The low taxes and warm weather of Florida have enticed millions of retirees to the Sunshine State. Now, Maine’s term-limited governor, Paul Le Page has told the Portland Press Herald that he’ll be the next Northeasterner to become a snowbird (heading south in the winter and spending summers in the north). When asked about his plans, Le Page answered in a way that many retirees would understand, according the Press Herald he stated:
“I’ll tell you very, very simply: I have a house in Florida. I will pay no income tax and the house in Florida’s property taxes are $2,000 less than we were paying in Boothbay,” said LePage, 70. “At my age, why wouldn’t you conserve your resources and spend it on your family instead of on taxes?”
The LePages sold their Boothbay home in June for $397,500 just four years after they purchased it during a foreclosure sale for $215,000. The 2019 real estate taxes on that house were just under $3,500, according to town tax records. It was unclear how much the couple pays in taxes on their Florida home. However, during his 2010 run for governor, it was revealed the couple were wrongly – and accidentally, they said – receiving a resident-only property tax exemption in both states.
I’ve written to you regularly about the benefits of moving to a state that respects you and your money the same way you do (see here, here, here, and here for starters). Governor Le Page is expressing that sentiment himself.
You owe it to yourself to investigate your state’s tax policies, and those of other states, and to determine if you might be better off somewhere else. Start here.
