Should I move from Maine to Manchester, VT? (Burlington, Rutland: ski resorts, how much)
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Have you calculated the costs involved in moving such as the listing fees to the real estate agents, the state and local transfer taxes, and the movers etc. versus the gains from the new job?
Of course on the sell side of the transaction unless you're wealthy you're going to feel a pressure to sell in a down market. Will that balance back out in the new location or turn into a lose, lose deal?
Especially if you're selling in a normal or undesirable market and having to buy in a tourist area with high demand.
Quote:
Originally Posted by angelo129
We've moved all over Northern New England, and I can say with certainty that you'll have to have a REALLY big increase in salary across the board to come out even. Vermont is much more expensive, and in ways you may not have considered yet - as in, for instance, we had much better health insurance in Maine (better coverage, lower premiums). In Vermont, we have a $6000.00 deductible. It's a great upheaval to move to another state and, even if you do extensive research, there will be things that surprise you and not all of them will be good. It seems you have a good thing (and a sure thing) in Maine, and you're considering spending a lot of money and aggravation to (possibly) get something marginally better but maybe much worse. I'd stay put - although, at the very least, if you're determined to move, I wouldn't even consider it unless you have sold your house already and have a firm job offer in Vermont. I know plenty of people who own houses in Maine who had to leave for job reasons but still have their bank accounts regularly drained by houses they can't sell. Be prudent, and good luck to you.
Where do you get your health insurance? From your employer? If so, that really is independent of the state. The worst insurance I have ever had was my last employer, over the river in NH. It wasn't their fault, as a small company they just kept getting hit with huge premium increases over the years. Larger companies fare better on either side of the river, but the price always goes up and the deductible gets higher every year, with some notable exceptions. However, I have yet to find anything that compares to the coverage I have with Catamount Blue. You won't find anything like that in Maine or New Hampshire.
Where do you get your health insurance? From your employer? If so, that really is independent of the state. The worst insurance I have ever had was my last employer, over the river in NH. It wasn't their fault, as a small company they just kept getting hit with huge premium increases over the years. Larger companies fare better on either side of the river, but the price always goes up and the deductible gets higher every year, with some notable exceptions. However, I have yet to find anything that compares to the coverage I have with Catamount Blue. You won't find anything like that in Maine or New Hampshire.
Maine has a state sponsored health insurance program called DIRIGO, my ex-wife had it and it seemed to work well. The Vermont version, Catamount, is about to change bigtime with the new single payer program coming around the corner.
Gloucester...are you from New Glouester? Nice area up there, actual hills. Back to Manchester, the recession plus the poor ski season has had a neg effect on Manchester. Stores closing, downsizing. There are some nice areas a few miles out of the hustle bustle of the village. BTW, I worked in the OFC at Bean.
Last edited by MRVphotog; 05-07-2012 at 10:41 PM..
Where do you get your health insurance? From your employer? If so, that really is independent of the state. The worst insurance I have ever had was my last employer, over the river in NH. It wasn't their fault, as a small company they just kept getting hit with huge premium increases over the years. Larger companies fare better on either side of the river, but the price always goes up and the deductible gets higher every year, with some notable exceptions. However, I have yet to find anything that compares to the coverage I have with Catamount Blue. You won't find anything like that in Maine or New Hampshire.
Like Dirigo in Maine, Catamount Blue is not available to everyone (or, in fact, to most people) so I can't compare the two. I would add that the overall environment of the state determines what employers can and cannot offer, so the situation is really not quite "independent of the state". One member of our family works in healthcare, and has worked at hospitals all over New England. Her health insurance, while working for three different hospitals in Maine, was orders of magnitude better than it has been in the two hospitals she has worked for in Vermont. It seems that a huge deductible is the norm for insurance in Vermont (something we never had in Maine). I say this not based on statistics but on informal discussions, so I won't claim that I know it for a certainty. As an example, the first time we ever picked up a prescription drug in Vermont (in a local grocery store) we paid the very high cost out of pocket due to our high deductible. The pharmacy clerk who totaled it at the register shook her head and asked if we didn't have insurance. I told her we did but we'd have to shell out $5000 (it's increased $1000 since then) before it kicked in. She remarked that her insurance was the same and said "it's really only catastrophic coverage" and went on to say that most of what she saw in her job fit into the same category. Admittedly, as I said, not a scientific survey, but nothing we have learned since has contradicted her remarks. To compare to other places, our relatives in six other states, including Maine, had difficulty believing we had such a huge deductible, and initially thought we were making some kind of macabre joke.
Just FYI I have a high deductible plan and didn't used to give the pharmacy my insurance information. That changed after a chat I had with my health insurance company, who told me that giving them that information would likely lower the price of the prescription. It doesn't in my case, sicne I use a specific Rite-Aid with a super discount program. Not all Rite-Aids give you the same price by the way.
Like Dirigo in Maine, Catamount Blue is not available to everyone (or, in fact, to most people) so I can't compare the two. I would add that the overall environment of the state determines what employers can and cannot offer, so the situation is really not quite "independent of the state". One member of our family works in healthcare, and has worked at hospitals all over New England. Her health insurance, while working for three different hospitals in Maine, was orders of magnitude better than it has been in the two hospitals she has worked for in Vermont. It seems that a huge deductible is the norm for insurance in Vermont (something we never had in Maine). I say this not based on statistics but on informal discussions, so I won't claim that I know it for a certainty. As an example, the first time we ever picked up a prescription drug in Vermont (in a local grocery store) we paid the very high cost out of pocket due to our high deductible. The pharmacy clerk who totaled it at the register shook her head and asked if we didn't have insurance. I told her we did but we'd have to shell out $5000 (it's increased $1000 since then) before it kicked in. She remarked that her insurance was the same and said "it's really only catastrophic coverage" and went on to say that most of what she saw in her job fit into the same category. Admittedly, as I said, not a scientific survey, but nothing we have learned since has contradicted her remarks. To compare to other places, our relatives in six other states, including Maine, had difficulty believing we had such a huge deductible, and initially thought we were making some kind of macabre joke.
Interesting, but in 20 years of living and working on both sides of the river, I have found health insurance to simply go up every year and the deductible get higher, whether I worked in VT or NH. I too worked for awhile in health care, and that was the worst insurance I ever had. The software companies were the best and most generous.
I think the OP needs to look at the benefits carefully before deciding to move. My neighbors just moved here from Waterville, Maine (I think that is the town) for better opportunities. But they cannot sell their house in Maine, and the OP is going to face the same issue.
Maine has a state sponsored health insurance program called DIRIGO, my ex-wife had it and it seemed to work well. The Vermont version, Catamount, is about to change bigtime with the new single payer program coming around the corner.
Gloucester...are you from New Glouester? Nice area up there, actual hills. Back to Manchester, the recession plus the poor ski season has had a neg effect on Manchester. Stores closing, downsizing. There are some nice areas a few miles out of the hustle bustle of the village. BTW, I worked in the OFC at Bean.
Lucky or unlucky for me, I am eligible for Medicare next year, so I won't be able to keep Catamount.
We've moved all over Northern New England, and I can say with certainty that you'll have to have a REALLY big increase in salary across the board to come out even. Vermont is much more expensive, and in ways you may not have considered yet - as in, for instance, we had much better health insurance in Maine (better coverage, lower premiums). In Vermont, we have a $6000.00 deductible. It's a great upheaval to move to another state and, even if you do extensive research, there will be things that surprise you and not all of them will be good. It seems you have a good thing (and a sure thing) in Maine, and you're considering spending a lot of money and aggravation to (possibly) get something marginally better but maybe much worse. I'd stay put - although, at the very least, if you're determined to move, I wouldn't even consider it unless you have sold your house already and have a firm job offer in Vermont. I know plenty of people who own houses in Maine who had to leave for job reasons but still have their bank accounts regularly drained by houses they can't sell. Be prudent, and good luck to you.
Hi Angelo129, I just read the above, and thought that you would be the most informative to ask a question or two, about moving 'Up North'.
My wife & I are thinking of moving North.
'Can't really decide what State would be better for us?
Maine, New Hampshire or Vermont.
You said that you've lived all over the North!
We've lived in Connecticut all our lives so far, but want a much more rural/country (wilderness???), nature filled, less populated, less busy, quiet and more private place to live.
My wife is 65 and retired and collect SS Disability payments.
I just turned 60, am active & health, and still want to work.
Which of the 3 states listed (Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire) do YOU think would best fit what our desires/what we are looking for?
Any information that you could supply me with would be much appreciated!
We've moved all over Northern New England, and I can say with certainty that you'll have to have a REALLY big increase in salary across the board to come out even. Vermont is much more expensive, and in ways you may not have considered yet - as in, for instance, we had much better health insurance in Maine (better coverage, lower premiums). In Vermont, we have a $6000.00 deductible. It's a great upheaval to move to another state and, even if you do extensive research, there will be things that surprise you and not all of them will be good. It seems you have a good thing (and a sure thing) in Maine, and you're considering spending a lot of money and aggravation to (possibly) get something marginally better but maybe much worse. I'd stay put - although, at the very least, if you're determined to move, I wouldn't even consider it unless you have sold your house already and have a firm job offer in Vermont. I know plenty of people who own houses in Maine who had to leave for job reasons but still have their bank accounts regularly drained by houses they can't sell. Be prudent, and good luck to you.
Hi (again) Angelo129,
I forgot to ask you these questions in my earlier post.
Also, which New England state would be the cheapest to live in?
Vermont, New Hampshire or Maine?
I'm talking Rural little towns, NOT Any City!
How about those Unincorporated Townships waaaaaaaay up in Northern Maine??
One thing Maine has that Vermont doesnt is the ocean. I would miss the ocean.
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Hello Angelo129,
