Retirement destination?

[Tom B]

I'll say this about sales tax. I think TN has the right idea with their higher sales tax. Back in CT, sales tax was low but all the other taxes were high. At least here, even people visiting, or just driving thru are helping to pay the state. Its not just on the shoulders of the homeowners like many other states.

 

And, I know y'all like to bitch about rich,liberal people moving here, raising the real estate prices etc. But try not to lump all of us together. I was a firefighter in CT, definitely not a job to have if you want to get rich. CT is like most other states, where the cities are liberal but the outlying rural areas are not. Me and all my friends are conservative, gun loving, hunters, hard working folks just like you. I moved here to get away from those winters.

Not to try to change the political climate here. And most of the folks I have met here are the same. I know more liberals that are locals than I do folks that recently moved here.

[gun sane]

Blount County (just south of Knox) has managed to avoid the dreaded wheel tax that the larger counties must pay.  I'm sure that's going to rear its ugly head before too long.  But the biggest cash cow I've ever seen is the annual state safety inspection for vehicles.  When I left Texas it was $50 a pop and you had to make any necessary repairs to be "roadworthy."  They were busting owners for as little as a headlight out of alignment.  

Then again, that could drastically reduce the number of cars and trucks on the road around here.  

[Garufa]

1 hour ago, Tom B said:

I'll say this about sales tax. I think TN has the right idea with their higher sales tax. Back in CT, sales tax was low but all the other taxes were high. At least here, even people visiting, or just driving thru are helping to pay the state. Its not just on the shoulders of the homeowners like many other states.

 

And, I know y'all like to bitch about rich,liberal people moving here, raising the real estate prices etc. But try not to lump all of us together. I was a firefighter in CT, definitely not a job to have if you want to get rich. CT is like most other states, where the cities are liberal but the outlying rural areas are not. Me and all my friends are conservative, gun loving, hunters, hard working folks just like you. I moved here to get away from those winters.

Not to try to change the political climate here. And most of the folks I have met here are the same. I know more liberals that are locals than I do folks that recently moved here.

Are you a retired Firefighter from CT?  With a guaranteed pension?

I ask because there are also one helluva lot of people moving in with pensions from those liberal states.  Pensions are nearly a thing of the past in our conservative utopia.

[Tom B]

Yes I do have a modest pension from there. Not that long ago cops and firefighters were allowed to use their overtime and sick time buyout to inflate the pensions by quite a lot, but that was stopped before I retired. Story of my life-lol. Actually some of my buddies tell me the welfare is so good there now, that if you are collecting from all of the different programs available, its like making more than our pensions.

 

Edited March 30 by Tom B

[1gewehr]

A sales tax is the one kind of tax you actually have some control over.  Spend less on taxable purchases and you pay less tax.  Buy from private sellers, and pay no sales tax.

[DasVidaniya]

Coal Gap is full up.

 

Thanks for checking though.

 

[OldIronFan]

We are thinking of leaving the country for retirement, definitely leaving TN. I do love TN, I have been here 40 years and my wife was born here but once work and family ties/obligations are done we will be looking for a significant change. 

[ExplorerXC]

On 3/29/2024 at 7:25 PM, gun sane said:

the biggest cash cow I've ever seen is the annual state safety inspection for vehicles. 

Is that just Texas?  TN didn't have such when I was there (through much of the 70s and later, the 90s).

[gun sane]

43 minutes ago, ExplorerXC said:

Is that just Texas?  TN didn't have such when I was there (through much of the 70s and later, the 90s).

Things change constantly, depending upon the whims of state governments and the activism of Rare Air Society zealots.  Here's the Wikipedia version of things--they seem to keep lists up to date.

Vehicle inspection in the United States - Wikipedia

Edited April 2 by gun sane