In Search Of An Affordable Retirement Destination In Florida

Retiring to Florida is almost a cliché; Florida has been a place where people go to visit their grandparents since you first entered the workforce.  Its appeal is obvious; in Florida, you can find year-round sunny weather, wide open spaces, and affordably priced houses.  Unfortunately, the last two of those categories are not as plentiful as they used to be.  All that warm weather means more devastating hurricanes, leading to skyrocketing homeowners’ insurance prices throughout the state.  Despite this, Florida still seems like an ideal destination for retirees, especially if you have been dreaming of it for decades, since you blew your first real paycheck on a spring break trip to Miami.  Living within your means as a retiree in Florida takes strategy, and if you are ready to start working out the details, contact an Orlando estate planning lawyer.

In Polk County, Suburban Sprawl Is In, and Oranges Are Out

For as long as you can remember, the most populous and cosmopolitan areas, the ones that attract working age adults from within the United States and from other countries, are also the most expensive.  All of these young adults in one place mean that big cities have high birth rates, which further increases the population.  The beautiful thing about retirement is that you can get out of the rat race; your children and your wealth have, ideally, become independent of you, so you can chill.  Therefore, peaceful, sleepy towns in Florida, where people could follow the nice weather instead of the economic opportunities, have long been a popular destination for seniors.  Polk County, Florida, especially, was a quiet oasis between the increasingly cosmopolitan centers of Orlando and Tampa.

The COVID-19 pandemic threw everyone’s plans into disarray, including seniors’.  Young families started moving to less expensive locales, especially with the rise of remote work and the Great Resignation.  Polk County had a greater migration-related population increase than anywhere else in Florida; the only other counties in the U.S. that received more new residents who moved from elsewhere in the U.S. are home to suburbs of major cities in Texas and California.  As a result, preschools are now springing up where orange groves once stood.

What Does It Mean to Make Florida Your Legal Home?

There are still plenty of quiet places to retire in Florida, as well as plenty of things that make Florida affordable for seniors.  For example, there is no state tax on estates in Florida.  Therefore, it is not necessarily a financial mistake to follow your heart and choose Florida as your retirement destination.  Whether you choose to spend your retirement in Florida year-round or maintain residences in two states, you cannot benefit from Florida’s senior-friendly laws unless you make Florida your legal domicile.  You can do this by applying for a Florida driver’s license or registering to vote in Florida.

Contact Gierach and Gierach About Your Citrus-Scented Retirement Dreams

An estate planning lawyer can help you make plans to retire to Florida.  Contact Gierach and Gierach, P.A. in Orlando, Florida to discuss your case.

Source:

nbcmiami.com/news/local/florida-citrus-capital-was-top-destination-for-us-movers-last-year/3258442/