Yahoo! Finance had an item on the lowest tax states for retirees. The more direct link to the article is "The Lowest Tax States for Retirees", Kimberly Palmer, U.S. News, 2010-03-29.
Are low taxes all there are to life? What about the services that taxes buy?
Will there be enough well-educated health-care workers to care for these low-tax retirees as they get even older? Not if there are not enough taxes to educate children well enough to become health-care workers.
Will there be good, safe roads for them to drive to the golf course? Not if there are not enough taxes to keep the roads in good repair.
Will there be enough good clean water for drinking and cooking? Not if there are not enough taxes to build the infra-structure to bring the water long distances.
And seniors have to get rid of water more frequently than younger people. Will there be enough clean, safe rest stops as they travel. Not if there not enough taxes to maintain rest stops. A low tax state like Arizona is closing rest stops.
Americans love to point out how much higher taxes are in many European countries, especially the Scandinavian countries. What they ignore is that these countries consistently come out higher on measures of quality of life.
U.S. News also has a page "Find the Best Place to Retire" with a long list of choices. My choices of size of city, weather, health care, and activities gave cities in Minnesota, Michigan, and Vermont. Vermont is considered by U.S. News one of the worst tax states, and many think that Minnesota and Michigan are among the worst. For my money, I'm getting what I pay for.
