Show Me The Money!
"Show me the money! Show me the money!", remember that? Jerry MacGuire? The movie? 1996? If that didn't jog your memory..."Google" it. Well, I am going to show you where the money is going and why you need to pay attention to it.
There is a saying, "If you are the smartest person in the room, you're in the wrong room". I am not here to say that everyone who is considered "affluent" in the world are necessarily equitably "affluent" in intelligence. However, generically we can say that top earners and affluent people know about money and how best to position themselves to retain and grow their cache of cash.
When you are considering places to live, it is not unwise to follow the money. Few people are moving from states where they are saving a significant amount of their income to states where they will have a higher tax and cost of living consequence due to that move. It simply makes no sense unless that move creates more opportunity, not less. If you are reading this and you are considering a move to another state, this is going to be an important read for you. Follow the money. If the money is flowing to specifics states, you had better bet that those affluent buyers have done their research.
As I have discussed in previous posts, state income taxes are certainly at the forefront of any top earners' decision about where to relocate. However, a recent study by RewardExpert titled, "The Best States for High-Earners and Affluent Families", took more into consideration than the tax savings. RewardExpert used twenty different data metrics to conduct their study. These metrics included real estate market data, school rankings, public safety, local sales taxes, and overall quality of life.
Another consideration in this study was to remove the top one-percent of earners. It makes sense that they would do this, as measuring this section of the income demographic would not provide as relevant of a finding, as it would be focused on such a small piece of the demographic pie.
According to RewardExpert co-founder Vlad Tyschuk. "While the balance of our analysis remains valid and applicable to top earners, we assumed individual or household incomes within the top 2 to 25 percent. This roughly covers individuals earning $125,000-$250,000 per year, and families with household incomes ranging from $200,000 to $500,000.”
That makes a bit more sense. So what are the states?
Florida ranked number 4 on the list and here are the top reasons why:
No state income tax.
Rebounding home values, noting that “property values in Florida are up by 1.03 percent from early 2008, and up by 9.57 percent in the past year.
A low effective property tax rate of 0.82 percent and “generous homestead exemption amounts.”
Public schools ranked fourth-best In the U.S. with 171 gold and silver medal schools.
Colorado was number one on the list, followed by Nevada and Michigan respectably.
Here's the kicker though if you are looking to relocate. Each of these states offers something for everyone, but no one can dispute that Florida has the greatest population growth, having surpassed New York state as not the second most populous state in the Union behind California. If you are a mountain person, maybe Colorado is your thing. Nevada? Las Vegas is fun....for about 3 days. Michigan? Nice state, great people...but you aren't going to find any gulf beaches in Michigan or 75 degree weather in January.
Sarasota, Floirda
