Florida is loaded with enthusiastic retirees. It’s the traditional place to retire, and the now place to retire. A low risk choice, certainly compared to moving out of the country, yet still full of exotic locals. If you’d like to live in a warm tropical setting and still stay in America, Hawaii and Florida are your two choices. The Florida lifestyles vary from quiet rural to the vibrating excitement of Miami, from salt water to farm and ranch, from low cost to luxurious. Florida has it all. Here we discuss three reasons that are important to everyone considering retiring in Florida.
Florida Taxes
Taxes in Florida are some of the lowest in the Nation. There is no state income tax, estate tax, inheritance tax, or intangible property tax. Social Security and retirement income is not taxed. There is a 6% sales tax. In a few counties they can tack on some more, raising it as high as 7 ½ %. However food and both prescription and non prescription drugs are exempt. For many, taxes and the low cost of living are the two most important reasons to retire in Florida.
Property taxes vary widely throughout the state. The median property tax on a $182,400 house is $1,173 according to the Tax Foundation. State wide assessed values can not rise faster than the consumer price index or 3%, whichever is less. There is also up to a $50,000 homestead exemption in cities like Cape Coral, and additional exemptions for low income seniors over 65, widows, widowers, the blind, disabled or honorably discharged veterans with a disability and their spouses.
Before buying property make sure you know what your property taxes and insurance costs will be.
Weather in Florida
The two factors that make Florida great are the weather and the water. If you like snow or desert, Florida is not for you. Florida is a long state that gives you a wide choice of temperatures. They not only vary by latitude but also by how close you are to the ocean. Generally the farther inland the wider the daily differences. It can get chilly in the winter with only Key West being frost free. Most will agree that except for a few hot humid summer days, the weather is ideal.
June, July, and August are the hottest months and get the most rainfall. In most of Florida there is no need to go somewhere for a tropical vacation, because in summer, it will come to you. These are also the months with the heaviest rainfall. Thunderstorms come crashing across the land, cooling the air and pushing the vegetation into an explosion of lush green life. This time of year isn’t for everyone and snow birds will migrate north, thinning the traffic and leaving the warm waters uncrowded for those who remain.
Florida Recreation for Seniors
The great weather makes it possible to enjoy many recreational outdoor activities, and since seniors are plentiful, a wide variety of suitable indoor activities as well. But the common thread you’ll find running through Florida’s varied population, is a love of the water. From the open ocean to fossil flecked trickling creeks, from lounging by the pool to relaxing on the beach, Floridians love the water.
Being retired doesn’t mean you’re dead. In Florida you’ll spot retirees stalking alligators in order to get that great photo, or wind surfing and fishing for sharks and tarpon from their kayaks while cursing at circling dolphin. On this site, we cover many of the water related experiences possible here, some of which you may never have heard of.