Deciding where to relocate after retirement has been difficult. Looking for the place that meets my needs regarding climate, tax structure, environment, nearness to a major airport, cost of living and crime level. In my last post I discussed relocating to the San Diego area of California. Although the San Diego area of California met some of my criteria it did not meet all of my needs.
In this post I will discuss the second state on my list, Delaware. Delaware is nicknamed “The First State”, because it was the first of the thirteen colonies to ratify the United States Constitution. Delaware is a small Mid-Atlantic state. Delaware shares boarders with Philadelaphia PA, South New Jersey, Maryland on the north and south of Delaware. Delaware has three counties, New Castle in the north, Kent is central and Sussex in the southern part of Delaware. Delaware has almost 250 miles of coastline and 350 of shoreline. If you have read the other posts of my series, you will remember that being near the beach is one of my relocation must haves.
I am looking at Sussex County in Delaware because it meets several of my must haves for relocation. Sussex County has the mildest climate in Delaware State. Sussex County houses Rehoboth Beach, Bethany Beach, Lewes and other beach towns that are known as great summer getaways. Some beach areas are more popular than others. I will be looking at the towns near the less populated beach areas.
The average temperature is around 84 degrees in July, 78 degrees in September and 40 degrees in December. Sussex County has been known to get 15 inches of snow in the winter. Snow is pretty but I don’t enjoy it like I did when I was a kid. And since I am retired so Snow Days does not mean no work for me. That means that Sussex County does not have year round warm weather. That knocks out one of my must haves.
Delaware has no state sales tax, although there are some localities that do have sales tax. Delaware has one of the lowest property tax rates in the country. If you are sixty-five or older you get a credit equal to half of the school property tax. No taxes on Social Security. Pensions and 401K are taxed the same as the Feds taxes it. If you are sixty or older you are entitled to an exclusion of up to $12,500. The cost of living is higher than the United States average. Property tax is one of the lowest in the country.
I was actually able to find a 1350 square foot three bedrooms and three-bath apartment for $995. I did not get a chance to go see what it looked like and talk to the residents. Most of the three bedroom apartments were around $1200. When I narrow my choices down to three places to relocate to I will go and look at what the housing looks like. I love these prices. My rent now is higher than that for two bedrooms with one bath and under 1000 square feet.
Delaware is driving distance from New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania where my family and close friends reside. I love to travel. Delaware does not have a major hub airport. I would have to drive about forty-five minutes to Philadelphia or a little further to Baltimore/Washington Airport. Since I love to travel so this would be a problem. One of my must haves is to be near a major hub airport.
Sussex County, Delaware meets many of my criteria for relocation. I have looked at several cities that I did discuss here. However, there are some important ones that it does not meet. I have looked at several cities that I did not discuss here. That is because I am not sure I will definitely have to go there to see, if Delaware becomes one of the top three places.
As I conduct my research I do not think that I will find one place that meets all of my must haves. But we will continue on. I hope that this post was helpful to you. See you in two weeks when I discuss relocating to Florida. That should be interesting!