were low and especially throughout the 2008 bust cycle, property tax increases were very modest, and somewhat reasonable and went down sometimes & if you protested, you had a good chance of winning.

Then once the property boom & development wave picked up and the county and cities were rolling in more money than they ever had in history, they started getting super aggressive and greedy. For the past 5 years they have raised my property taxes almost to the penny by the maximum allowable amount under state law. Then stuck us with bonds for extra..

Each of the years recently I have protested my property taxes they progressively got worse and worse, especially the females on the review boards who are just government shills.

On my last protest, the female government agent pretty much told me straight that sure the law says we have to value your property based on the condition it is currently in and what you could sell it for in a neutral market with neither the buyer or seller being motivated... BUT, we don't care, we need the money, we are going to tax you on what your house could be worth at maximum if you did every possible expensive upgrade to it because you should do that so we can have more money. If you don't like it, tough, see us in court.

This is why it's so important to keep the government small and starved for cash to keep it in check. Once it gets a taste of the big money, there is never enough to satisfy it and the greed and demands of the government grows exponentially.

At least however in Texas we don't have income tax yet.... Of course the Communists / Democrats want us to get that so we can provide more "equality" services and such to all the illegals they are pouring in to vote for them. I guess the Californians can't wait to turn Texas into the mess they just fled from.
Click to expand...

You beat me to it. While Im far from retirement age my 30 year plan is to build my own place in S.Texas. Land is still $1300/acre, property tax is extremely low (like $.80 an acre) and very easy to get an agricultural exemption letting others graze cattle on your land. No income tax. The people are as independent and conservative as you will ever meet. There really arent any gun laws that get in the way of what I want to do. Some of the properties I've looked at have an amazing amount of wild game- off the top of my head- turkey, quail, dove, wild boar, whitetail deer, axis deer, elk, auodad, moufflon sheep, mountain lion, various free range exotics (think red stag, kudu, etc.), plus all the coyotes and bobcats you care to have fun with.
 
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