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retiring in new mexico

4

44135

Member
I am going to retire in a couple of years and am thinking of relocating from the St. Louis area to rural New Mexico. Does anyone have any idea of which areas to look in or to avoid. I am kind of looking for a small place maybe five acres or so with a small house to use as a home base to ride around the western states. I am thinking something in the foothills so its is not too hot or too cold. Anybody with any input about this area . Thank you in advance. :)
 
Too many unknowns in your question: the topography and economic geography of New Mexico is too diverse and so more detail is needed. I'm just someone who lives on its borders--in El Paso--but even I can distinguish between the booming retirement opportunities in Las Cruces (SE NM), Albuquerque/Santa Fe (what I'd call central NM), Roswell/Carlsbad (NE), and all of the stuff out west on I-40, and north of there up towards Shiprock. Tell us more about what you're looking for...
 
Thank you for replying. I had not thought of which area in particular. Probably no farther north than Albuquerque and about as far west as I25. I don't want to be in real remote areas, probably about 30 or so miles from a small to mid size town. I also do not know at what elevation I would find the mildest climate.
 
44135 said:
Thank you for replying. I had not thought of which area in particular. Probably no farther north than Albuquerque and about as far west as I25. I don't want to be in real remote areas, probably about 30 or so miles from a small to mid size town. I also do not know at what elevation I would find the mildest climate.
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You need to spend some time in the general area. We looked at New Mexico, including the area around Lincoln, etc. Ultimately we chose the Texas Big Bend near BB National Park. The compelling reason was that Texas does not have a state individual income tax and New Mexico does.
 
PGlaves said:
... Ultimately we chose the Texas Big Bend near BB National Park. The compelling reason was that Texas does not have a state individual income tax and New Mexico does.
Click to expand...

Paul, do you find Texas has other taxes to make up for the lack of income tax, such as high motor vehicle license fees, some types of personal property taxes, etc? Just curious at this point.
 
Silver City is very appealing to me, I've been there 3-4 times, no long visits, though.

The paved and unpaved riding around there is awesome, and that's not even counting eastern Arizona, which is very nearby.

Major city Phoenix not far, either.

Ian
 
dancogan said:
Paul, do you find Texas has other taxes to make up for the lack of income tax, such as high motor vehicle license fees, some types of personal property taxes, etc? Just curious at this point.
Click to expand...

Not really. Motor vehicle registrations are lower here than where we lived before (Kansas, Iowa) and there is no personal property tax on vehicles like there is in Kansas. Sales tax is within 1/4 percent of what it was in Kansas. Property tax levies per $1k valuation are a little higher but assessed values are lower making - for our houses at least - taxes per $1k market value lower here.

As best I can figure out, the cash cow which allows Texas not to have a personal income tax is the tax on the extraction of oil and gas.
 
What you do need to watch for here in Texas is the cost of your utilities like electricity. All the rest like Paul says is accurate.
 
If it were me, I'd go spend a week in a place before deciding. I used to do something similar with cars I was thinking of buying -- rent one for a week.
 
Visian said:
Silver City is very appealing to me, I've been there 3-4 times, no long visits, though.

The paved and unpaved riding around there is awesome, and that's not even counting eastern Arizona, which is very nearby.

Major city Phoenix not far, either.

Ian
Click to expand...
Have lived in Albuquerque since 1978 and Silver City would be my choice. Great riding around there as noted, a college, and for one brief period the only KTM dealer in the state. You'll be a bit far from a BMW dealer there. Area east of Taos a close second, but it snows a lot more (but you can ski). If you're into golf: http://www.pendariesnewmexico.com/

See http://www.loebmwr.org
 
I have considered a move S/west myself , and have looked closely at New Mexico .

Checked a few Craigslist real estate ads and noticed in the ads "Refrigerated Air" ? Is that just A/C worded differently? Or is it something different?
 
AKsuited said:
Might be a euphemism for a "swamp cooler." You'll see those in arid areas of the west and southwest.
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No, kind of the opposite...'refrigerated air' means not a swamp cooler.

Swamp coolers (aka evaporative cooler, or 'evap') work great if they're installed and maintained properly and the humidity is low enough (the rule of thumb is that the dew point has to be below 55F for them to be effective). We had both on our house for a while. It gets too humid here in the 'monsoon' season (about the Fourth of July thru Labor Day, plus or minus) for them to work so we'd switch over to the 'refer'. The evaps were much cheaper to operate than the refers back then but with the much higher efficiency refers available these days, the evaps have lost much of their appeal. Plus they can be a hassle to maintain. And they rust out eventually. But when they're running well, they're nice...they add just enough humidity to make it comfortable.

Getting back on topic, there are some very nice areas in NM, esp. up north. It would be one of the areas we would look if we decided to move.
 
markaz said:
No, kind of the opposite...'refrigerated air' means not a swamp cooler.

Swamp coolers (aka evaporative cooler, or 'evap') work great if they're installed and maintained properly and the humidity is low enough (the rule of thumb is that the dew point has to be below 55F for them to be effective). We had both on our house for a while. It gets too humid here in the 'monsoon' season (about the Fourth of July thru Labor Day, plus or minus) for them to work so we'd switch over to the 'refer'. The evaps were much cheaper to operate than the refers back then but with the much higher efficiency refers available these days, the evaps have lost much of their appeal. Plus they can be a hassle to maintain. And they rust out eventually. But when they're running well, they're nice...they add just enough humidity to make it comfortable.

Getting back on topic, there are some very nice areas in NM, esp. up north. It would be one of the areas we would look if we decided to move.
Click to expand...


Thank you...that splain's it nicely :thumb

I'm thinking I need trip out there and take a good look around. I know conventional thinking on this side of the country is to retire to Florida. But I'm told Florida isn't what it used to be ?? And I think I would like to try a drier environment. And [by experience] the S/west offers better riding . Florida is flat & the roads mostly squared off. No not picking on Florida, just noting from experience.
 
PGlaves said:
You need to spend some time in the general area. We looked at New Mexico, including the area around Lincoln, etc. Ultimately we chose the Texas Big Bend near BB National Park. The compelling reason was that Texas does not have a state individual income tax and New Mexico does.
Click to expand...
Teacher retirement income is not taxable in KY for us where there IS a state income tax. Tax laws make places like FL,TX,etc., cheaper by deception to an extent as it's a personal thing on the return. Actually, many would pay extra to live where you guys do in TX!
Spend time in NM-YES!
Cost of living entails far more than income tax. I laugh when I see these best place, cheapest place, etc. on computer headliners! Total cost is the thing. Food as an e.g., is likely almost exactly the same for most in whole USA unless they live very remote & fuel to fetch factors in.
I honestly cannot imagine moving to a place for purpose of retirement and not some serious amount of time spent there! The cost had absolutely nothing, nada, zero, to do with my move to KY, however it's a very affordable place to live when you add up ALL of the costs. If I add a trip to the opera,pro sports,mall shopping, fancy restaurant,private schools or many other urban facts of life, my COL it would go up a bunch. There are things I'd change around here if I had a wand but too much is OK to leave.
Go spend some time in NM & tell us what you think?:)
 
71243 said:
Thank you...that splain's it nicely :thumb

I'm thinking I need trip out there and take a good look around. I know conventional thinking on this side of the country is to retire to Florida. But I'm told Florida isn't what it used to be ?? And I think I would like to try a drier environment. And [by experience] the S/west offers better riding . Florida is flat & the roads mostly squared off. No not picking on Florida, just noting from experience.
Click to expand...

Pennsylvania has no state or local income tax on retirement accounts or SS benefits. In addition, we have some nice curvy roads and lots of "middle of nowhere" populated by many folks that live the "Duck Dynasty" lifestyle.

Sure, the weather sucks for 4-months, but isn't the chance of a White Christmas worth something?
 
36654 said:
Pennsylvania has no state or local income tax on retirement accounts or SS benefits. In addition, we have some nice curvy roads and lots of "middle of nowhere" populated by many folks that live the "Duck Dynasty" lifestyle.

Sure, the weather sucks for 4-months, but isn't the chance of a White Christmas worth something?
Click to expand...


No offense but no thanks :brow I've seen enough white Christmas's . If I'm going to go through the [pain in the a$$] of moving ? I'm going warm :D

That said,...Pennsylvania is a beautiful state. I have traveled a fair amount of it.
 
71243 said:
No offense but no thanks :brow I've seen enough white Christmas's . If I'm going to go through the [pain in the a$$] of moving ? I'm going warm :D

That said,...Pennsylvania is a beautiful state. I have traveled a fair amount of it.
Click to expand...

Rejection is nothing new to us folks in PA. You'll be back and we'll be here......
 
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