Older Americans repatriating to the USA -- where is good?

[KonaRain]

People can leave their jobs to follow dreams, because of new health care rules..

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[MB1]

I'm pretty resigned to needing a CAR most anywhere I could afford to live in the USA. I've lived a lot of my life in great USA cities where you didn't NEED a car. I usually had one anyway but it was parked most of the time. Also of course in Pattaya, no car needed if on baht bus routes. So this isn't a new desire and preference. But can you FORGET how to drive? It's been like 10 years.

Jacksonville continues to interest me. I see it is VERY large and spread out so choice of neighborhood is key because people tend to hang out mostly in their local area if they don't need to go elsewhere. Kind of like Bangkok before the skytrain!

Try Hilton Head, South Carolina Jing, I love it there and have for many years and have never needed a car, a golf buggy does just fine for me....Even going over the bridge.....Mind you it can be quite expensive so maybe not for you...

[Jingthing]

Right. That's the point. In the U.S. places where you don't NEED a car are generally very expensive. Like Manhattan.

Hilton Head? Yeah I know it. If it's got the word Hilton in it, it's out of my league.

Edited April 30, 2014 by Jingthing

[KonaRain]

You might not need a car in Kona, which is least expensive in Hawaii..

Another oil train crashed, I think in Virginia..

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[Jingthing]

Obamacare has a mandate, as I'm reading here..but according to this show I heard yesterday, it costs 200-300 dollars, or I think someone said it was $500 for the family..here's the story..

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/04/29/301839951/obamacare-enrollees-emboldened-to-leave-jobs-start-businesses ;-)

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The penalty starts in 2014 and goes up every year.

Bona fide expats are exempt.

Income under the filing threshold -- no penalty.

Handy calculator tool:

http://taxpolicycenter.org/taxfacts/acacalculator.cfm

Edited April 30, 2014 by Jingthing

[Rupert2]

The air in Hawaii is pretty good. I'm staying here. Puna Big Island can be very inexpensive. 3 or 4 Papayas for 1 dollar

I know of some guys who grow pretty good herbs in the garden.

I am currently living in a rain forest - nearly 4000 feet up. Gets cold during winter.

I miss Honolulu ( don't need a car ). When I reach 62 I'm planning to move back to Maui ( maybe ).

Not all of Hawaii is tourist priced. House and small lot can be had for less than 50,000 dollars. Drive to beach around 30 minutes.

I have a condo for sale in Jomtien :-) 1.25mb

It's really good for your feet to walk on the beach. Electricity is really expensive here though.

[KonaRain]

Hawaii electricity IS expensive..

I no have! alohz

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[KonaRain]

I'll buy Your condo if I sell an acre or two..

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[NeverSure]

Forget the Hawaii thing unless you go native and restrict your eating to local items. They fly in dairy products and meat from the mainland and I can't believe how much a gallon of milk cost me. It was at least triple what it is in the main 48 states.

Right now I'm buying gasoline for $3.50 a gallon and milk for $2.50 a gallon. (US gallon.)

Someone said he would prefer Denton Texas to Dallas. So would I. When I say Dallas/Fort Worth, I mean any of the smaller towns surrounding it but still in good striking range of Baylor Medical University and Teaching Hospital. I mean the area. I think Denton is about 30 miles nw of Dallas, and ideal.

[Gumballl]

I mentioned Jacksonville Florida and showed some homes for sale only because someone said that a home in Florida would cost $300,000 (nearly 10 mil baht.) I showed some in Jacksonville that were more like $80,000 (2.5 mil bht) and remember, they include outright ownership of the land.

Sure if you think paying annual property taxes forever is considered "outright ownership".

In reality, it is fee simple ownership not absolute ownership.

Would you feel better if instead of calling it property tax, the gov't would call it a "service" tax?

The property taxes you pay go towards services such as the police and fire dept, libraries, schools, etc.

Edit:

Btw, I'm partial to a quiet little area in Washington State, near Seattle. Summers are warm/dry, and winters are cool, but not too frigidly cold. Yes, there are many days with rain, but rarely anything torrential.

Edited May 1, 2014 by Gumballl

[JLCrab]

Just to note that it is

674 miles / 1085 km

driving distance Miami, FL to Pensacola, FL. Florida is a big state. There are lots of places to live that are not on or nearby the water.

[CWMcMurray]

Never been there, but Harlingen, TX is on quite a few lists as cheapest place to live in the US...

Taking a look at a Map... Right on the Gulf south of Corpus Christi ... So close to the beach

Also just north of border with Mexico, so very possible to hop the border if you want

Population aprox 65,000.... So decent size

Has a number of hospitals and airport ...

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-cheapest-cities-to-live-in-the-us-2013-2

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlingen,_Texas

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[mania]

The penalty starts in 2014 and goes up every year.

Bona fide expats are exempt.

Income under the filing threshold -- no penalty.

Handy calculator tool:

http://taxpolicycenter.org/taxfacts/acacalculator.cfm

Thanks that calculator was interesting & useful.

Wish I had seen it before a recent trip to the US

I purposely kept the trip short ( 4 weeks ) thinking I did not want to deal

with the Obama care penalty of not being a bona-fide expat by not staying out

of USA for 330 days per year etc.

If I had used that calc I may have stayed longer & not worried about it.

[CWMcMurray]

Was looking at the above list I posted and saw Memphis, TN...

Never lived there but have heard great things about this city...

Good sized city... 655,000 so should have all of the diversity that a cit of that size offers

Southwest of TN, so weather not too bad. Even in winter on the coldest day of the year... average low 33 average high 48

Hottest day of the year... Average low 75 , average high 97

Seems to have a good public transport system.. So you could get by without a car

Plenty of culture and a great music scene (if you enjoy this)

Income tax is 6% but for those over 65, income from all sources is tax free if under 33,000 USD per year

A http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g55197-s303/Memphis:Tennessee:Public.Transportation.html

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memphis,_Tennessee

http://www.tn.gov/revenue/tntaxes/indinc.shtml

http://weatherspark.com/averages/30857/Memphis-Tennessee-United-States

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Edited May 1, 2014 by CWMcMurray

[NeverSure]

Harlington TX is cheap for a reason. Whatever you do, don't locate right near the Mexico border along the Rio Grande corridor.

Memphis has its good points but a high crime rate. It is considered to be part of the South and the cheap places would be neighborhoods you don't like.

Forbes ranks Memphis as #4 among the top ten most dangerous cities in the US. LINK

It really helps to have traveled a lot and actually seen and spent some time across the US to form an opinion.

[CWMcMurray]

True that Memphis is ranked as one of the more dangerous cities in US, but not all areas are dangerous and there are lots of resources available to help show where the safe areas are ... Just rent in the safe parts of town

If you go into any decent sized city in the US, there are going to be ghetto areas that will be gang ridden and dangerous

Of course the rent will be higher in nice and safe areas of any city , but that doesn't mean it's still not an option if it means you will not need a car ... As the money saved on car payments, car insurance and maintenance can be used for rent to pay for a nicer place

http://www.city-data.com/forum/memphis/1467073-looking-affordable-but-safe-apartment-complex.html

http://www.neighborhoodscout.com/tn/memphis/crime/

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Edited May 1, 2014 by CWMcMurray

[CWMcMurray]

On another note JT .. If you don't want to buy a car , you can also take into account that some cities may have car sharing services like "Car to Go" or "zip car" or "Flexcar" or many other of the similar companies springing up all over the US

My cousin lives in Denver and she loves this service.. She used car to go...

Use the app to find a car in your area... Go run errands and park in a designated spot around the city, and only charged for time actually driving.

Of course you have to be willing to be a bit flexible... But if your retired... Then plenty of time for flexibility, right?

Even the big boys like Enterprise and Hertz are getting into the hourly car rental game

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zipcar

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Car2Go

http://www.enterprisecarshare.com/about/how-it-works/

http://www.hertz247.com/NewYork/en-US/Home

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[CWMcMurray]

JT ... Just in case interested in the above... Largest car sharing company is zip car .. You can find a list of cities available below

http://www.zipcar.com/cities

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[zydeco]

Some suburbs just northwest and north of Dallas might meet your requirements,too. Namely, Carrollton and Richardson. Lots of first class medical facilities within 5-10 minute ambulance ride, for example. And if you want Asian food, Carrollton has three large Asian supermarkets. Lots of Thai and Vietnamese (especially Vietnamese) food in the area. The Vietnamese and Koreans have a large cultural footprint in Carrollton. Indians and Pakistanis have a similar one in Richardson, which has a wealthy high tech development area/university. Still, Denton is more at ease. As a foreigner to the region, however, you will need to get used to tornadoes and hail storms, the latter can not only be deadly but can blast holes through your roof like shrapnel. From late March until early June, the weather will leave you sitting on the edge of your seat. Gulf coast, btw, gets hurricanes, of course. And NeverSure is right about the narco/alien smuggling along the Mexico-Texas border.

Personally, I still like the idea of Hawaii--even with the food and electric rates--apparently. Oh, in North Texas, it is not uncommon for summer electric to top $400/month (although I understand rates have gone down the last few years), natural gas to be $100-300 in the winter, and water rates to go through the roof ($200 or more) in the summer--when there aren't watering restrictions due to drought. Housing itself is relatively cheap, no state income tax, but sales taxes, depending on locale, are approaching 9 percent. DART, a mass transit system is slowly but surely building a reliable network through the city and the suburbs. Just keep in mind, however, that the BTS in Bangkok moves at warp speed in its construction, compared to DART.

[thailiketoo]

In no state can a full-time minimum wage worker afford a one-bedroom or a two-bedroom rental unit at Fair Market Rent.

On the 25th anniversary of Out of Reach, the report continues to demonstrate that large numbers of low income renters cannot find decent, affordable housing. As policymakers consider raising the federal minimum wage and combating income inequality, the shortage of affordable housing must also be addressed. http://nlihc.org/oor/2014

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/national/county-rental-wages/index.html

[KonaRain]

Solar elec. is $20000 we started the first photovoltaic store over in Kona, some lease solar for $200 per mo.

Dr. Baakan, inventor of the pacemaker, built a world class hospital thirty min. from Kona in Kamuela, (Waimea)

Honolulu was voted happiest and best lifestyle..Kona is a million times better,

and this Island has beaches voted #1 by Conde Nast traveller many times.

Two guys from this island have p.m.ed me from this thread.. Asian community. Hawaiians eat white rice.. we may be growing hemp, doesn't make you high, for fiber and healthy hemp seed milk..full of Omega 3..

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Edited May 1, 2014 by KonaRain

[Groongthep]

It really helps to have traveled a lot and actually seen and spent some time across the US to form an opinion.

Really? This from a guy who says Portland, Oregon gets "tons of snow and ice"? FYI, some winters Portland gets not snow at all. Winter temperatures, on average fall below freezing only about 33 days a year, that's only 7 more days a year than Dallas. The summers in Portland are much more comfortable than in the DFW area too.

Perhaps you should travel around the US and spend some time in the places you comment on before giving out inaccurate information too.

You are correct however, about the housing prices in Portland being much more expensive than in North Central Texas though, and Oregon has a hefty state tax whereas Texas has none.

One of the things Jingthing mentioned he was interested in was public transportation and Portland has some of the best in the country. Dallas/Forth Worth? Everybody there drives a full size pick-up.

[Jingthing]

Here's a link about best U.S. places to live without cars. Big cities. Los Angeles is a little surprising ... they've clearly made progress. I've spent time in Portland (without a car). Visiting isn't the same as living but yes you could live there without a car. I don't feel I particularly WANT to live there though ... the colder weather, high housing cost for central location, and for some reason I don't really love the cultural attitude there but I love the t.v. show PORTLANDIA. I thought I would love it and one of the reasons I went was to check it out as a place to move to. It's called the place where the YOUNG go to retire ... ha ha. It's a case in point that you really NEVER can know until you actually spend time somewhere. Research only goes so far, it can't tell you your on the ground FEELINGS.

Memphis, interesting idea I hadn't thought of, probably not

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/02/the-best-cities-to-live-car-free-247-wall-st_n_1071690.html#s451480&title=10_BostonCambridgeQuincy_MANH

In the U.S., I think I'll need a car. At least they're MUCH cheaper there to buy. Thanks for the suggestions but I think that's a compromise I would need to make moving back there. It's one factor in any decision I ultimately make and also in considering other foreign options like Cuenca Ecuador (very good without a car).

Edited May 1, 2014 by Jingthing

[thailiketoo]

The average owner of a sedan has to shell out nearly $10,000 a year to own and operate that car, according to auto club AAA.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/04/16/aaa-car-ownership-costs/2070397/

New Honda Click 125i $1,600. Garage to park my Click in and adjoining 3 bdr new house, $5,000 a year

Edited May 1, 2014 by thailiketoo

[Jingthing]

The average owner of a sedan has to shell out nearly $10,000 a year to own and operate that car, according to auto club AAA.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/04/16/aaa-car-ownership-costs/2070397/

More if you're doing a long commute. It's not only about economics but the quality of life of living in a place where you can do almost everything without a car. Walking in fair weather is good for you. For some people like me mixing with diverse people on public transport is FUN rather than boxed in your metal. No need to overemphasize the car thing on this thread. The USA is a car culture, that's the way it is.

Edited May 1, 2014 by Jingthing

[jaideeguy]

Somehow I get the impression that most of the posters are single without families and that can make a real difference in your options.........schools, Asian community, temperature/climate etc as well as the much larger expense. Also you have to be reasonably sure that the place you're aiming at will suit your family, where if you're single, just pack your bags and try another place.

Well, count me in as a family man and having lived in Hawaii for more than 2 decades and still have friends, brother and know my way around, my choices are limited and despite the cost of living there, you can live comfortably [on a budget] once you get settled and get your garden growing.

If I were single, I would aim at Ecuador, where there is an easy path to citizenship and costs are on par with Chiang Mai, but without the smog and blazing sun.

Would appreciate hearing from other expats with families that are thinking of moving back.............

Edited May 1, 2014 by jaideeguy

[Jingthing]

Yeah, I kind of addressed that in the OP:

For some of those repatriating where to live is obvious. Maybe they own a home there already or have lots of friends and relatives in one area.

Yeah this thread is probably more about discovering/considering alternatives to USA places we already know well, but info from people who DO know them well is very helpful.

Most of the places I used to live in the U.S. are out of my league now. I remember when I sold my place in Northern California my realtor said, you know you can never come back now ... yeah, I know.

Not literally, I could live in a basement in a slum, maybe, but I couldn't buy the place I sold ... EVER.

Edited May 1, 2014 by Jingthing

[jellydog]

Somehow I get the impression that most of the posters are single without families and that can make a real difference in your options.........schools, Asian community, temperature/climate etc as well as the much larger expense. Also you have to be reasonably sure that the place you're aiming at will suit your family, where if you're single, just pack your bags and try another place.

Well, count me in as a family man and having lived in Hawaii for more than 2 decades and still have friends, brother and know my way around, my choices are limited and despite the cost of living there, you can live comfortably [on a budget] once you get settled and get your garden growing.

If I were single, I would aim at Ecuador, where there is an easy path to citizenship and costs are on par with Chiang Mai, but without the smog and blazing sun.

Would appreciate hearing from other expats with families that are thinking of moving back.............

For those thinking about Ecuador, or South America in general, take a look at Uruguay. For my money, the most laid back and likely the most sane country south of the border.

[Jingthing]

OK, again, please try to limit mentions of non-U.S. destinations to the OTHER existing thread here all about that.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/706247-retirement-if-not-thailand-where/

Except in cases where you are directly comparing a non-U.S. destination to a USA one. There is LOTS of existing talk on non U.S. destinations on this forum and also that current thread as well. This thread really is about USA destinations. That to my memory has NOT really been covered here. This is DEFINITELY not the place for an Ecuador vs. Panama (as an example) chat. Panama City Panama vs. Panama City Florida, that's more like it.

Given there are hundreds of even thousands of possible choices in the U.S., I think that it's reasonable to limit this thread to USA destinations.

Of course for Americans, the USA has special features:

Visas not needed

Medicare for age 65 plus

Legal to work (if you can find work, uh oh)

Good Mexican food

It's our country (whether we still feel like it's home or not is another story!)

Edited May 1, 2014 by Jingthing

[KonaRain]

Speaking of Work..I have a hard time working a normal job.. but look what can be made on a 3d printer.. they also have one that can make a weatherproof guitar..made a baby a windpipe..models of the brain for students to work on..candy in impossible shapes... here's a link

http://www.npr.org/tags/170862588/3d-printing

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