Retirement in Maine... (sales, real estate market, 2014)

[Rhapsodie2014]

Would people say it is a retirement friendly state??
Taxes are not low..I know...but how does it stack up. People usually think of a warm place to retire....but Maine and New Hampshire have a great deal of retirees.....this is what I hear.

I am not yet ready to retire..have quite a few years left to work (need to find employment there also)...will be selling home in So. Cal..............I am from MA....not new to New England, have been gone 12 yrs....would like to relocate way before retirement. Getting back there and selling property here is the challenge.

Thanks.

[DauntlessDan]

I must say, you have to like the cold to live up here. This coming from a northern native New Englander. Wife and I have been away from northern New England for a number of years and this past winter was a hum-dinger!! And all of the things that o along with winter like snow tires, heating fuel of some type, winter clothes. I mean I had what I consider a normal winter when we lived in West Virginia, up here you get a protracted one. Even now I live in central Maine and it is struggling to hit 50 degrees. Next week will be a roller coaster ride of 50s during the day and 30s during the night according to the weather forecasts. Don't know about retirement, am not retired. Know that jobs here are HARD to land. Don't think Maine taxes your social security. NH has no sales or income tax. VT doesn't tax clothing (under $100) or groceries or medicines. ME does not tax groceries.

[slyfox2]

I retired here from PA in 2011. I love it and would never move back to the stinking hot humid summers there. People in Maine are way way more friendly and caring than any place in PA( and I lived in a bunch). Most everything is cheaper.

I moved to Mount Desert Island, and I love it, but there are many places in Maine which are just as good.

Taxes are actually much less than they were in PA. Of course my work pension and my SS pension don't get taken out, so I have to save the money through out the year, and so I owe both the feds and the state. But the local taxes are a credit against the State tax, not a deduction, which means that until my local taxes exceed my state taxes(like never) its a wash.

[maineborzoi]

We retired and moved here in August. It is surely 'retirement' friendly. The cost of living is so much lower- even the utilities are lower.
Its also an 'easier going' life style. Perfect for us to enjoy our retirement.
We were shown yesterday just how much community fits into the life style. I swear- the friendliest bunch of people met in any state in the union

[GreenGene]

We retired several years ago, and would have moved to Maine in a heartbeat had the real estate market not taken a nosedive just as we retired. We couldn't get what we needed to get from the sale of our house in Virginia to make the move to Maine.

But the market improved, and we moved here last fall ... just in time for the snow and cold.

Love it, love it, love it. It's not without challenges. We feel like we're always playing catch-up, due to the time of year that we moved. For example, next year we'll have a snowblower, and not have to shovel all the snow. We'll also have a paved driveway, and that will make mud season a bit easier to take.

Retirement in Maine? I think - and I know my wife agrees - that it's wonderful. The people are great, and scenery is terrific, and there are things going on to see and do year round. We're very happy here.

[kayaker35]

My husband and I built our home here in Downeast Maine in 1991, and retired here in 1999, after selling our home in CT. We've loved living here, and can ditto the previous comments about friendly people, great scenery, and lots of things to do. This past winter has been a real challenge, however. Snow, snow, snow. A private contractor takes care of the road plowing, with the cost shared by the several households who overwinter here. My husband has a tractor with a snowblower attachment to take care of the driveway. It certainly got a workout this year, and our road plowing expenses were higher than in any previous year we've been here.

While we love living in Maine, we're looking for a way to go to a warmer climate for two or three months next winter. We used to love getting out on our snowshoes and cross-country skis, and taking walks as the snow fell. The older we get, though, the less we like the bone-chilling cold and having to deal with the snow.

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend for retirement....with a way to escape a couple of months of the worst weather :-)

[Northern Maine Land Man]

With the usual cold weather cautions aside, it's unanimous. We agree. Like many other families, we left Maine and took seven years to save up enough to come home. We won't leave again and we don't even leave for visits very often. I expect to see an influx this year of new people who are fleeing NJ, CT and NY. Phone traffic and casual browsing of web sites indicate this.

[bangorme]

I love living in Maine, and retired back to Maine four years ago. But make no mistake about it, Maine is an expensive place to live, and the winters are long. Now, keep in mind, "expensive" is relative. Living in Maine is dirt cheap compared to living in the D.C. area. But compared to where some of my friends have retired (Georgia and Tennessee for example), Maine is expensive. Taxes are high. Winters are expensive. Summers are inexpensive. Housing is fairly inexpensive and the people are down to earth if you stay away from the Massachusetts megalopolis (southern Maine). We have some good hospitals and a bunch of colleges.

The governor is talking about trying to make Maine a more competitive retirement destination by exempting pensions from income taxes. That would help. My only complaint about modern Maine is that is has become an old state. If you enjoy the vitality that young people bring to life, you will find Maine less than ideal. Lot's of old people here and many young people leaving to find good jobs.

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by Rhapsodie2014

Would people say it is a retirement friendly state??

We moved to Maine in 2005, after I retired.

Since coming here, we have met a number of other couples who have moved to Maine after they retried.

I think it is very friendly to retirees.

... Taxes are not low .. I know ... but how does it stack up

Hmm. My pension is 'low', I am a military retiree. My income is not large enough to pay income taxes. So my income taxes are zero.

There is a movement afoot to exempt military pension from taxes in Maine, but I think it is rather odd since our pensions are commonly below the threshold for paying into income taxes anyway.

Before coming to Maine, we lived in many other places. This is the fifth home that we have owned. This home is the largest home we have owned. It sits on the largest property that we have ever owned. It's property taxes are by far the lowest property taxes that we have ever paid on any home we have owned.

I understand that people say taxes are high in Maine. Which tax specifically is it that you find so high?

... People usually think of a warm place to retire .... but Maine and New Hampshire have a great deal of retirees ..... this is what I hear.

A lot of people migrate to Maine for their retirement.

... I am not yet ready to retire. have quite a few years left to work (need to find employment there also) ... will be selling home in So. Cal.

I am from California. We used to own a home there.

I find it amusing that you speak of Maine's 'high' taxes, while living in California.

On my pension, in Maine I can afford a very nice home. If I were to return to California, I could afford a cardboard box.

I am from MA .... not new to New England, have been gone 12 yrs .... would like to relocate way before retirement. Getting back there and selling property here is the challenge.

Thanks.

Mass is a lot different from Maine.

Welcome

[Rhapsodie2014]

Thank you Submariner....for your input; I do not know how to break up sections of comments as to not "quote" the whole body of responses...

1. I do look at property in different areas....property taxes vary according to neighborhood..I read things that state Maine has high property taxes...............which is why I would not move to NH; but does it really balance out with lack of sales tax and income tax...dont know?? I just know that MAX amount I would be able to pay and MAX amount I would be willing to pay.......New York (which taxes everything), is notorious for say a home in upstate that ya paid 200K for but the taxes are $7000.00/yr........
No one wants that.....that is how older people lose their homes.................
2. I have prop. 13 in So. Cal.....keeps our Prop taxes low...but yes would not be able to afford it here.........but the REAL thing is; I do not like So.Cal....no matter what the cost......even if I had a mansion in Beverly Hills.....lol