Anyone retired/living in Tennessee?

[Huskerguy]

I currently live in Kansas and originally from Nebraska. Both states made the recent top 10 of tax heavy states. My wife and I are both going to call it quits this spring. I have suggested looking for a state to retire in. Kansas is gun friendly but between state, sales and property taxes, it eats into retirement savings quickly with no end in sight.

My goal would be to live near water with some good fishing and trees for hunting and just walking. As my wife says we are at that point in life where we want a small house and big garage/shop! We both grew up on farms and would like to be near towns but not in them and nothing big at all. The current city we live in is 50K which is the biggest we have lived in for our 46 years of marriage. My dream has always been to live on a hill or side hill looking down on a bass pond with a river or creek behind it so I can watch the deer and antelope play. I really want to have a place where I can build my own pistol range. Our lives pretty much center around our local church and helping others where we can.

We would plan a trip to spend some time in whatever state we are looking at. What can those that are there or from there tell me? What is the cost of housing? Taxes? Are some areas better than others? Thanks in advance

 

[Faulkner]

When you drive to Tennessee from Kansas you'll likely cross the Mississippi River on I-40 at Memphis. My advice is to drive right through Memphis, don't even stop for fuel, and keep going until you get to at least Jackson, Tennessee. The rest of Tennessee is pretty awesome.

 

[oneounceload]

You want water trees hunting and hiking? Try the Florida Panhandle - no state income tax; certain counties were hit hard by Michael making housing very cheap. From the Pensacola region east to Tallahassee there are a lot of great small towns that have large ones close enough for things like doctors and major shopping. My town is 1800 people, very quiet and 20 minutes from all of the medical/shopping/whatever in Tallahassee. And our sales tax is less than TN

 

[Lee Barner]

don't even go thru Memphis unless you want to see Elvis' house. take 70 to St Louis, then 55 to exit 19 in the MO bootheel to I 155 to Dyersburg, TN. continue up that: it will become US 51. from Union City, head east to Paris, TN. it is near Kentucky Lake(95% of it is in TN). lots of great small communities around the lake on both sides. Paris has all you need for shopping and good hospital. no state income tax. vehicle tags are $79.25. sales tax is 9.75% but is offset by no income tax and property taxes are very low compared to a lot of states. when I retired from the AF in NE I stayed there five years and moved to KS. loved both states but you are right about the taxes. moved back home here 20 years ago after a 30 year vacation. LOL. get online and look at the area I mentioned. if you come this way, PM me and hopefully I could meet you somewhere. we have a member from Paris and I hope he sees this. lee

 

[sheepdawg]

I live in Memphis, hopefully not much longer. The property tax here will eat you up, sale tax is bad to. My truck has been broken into 3 times this year. Yesterday an EF1 tornado went through the hood and did millions of dollars worth of improvements. Mrs. Sheepdawg and I rent a cabin near Lynchburg and hopefully by God's grace we will wind up there. Overall Tennessee is a great state,friendly folks, good hunting and fishing, gun friendly, low taxes. Just avoid Memphis, it's gone downhill at warp speed the last 30 years.

 

[tt66]

We love to visit the Tellico Plains area. Lots of hiking and trout fishing, whitewater creeking if you are into that. There are a lot of nice places around the Chattanooga area.

 

[jeffsmith]

East Tennessee has Hills and Lots of Water (TVA)

 

[Huskerguy]

Thanks for the replies - I should have included a sentence about wanting nothing to do with Memphis. I have heard the horror stories for several years. Now I need to get out a map and take a look at these areas and towns.

 

[somorris]

Good luck, Huskerguy. I don't live in Tennessee, but have been all over that state back when I was working. It has some great areas. Even Memphis has its positive aspects, but like most of the Mississippi River delta area (i.e. from about St. Louis on south), it also has significant problems. Not sure about taxes, but you might also want to consider north Alabama.

 

[5-Shot]

We are retired and have lived in East Tennessee for about 15 years. You have pretty much described our Sevier county location. Mountains, lakes (which are TVA and thus are drawn down hard in the winter), rivers, creeks and massive forests. No income tax and reasonable home prices. Sales taxes are high but the upside is that in tourist areas (Great Smoky Mountains here) tourists end up paying most of our property taxes. Wife and I agree, we wouldn’t live anywhere else.

Ed

 

[gregintenn]

Most of Tennessee has low property taxes. The sales tax is high. No income tax.


Tennessee is flat in the west, rolling in the middle, and mountainous in the east.


There are some really great places in rural Tennessee.


Kentucky is also beautiful. It has lower sales tax, but has an income tax.

 

[LoboGunLeather]

My older son resides near Manchester, about midway between Nashville and Chattanooga. He and his family are very happy there. It is beautiful most of the year (mid to late summers are hot and humid). Lots of fishing and hunting all around. The times I have visited I have found the locals to be generally friendly, outgoing, and helpful.

Son has 16 acres, mostly wooded property. He and my grandchildren have no problem filling their deer tags without leaving home. Several lakes and rivers nearby with all the boating and fishing opportunities anyone could want or use. All the grandkids are far better fishermen than I will ever be.

 

[johngalt]

TN does indeed have an income tax - on investment income, just not on wages. Lots of retired folk have investment income.

 

[rwsmith]

My folk retired there until about 8 years......

ago, they are both gone now, but they loved living there. And my Dad especially liked dealing with local banks and merchants. He liked the tax setup. The only problems were that that lived some miles out of Sevierville and the place was very quiet but when Pigeon Forge stared growing the traffic became intolerable but he knew a few 'back roads' that helped.

The second thing was that all of their doctors were in Chattanooga and I can't say they were the best doctors for geriatrics.

He was able to buy three lots in the Allendale subdivision and put his house and 'garage' on the middle. I called the garage the 'firehouse' because he had his RV in it.

But they loved living there and the countryside is gorgeous and the people are great.

 

[doublesharp]

Southern Kentucky checks off a lot of your boxes as does southern Indiana.

 

[sheepdawg]

TN does indeed have an income tax - on investment income, just not on wages. Lots of retired folk have investment income.

That's called the Hall Tax. By 2022 i do belive it will be a thing of the past. It's slowly being phase out. I learned about it through a not so nice letter from The Dept. of Finance of Tennessee. Ouch.

 

[glenwolde]

I'm doing this search myself. Consider Arkansas. I think it's got most everything you're looking for.

Tennessee does tax investment income (dividends and interest) @6% flat. It also is becoming a fairly popular place to retire. Which is a negative as they are driving up prices. We lived in Knoxville a number of years, it is a beautiful place.

Texas (you'd want East Texas) is good but the property taxes are high. Zero income tax doesn't do you much good when the property taxes and sales taxes are sky high. Tennessee has really high sales tax but property taxes are better than Texas.

One thing you can do, if you can live through it, is buy a house that needs remodeling. They'll freeze your property taxes as a senior in most places based on the current value. Then remodel it. You won't pay taxes on the increased value. You'll save a ton on taxes versus buying the exact same house after it's been remodeled. This would work in most places I've looked at.

 

[woodsltc]

That's called the Hall Tax. By 2022 i do belive it will be a thing of the past. It's slowly being phase out. I learned about it through a not so nice letter from The Dept. of Finance of Tennessee. Ouch.

Yep....Hall Tax is to be totally eliminated effective January 1, 2021. It's been phasing out by 1% per year since 1/1/16 and will be totally gone 1/1/21.

Don

 

[HOUSTON RICK]

We have never had a personal income tax in Texas. After election day, it will be in the constitution. More gun shows than anywhere. Land is available. Climate beats most places.

 

[Golddollar]

PA is friendly toward retirees. No income tax on retirement income. Hanover area is getting in a lot of new medical facilities so you won't have to leave the southcentral PA area to get medical care. I live a in small town between Gettysburg and Hanover and I feel like I've been able to integrate myself into the community fairly well. Come east of the mountains in order to block the lake effect snow from Lake Erie.