Sounds like what you're selling. 
Posted on 08/26/2023 8:31:51 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
While choosing to retire in Florida isn’t the best choice for everyone, relocating to the Sunshine State comes with its share of benefits. Of course, some people move to Florida for the warm weather and plentiful beaches, but that’s not all the state has to offer.
Florida happens to be one of the most tax-friendly states for retirees, and plenty of out-of-state retirees are taking notice. For example, Kiplinger previously reported on migration data showing that Florida gained residents from high-tax states. (Between 2020 and 2021, more than 84,000 new Florida residents came from New York alone.)
If Florida is already your first choice for retirement, you’re not alone. According to a 2022 study, roughly 12% of all retirees who moved out of another state chose Florida as their destination, making it a top choice for retirement relocations in the U.S.
But you may be wondering where in Florida other retirees are going. Well, the same study found that the majority of new Florida retirees chose the Palm Bay area to call their home. Tallahassee was also a popular retirement spot for new Floridians.
But regardless of which part of Florida you have your eye on, you are bound to reap some benefits, at least where taxes are concerned.
Perhaps the biggest reason people choose to retire in Florida is the state’s tax treatment of retirement income. There are plenty of states that don’t tax Social Security benefits, but there aren’t too many states with no income tax at all.
Florida won’t tax any of your income, regardless of its source. That means you won’t pay state tax in Florida on your 401(k) distributions, investment income, or even your wages, should you choose to go back to work or to unretire.
Florida's average combined state and local sales tax rate of 7.02% isn’t necessarily low compared to other states, but it’s not one of the highest either. And Floridians have more sales tax holidays than any other state in the country. Many of these tax holidays were recently expanded due to a $1.3 billion Florida tax relief bill.
The tax relief package also made several children’s products permanently tax-exempt, so you may save some money if, for example, you want to spoil the grandchildren when they come to visit. Here are just a few of the things you can buy-tax free.
You can also purchase tickets to events, such as concerts in Florida, without paying sales tax, until September 4, 2023.
Property taxes in Florida aren’t the lowest in the U.S., but the median average Florida property tax bill of $2,143 is less than in most states, according to PropertyShark. And with an average effective property tax rate below 1%, even homes with higher tax valuations may cost you less in property tax than you’re used to.
Still, not everyone who relocates to Florida will experience lower tax bills, and some will see more savings than others.
By now, you may have heard that a ticket in Florida matched all six numbers to win the record-high, August 8 $1.58 billion Mega Millions jackpot. But the winner won’t pay state taxes on the payout. That’s because Florida is one of the states that won’t tax your Mega Millions payout, or any other lottery winnings, for that matter. Depending on how much you win, that could result in savings worth millions of dollars.
Of course, most people won’t win a lottery jackpot, but if you hope to take home some lottery winnings, state taxes are something to consider. Just don’t forget you’ll still be on the hook for federal taxes. Lottery jackpots, including the Mega Millions payout after taxes, will always be much less than the advertised amount.
You may also have heard, however, that some retirees have been fleeing Florida. For example, nearly 50,000 Floridians landed in Georgia alone in 2021, according to US Census Bureau data.
But if Florida is so great, why are some retirees leaving? Tax breaks are just one factor some people consider when deciding whether to remain in or retire in Florida.
So, before making the move to any state, it’s good to consider all aspects of a new location, so you can make the best decision for yourself and your family.
I looked at WV preparing for retirement. The taxes seemed to work against us, it was in the middle of the pack (for us). Considered TN seriously, but ended up in KY.
It might just be our income formula, KY was one of the cheapest for our taxes. Housing wasn’t the cheapest (suburbs), but we got a nicer house here than we expected to. Insurance and property taxes have been very reasonable.
Indiana. But I’ve lived all over. Ohio. Michigan. Kentucky. Tennessee. North Carolina. Alabama. California. Oklahoma.
I’m on the west coast, well south of Tampa. Actually we’re snow birds so we don’t have to worry about the hot weather but in the winter we leave our house open and swim in the pool all winter long. It never freezes down here and it’s mostly pleasantly warm and dry in the winter.
Insurance is high, repairs from storms can be high but the houses are built to withstand the hurricanes, unfortunately the trees are not. We lost our best coconut tree last storm and one of my very large Queen Palms. The whole state is gun friendly. The worst thing about Florida is you can’t make left turns.
Sounds like what you're selling.
Reasons I’d leave Florida if I lived there:
*Bugs
*Coral snakes
*Alligators
*Hurricanes
*New Yorkers
They make up for the tax with high cost of living
Retirees are old. That means downsizing. A house requires maintenance that a condo doesn’t. An over-55 community 6 months a year would work for me.
GAYS are leaving Florida??? LOL!!
we thought about Florida for a minute- snakes, gators, bugs too hot all the time and frankly, after a certain age, people need to rethink their “summer attire” game.
Can’t be covered up all the time but some of them should be.
Ten months a year you can’t step outside for more than five minutes without self immolation. The property taxes and homeowners insurance (if you can find it) are more than your mortgage. You’re never more than fifty yards from a gator, so only insects enjoy the many lakes. There’s people everywhere. That new influx of twenty three million people in 2022 doesn’t go unnoticed (in the next ten years Tampa and Orlando will merge). Traffic on I-4 between the two cities moves at 20mph at six AM on Sundays. Did I fail to mention Florida Man and Florida Woman.
I was just up in Maine visit a relative, never saw so many fag flags in my life. Hanging from churches, businesses etc and signs with rainbow stickers on businesses stating they welcome everyone. Totally disgusting.
Everyone I know leaving the State have been queers.
I’m familiar with Kanawha County and I would not call the winters “mild,” by any stretch of the imagination. But then I love the heat.
I’ve lived in 13 states and two foreign countries, but Florida, warts and all, is my favorite. Love, love, love the sunshine and warm weather.
Property taxes here vary widely depending on the county and, unless you live on the water, insurance is expensive but not prohibitively so. I shop around each year for insurance and we pay less here than we did for our last house in Tennessee.
Well, I am retired military. I have lived in WA state, GA, KY, TN, SC, NC and my home state of Alabama. I have spent nearly 10 years stationed in West Germany. I spent a tour in Nam. Had three weeks in the hospitals in Japan. Have visited a ton of countries in Europa. After all that, after settling in WA state for 14 years after I retired from the Army, we came back home. I was gone for 35 years. Left at age 18 to enter the Army. But, in the end, there just was no place like Alabama. We are the most conservative and Christian state in this Republic. There are jobs, as unemployment is lower than 4% last I heard. There is hunting and fishing galore. You can drive easily down to Fla or the AL gulf coast to the beach. If you like mountains, then the North GA mountains and TN are near. Home prices are low. There are good hospitals with UAB hospital in Birmingham, centered in the middle of the state. You can own guns. Thre is nothing like here. FREEDOM of speech, religion, peace. After all that moving and laying my head down to sleep in so man places, here is where I finally came back to for the last years of my life. Home is here and here I will now stay.
I must agree with you. I retired in ND. We made the mistake of retiring where many inbreds live, which is quite common in the north central states. They come around at night sexually molesting our cats and eating our skunks.
Those moving to ND from a blue state quickly turn around, go back to their blue state and gladly accept communism, for it is much gentler than what they find up here.
Lived west of Opheim, MT as a child. Near what was Thoeny.
When we moved back to Oklahoma, people would ask my Mother were the closest big town was. She would smile and reply, Moose Jaw, Canada.
Wild open spaces. I like trees.
“Changes in Florida law and state policies have also caused some Floridians to relocate. For example, former Miami Heat basketball player Dwyane Wade, who spent 16 years playing for the Florida-based team, recently left the state with his family due to legislation and restrictive policies regarding the LGBTQIA+ community.”
REALLY? All 4000 moved out wow!
Bkmk
Peacocks? I heard FL is being over run with peacocks. Real ones, not the political kind.
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