$600/year in taxes is all we need to keep it, another $1400 or so for insurance. 4 bedroom 3 bathroom on half an acre.
Wow, that’s great. My similar (sounding) 4 bed / 3 bath house costs me $8k/yr tax and recently leapt up to $12k/yr insurance. Fun stuff, being in a state dealing with an insurance crisis…
SG: We live in Huntsville Alabama.
Now the thing about Alabama is that the state constitution says you can’t raise property taxes unless people vote for it. Guess how often that happens? My brother in Michigan pays over ten times what I do.
When I was in school at Redstone Arsenal oh so many years ago, we called it Huntspatch. But it was truly different from the rest of Alabama.
One of the students in my class was a young black guy. He was afraid to leave the Arsenal, but he needed to go into town for something - Drivers license? Something else? At any rate, sure enough he got rear ended by a white woman. He was astonished that she apologized and gave her insurance information without a fuss.
CNC
Would be selling in greater Pittburgh, buying in Lake County, Ohio.
Looked at 5 places today. One had promise. The others flaws that made them impractical for us, though a couple of them were still nice, in a way.
I drove down to the Florida Panhandle last September, went thru northern Alabama on I65,
thought it was beautiful. The topography reminded me of northern Michigan, although your
hills are bigger. Lots of water and green as can be. I was impressed with
the parts of Alabama that I went thru, everybody I came in contact with was pleasant.
I still like winter, so no desire to move south, but northern Alabama looks like a good
place to live.
Would be selling in greater Pittburgh, buying in Lake County, Ohio.
The Countess was born in Ashtabula. Her family all has bad things to say about the winters there. Something about the Lake Effect making a lot of snow.
The Countess was born in Ashtabula. Her family all has bad things to say about the winters there. Something about the Lake Effect making a lot of snow.
Yes, lea of the lake effect snow is a problem around the east side of the Great Lakes–western Michigan to South Bend, IN. But also along Lake Erie.
The big problem usually cited for Cleveland is lots of cloudy days that last all winter. No sunshine. That extends all the way to Buffalo.
Minneapolis is usually cited as the most sunshine in winter. Lots of clear days. (But I wonder if Arizona is included in the competition.)
A friend in Winnipeg says the clear cold nights are the coldest. Clouds tend to hold more heat close to the ground.
low crime.
That rules Houston out.
"The Countess was born in Ashtabula. Her family all has bad things to say about the winters there. Something about the Lake Effect making a lot of snow.
I guess it’s an acquired taste, but I love winter. Love living in the lake effect snow belt.
But the last 2 winters have been weak,snow wise. In January, I had to drive up to the Lake Superior snowbelt to get winter ( it did not disappoint, lol, it was raging ).
Hopefully it’s not a permanent trend. I live near the 45th parallel, and
everybody up here says that there has been noticeable change in the winter temps and snowfall.
"Would be selling in greater Pittburgh, buying in Lake County, Ohio.
The Countess was born in Ashtabula. Her family all has bad things to say about the winters there. Something about the Lake Effect making a lot of snow. "
I think the town was “Geneva on the Lake”. Seemed to be snowing there
90% of the winter.
Ashtabula was pretty bad as well.
Interstate 90 was the border line between heavy snow to the north
if the lake was frozen or heavy snow to the south if the lake was
not frozen.
Howie52
Or was that the other way around?
Regardless, one December it snowed every single day.
That caused me to buy a snowblower.
I guess it’s an acquired taste, but I love winter. Love living in the lake effect snow belt.
Get help. Joe.
CNC
"Get help. Joe.
LoL.
I have the same thoughts toward living in sweltering southern climates.
I’ve been in Moab in June. Yeah, it’s a dry heat, LoL.
I’ve been in sweltering, bug swarming Florida, LoL.
Pick your poison, I guess.
Get help. Joe.
CNC"
----------------------------------
LoL.
I have the same thoughts toward living in sweltering southern climates.
I’ve been in Moab in June. Yeah, it’s a dry heat, LoL.
I’ve been in sweltering, bug swarming Florida, LoL.
Pick your poison, I guess.
I’m with you. Loved the 9 years I spent in Syracuse & Upstate NY. Wouldn’t want to do it now after the heart attack though. (Omaha is a suitable substitute) I’ve lived down South. And Utah, and Vegas, and Alaska! You can keep the 80 degree Thanksgivings. I do not understand the “Florida psychosis” most people have. Don’t they understand how bad it is down there?
Hopefully it’s not a permanent trend. I live near the 45th parallel, and
everybody up here says that there has been noticeable change in the winter temps and snowfall.
Yep. I’d been X-C skiing up Traverse City way since the 1970s. Done VASA race a number of times. The snowfall has declined a lot over the years. So I run the ski trails in the off season instead. Lovely.
I still remember going into the Big Boy in TC some years ago and asking why the salad bar was closed. “Oh, nobody wants salad during the winter,” the waitress answered. 
“A 30 year fixed rate mortgage is great for retirees.”
Almost exactly 10 yrs ago, we got a mortgage which was interest only (2.86%) for ten years, then P+I for the remaining twenty years, with a max rate of 4.86%. That’s worked out VERY WELL for us in terms of putting money aside for retirement.
When we move to our next home, we might well look for a similar mortgage so that the net profit from the sale of our current home will grow in investments while we pay a (relatively) piddling amount of interest on the new mortgage.
DW just entered “phased retirement” where (for several years) she will teach one semester a year for half annual pay, but full benefits. I’m already retired. Both of us will be 68 this year and we’re deferring SS until age 70. We both have Roth & traditional IRAs to draw on for luxuries, unexpected expenses, etc. Our sources of income:
DW teaching (DWT): DW phased retirement teaching income
BG pension (BGP): fixed amount (no COLA) w/ survivor benefit goes to a single-life annuity upon either of our deaths
DW pension (DWP): fixed amount (no COLA) for about 5 yrs payable to either/both of us (weird pension plan, to odd to get into details)
BGSS: My social security
DWSS: DW’s social security
So our yearly outlook in terms of income:
2022-4: DWT, BGP, DWP, BGSS (for 6 mo. in 2024)
2025: DWT, BGP, DWP, BGSS, DWSS
2026: BGP, BGSS, DWSS, IRA (as needed)
2027+: BGP, BGSS, DWSS, IRA (RMDs from our accounts)
We count ourselves as exceedingly fortunate given our very modest family backgrounds and the great good fortune of getting educated and parlaying that into a very solid middle class position. I suspect that as we age we’ll spend more and more on luxuries given that we have no children and no real desire to leave some major legacy. The one thing we have talked about is that, as a “thank you” to the country which brought us this prosperity, is to pay off our per capita portion of the national debt.
As an aside, I don’t see any of our nieces, nephews, or their offspring doing nearly as well in terms of positioning themselves for retirement.
lol, somehow I knew that you were an xc skier !! There is no such thing as a “fountain of youth”,
but xc skiing, trail running, and mt biking sure does enhance the quality of the years that we
have. There are some amazing skiers in their 50’s,60’s, and even 70’s up here, and a lot more
from the downstate metro Detroit and GR area, I don’t know them personally, but see them pretty much every winter weekend, whether in TC or Forbush Corners in the Grayling/Gaylord area.
We had a weak winter this last season, so I went up to Munising and Marquette to get some skiing
in. They actually had too much snow in Munising, the groomers couldn’t get the trail packed down
enough for skate skiing. But I brought classic and classic-back country ski’s and had a great
time up there. The skiing and snow at the Noque in Marquette was incredible. Less snow than Munising, so they were able to groom the trails to perfection for skating. Considering moving from TC to that area.
I do 3 or 4 races every winter, the Vasa being my main race. I get my butt kicked by a whole lot of people, but getting better every year. Didn’t start racing till 2012, so just lately starting to feel like I know what I’m doing a little bit, lol. I trail run and bike on it all thru the no-snow months, was just out there this afternoon.
wall to wall engineers. NASA, Boeing, more government contractors than I could list. Huge military base. Space Camp. Very well educated population.
See, that’s the thing. Probably only a small number of those people are natives and grew up with the educational system there, so Alabama is relying on others to educate people for them. That may be a decent strategy for Alabama but surely is not for the entire country.
I live in Knoxville. Taxes are low. But then so are government services (including education.) We have no municipal trash pickup. We pay for a private fire company to come out if the house catches on fire. We do not have sewers. There are places where the road falls off 20 feet and there is no guard rail. Roadways could stand to be 2’ wider. There is little to no zoning. Schools, for the most part, suck. And so on…
US News and World Report just listed it as the best place to live in America.
OK. But you probably couldn’t pay me enough to live in Alabama. Or Mississippi. I could barely tolerate Tennessee, but inertia kept us here after we moved for Mrs. Goofy’s job, and I can’t imagine moving again after 25 years and a houseful of crap.
Almost exactly 10 yrs ago, we got a mortgage which was interest only (2.86%) for ten years, then P+I for the remaining twenty years, with a max rate of 4.86%.
So, for every $100k, your I/O payment at 2.86% is $238.33/month. Assuming that your interest rate will jump to the max of 4.86% when the payment changes (because interest rates are at least 2 points higher now), your amortized payment for every $100k will now be $652.25/month That means your payment will jump to 2.74 times what it originally was.
When we move to our next home, we might well look for a similar mortgage so that the net profit from the sale of our current home will grow in investments while we pay a (relatively) piddling amount of interest on the new mortgage.
Good luck, but I doubt you will find one. The rules on what mortgages Fannie and Freddie will buy have changed significantly in the last 10 years - specifically, 8 years ago (2014), the Dodd-Frank Act rules on qualified mortgages took effect. Lenders who can show that they adhered to the rules for qualified mortgages are protected from being sued over making the loan, and Fannie and Freddie are allowed to buy the loans. Loans that defer any interest and/or principal repayment (like interest-only loans) are non-standard, or non-qualified, loans. Non-qualified loans cannot be sold to Fannie or Freddie, so the lender must keep the loan in their portfolio, or find someone other than Fannie or Freddie to purchase it - probably at a significantly lower price than they could sell a qualified mortgage for. Because of the lower price that these loans can be sold for, lenders will generally charge higher rates when you can find them. Additionally, regulators tend to frown upon lenders keeping a significant number of non-standard loans in their portfolios, so if lenders make these loans at all, they generally reserve them for their premier customers.
AJ
2026: BGP, BGSS, DWSS, IRA (as needed)
2027+: BGP, BGSS, DWSS, IRA (RMDs from our accounts)
I would point out that if you are both going to be 68 in 2022 (i.e. ‘this year’), you will both turn 72 in 2026. That means that, under current law, unless you want to take 2 years worth of RMDs in 2027, you will need to start RMDs in 2026.
AJ
I’ve been down the Colorado on a 7-day raft trip. Was worried it might get boring on the 40 foot motorized “aircraft carrier” raft we were on. Was completely, utterly wrong, and by the end of the 2nd day I was very glad for every foot of that big raft. When we got to Lava on day 6… wow.
Hope you enjoy it!