Need Advice To Relocate to Tennessee for Early Retirement (Memphis: transplants, sales)

[anlocnghg]

Hi, I'd like to have a few questions on moving to TN for Early Retirement if you don't mind.

Background

I and my wife (family of two, we prefer not disclose our age) currently don't plan to have kid(s).

We will live on $40K investment incomes (mix of Federal taxable and 401k/IRA accounts). My wife's job expects to bring in another 20K income. I will get pension (not much, around $600/mo, once I've reached the age of 57), and social security at age 62, which will be far far away, so let's forget these (pension and SS for now).

I'm a software developer for now, but don't plan to work (at least no more than part-time/remote/freelancing) once have moved to TN. Currently we live in California, and we don't like it here due its high taxes, and many other issues.

We'd like to take advantage of no earned/investment/retirement income taxes, as well as low property tax (in case we decide to buy one) in TN. Also, I particularly like nature, trees, lakes, river, waterfalls, anything greenery!

My only concern is the high sales taxes, but I found that food/grocery taxes reduced to 4%, which is not too bad.

Summary points:
+ We are healthy, and we live very frugally. We don't have debts. Most of our spending include food/grocery, car's insurance (currently we have two cars, both Toyota Camry, but will sell one), cell phone, highspeed internet.
+ We will live on around, conservatively, $50K after Federal income taxes.
+ We'd want to buy a house (3BD or less), for less than 250K, mostly by cash, if that's a sound plan. We never have owned a house.
+ We are okay with the humid/bugs in TN.

Questions

1. Will $50K is enough for me and my wife to cover everything: property taxes, food, insurance, phone, internet bill? Is there anything else regarding the costs?

2. Health insurance. This is a big variable. Currently we're covered by a good plan at my workplace, but I will not get to keep it because of my early retirement plan. So any advice is helpful to us.

3. Which areas in TN would you recommend us?
3.a. a city with fast growing/needed software engineering jobs (just in case, for .NET developers, or Python).
3.b. an area/county/city with affordable house price and good view.
3.c. an area/county/city with Asian food/markets, especially Vietnamese.
3.d. with all the above conditions (job, housing, food/market), which areas would you recommend?

4. Other states that I'm considering include: Wyoming (Pros: both low property and sales taxes. Cons: very cold?, less Asian/Vietnamese food), Florida (Pros: better weather, beaches. Cons: higher cost of living, property and sales taxes), and Texas (Cons: high property tax, slighter higher sales tax). All of these states also don't tax income/investment/retirement incomes. Have you lived there? what do you recommend?

5. I'd love to plant/grow herbs/vegetables in our own yard/garden supposedly buying a home. Have you don't it? is there any issue with the law or weather condition in TN?

Thank you very much for your time!

[jabogitlu]

In TN, for your house budget and desire to potentially be closed to software engineering, I'd steer you towards Knoxville or Chattanooga. Nashville is big and more expensive, Tri-Cities have fewer job prospects, and Memphis is just not that desirable overall. I would avoid the rural areas of Tennessee unless you have visited extensively and enjoy the lifestyle and your interactions with the populations.

Thinking outside the box, Washington state? No income/investment taxes (a bill will likely pass this session to tax investment income, but the floor is $250k in earnings, so I imagine you'd be fine). Vancouver WA's average home price is above your budget, but you can cross into Oregon and pay no sales taxes.

[anlocnghg]

Originally Posted by jabogitlu

In TN, for your house budget and desire to potentially be closed to software engineering, I'd steer you towards Knoxville or Chattanooga.

Thank you jabogitlu! I've just looked up Knoxville, it seems great with outdoor activities (mountains, rivers, national parks) within reasonable distance (30 miles), corporate hub (research/tech) of East TN, affordable renting (around $630 median), median home $152K,...
I'm looking more for other options (Chattanooga,...). Thank you again!

[mattec]

Originally Posted by jabogitlu

In TN, for your house budget and desire to potentially be closed to software engineering, I'd steer you towards Knoxville or Chattanooga. Nashville is big and more expensive, Tri-Cities have fewer job prospects, and Memphis is just not that desirable overall. I would avoid the rural areas of Tennessee unless you have visited extensively and enjoy the lifestyle and your interactions with the populations.

Thinking outside the box, Washington state? No income/investment taxes (a bill will likely pass this session to tax investment income, but the floor is $250k in earnings, so I imagine you'd be fine). Vancouver WA's average home price is above your budget, but you can cross into Oregon and pay no sales taxes.

Memphis has more software jobs than Knoxville or Chattanooga. It also has the most robust Vietnamese community (including multiple Vietnamese and Asian markets) in the state and affordable real estate that would fit their budget. $50K post tax is also enough to live fairly comfortably in the city as well.

[Serious Conversation]

Originally Posted by anlocnghg

Thank you jabogitlu! I've just looked up Knoxville, it seems great with outdoor activities (mountains, rivers, national parks) within reasonable distance (30 miles), corporate hub (research/tech) of East TN, affordable renting (around $630 median), median home $152K,...
I'm looking more for other options (Chattanooga,...). Thank you again!

I think you're going to have a hard time finding median rent at $630 anywhere in Knoxville. Those numbers seem way out of date.

[jabogitlu]

Originally Posted by mattec

Memphis has more software jobs than Knoxville or Chattanooga. It also has the most robust Vietnamese community (including multiple Vietnamese and Asian markets) in the state and affordable real estate that would fit their budget. $50K post tax is also enough to live fairly comfortably in the city as well.

Does it? I am trying to think of any big players in the coding industry in Memphis. But it is a larger city, so that stands to reason.

Memphis is a tricky place to settle and overall has a high rejection rate from transplants who are not well-versed in the Delta's and the city's history, race relations, and particular geographies. Unless the OP wants to live in Collierville or Piperton, it just seems easier to bypass the region altogether. But, indeed it is an affordable location in Tennessee, and well worth an initial look. I liked my time living in Memphis, but wouldn't head back there again.

[jabogitlu]

Originally Posted by anlocnghg

Thank you jabogitlu! I've just looked up Knoxville, it seems great with outdoor activities (mountains, rivers, national parks) within reasonable distance (30 miles), corporate hub (research/tech) of East TN, affordable renting (around $630 median), median home $152K,...
I'm looking more for other options (Chattanooga,...). Thank you again!

Agree with the above poster, those numbers seem pretty incorrect. I haven't lived in Knoxville or East TN in a long time, but I'd imagine you'd want to approximately double that rent figure for a realistic budget. $1200 median rent sounds much more appropriate. Housing I would expect between $200k and $300k for a typical home, but would need to do some more research to confirm.

[jjbradleynyc]

I would definitely suggest the Chattanooga area, with Knoxville as a secondary choice.

Nashville proper will be pretty pricey, and its desirable suburbs will be as well. However, Clarksville might be a good option, which is an hour or so northwest of Nashville. It's a good-sized (feels a bit smaller though) city at 160,000 and growing.

Another option could be Cookeville, TN. A city just to the east of Nashville about an hour and 20 minutes or so, with an incredible quality of life and easy proximity to hiking, stunning waterfalls, plenty of mountains and the abundant natural beauty of Tennessee's geography in general. I also see a couple of Vietnamese restaurants in Cookeville, but not sure of the Vietnamese population there in that community.

With a field in .net and python, you could work remote quite often, as much as you prefer, or not, to help supplement income and pass the time in your field.

[mattec]

Originally Posted by jabogitlu

Does it? I am trying to think of any big players in the coding industry in Memphis. But it is a larger city, so that stands to reason.

Memphis is a tricky place to settle and overall has a high rejection rate from transplants who are not well-versed in the Delta's and the city's history, race relations, and particular geographies. Unless the OP wants to live in Collierville or Piperton, it just seems easier to bypass the region altogether. But, indeed it is an affordable location in Tennessee, and well worth an initial look. I liked my time living in Memphis, but wouldn't head back there again.

Most of the jobs aren't with traditional tech companies, but with places like FedEx, Frontdoor, MGM Resorts, Hilton, Terminix, and IndigoAg, among others.

Memphis has it's challenges, but so does any other city/region. I wouldn't recommend moving there without visiting, but I'd recommend that for anywhere. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in the city and if the right opportunity presented itself, would move back without a second thought.

[yellowcat123]

Originally Posted by mattec

Most of the jobs aren't with traditional tech companies, but with places like FedEx, Frontdoor, MGM Resorts, Hilton, Terminix, and IndigoAg, among others.

Memphis has it's challenges, but so does any other city/region. I wouldn't recommend moving there without visiting, but I'd recommend that for anywhere. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in the city and if the right opportunity presented itself, would move back without a second thought.

I would imagine that FedEx would have a bunch of great tech opportunities. I once read about how they created their own metoerology department back in the 80s to try and predict delays caused by weather. https://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/...-accurate.html