10 Worst States for Retirement!

I moved from NY to SC 7 years ago

Sales tax

NY = 8.5 % SC = 6 %

Property tax on home in NY that was 1/3 to 1/4 the size of my SC house and about 1/5 the land

NY about $15,000 per year SC about $3,000 a year


Sales tax on RV

NY = 8.5% of sale price SC $300 maximum tax.

I forget the age requirement but if you are 62 or 65 you can list it as a second home and have yearly tax / registration greatly reduced.
A few days ago I paid $3,329 for diesel when I drive to NY diesel can be 50 cents to a dollar more.

And there is almost no snow where I live and when it does snow it is usually gone by noon.

PS there are almost no tolls in SC but they can be avoided, in NY there is no way you can avoid the tolls on the GWB and Whitestone bridge (unless your camper can be turned into a boat. Last summer it cost $100 in tolls to get on to Long Island

Like all 'top10' or 'bottom10' lists the authors use arbitrary and subjective values for the ratings. Just use the raw data and use your own values for the assessment.

I don't think I would choose or not choose a state based on that info. CA for example has a high income tax rate but it is scaled. Lower income people pay a lot less. If you lived in CA when you retired & taking advantage of prop 13. In fact income tax in MT is higher because they nail their lower income at a higher rate. However, CA will wear you down on smog checks, especially as a vehicle gets older. I moved to WY because of population not taxes. Car insurance is cheaper in WY. Fire insurance in stick houses is very high because it is rural. Overall I pay more taxes in WY than CA but very few people & low crime rate. I think the bean counters just grab some basic statistics & come up with things that don't really mean much. JMHO

I recall about five years ago that Kiplinger's had Alaska near the top of their best places to retire. Other than the weather, retirees received lots of breaks. So who's right?

Hummmmm, lets see. N.Carolina: .65 per gallon state tax on diesel plus federal, 7.5% sales tax, property tax, (home/land, road use tax on vehicles,tax on food. personal income tax. Roads suck and my county owns NO ROADS, State maintains them such as they do which means very little as the politicians pay themselves very well and my county has no "sety-back" law which means you can put your junk right up to the white line on the side of the road. Can hardly wait to get our house sold and get out of Dodge.

I read the article. Why anyone would even remotely considering retirement to some of what they said were the best is beyond comprehension to me. My perfect retirement spot is between latitudes 30 and 34 north and longitude 80 and 83 west. Narrows it right down for me.

I'm 'real' surprised Tennessee is not on that list.

I stopped off in TN for a few days to look around at property and to stock up on supplies, food, etc. and by the end of the day I had paid $100.00 in TAXES!

I took a look at my receipts and their state tax is almost 10%. I got back into my MH and started heading further south!

I thought Tennessee was one of THE places most people like to retire to. :?

CNN online referred to the same bankrate data but titled their article "10 Best States To Retire To". They were pretty much all southern states with low crime and taxes. The low tax issue is huge for retirees on fixed incomes.