![\"Retire](\"http:\/\/schellbrothers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Retire-in-DE-660x290.png\")
\nSome people think when you retire you have to move all the way to the Carolinas or even Florida to get the tax benefits. Not anymore. \u00a0Just ask my parents who made the move from Maryland to Delaware, ranked the #1 state to retire. \u00a0They love it and haven\u2019t looked back.
\nMy parents wanted to leave Maryland because of the high taxes. \u00a0Not just\u00a0the property taxes, but the\u00a0sales tax as well as other taxes that just don\u2019t make retiring easy. Both of my parents have pensions and decided that they needed to start looking for a place that truly catered to retirees.
\nLike many of their friends, the first thing they thought of was, “we need to go south.” They looked in the Carolinas and found a place that they thought looked\u00a0nice. They wanted my opinion, as well as my brothers, so\u00a0we all took a family trip down there and what\u00a0a long trip it was. \u00a0As we were driving down, I remember thinking, “is this how long its going to take every time we want to come visit?” I admit that my brothers and I really didn\u2019t want them to move so far away, but they worked hard all their lives and deserved to relax, and retire to a place that would protect their hard earned savings.
\nWe walked homesites\u00a0together and\u00a0I will never forget my Dad and Mom asking us, \u00a0\u201cAre you sure you will come and visit as much as you can\u201d? My heart sank. I couldn\u2019t lie to my parents. My brothers and I looked at each other and said, “of course, but obviously you are not around the corner anymore. It is not an easy weekend trip. The chances of us all coming down at the same time would be difficult, but we want you to do what is best for you.”
\nMy parents looked at us, their three sons, and their grandkids, and decided they just couldn’t do it. Why were\u00a0they moving so far from home? They didn\u2019t want to be those grandparents who didn’t get to see their grandkids grow up. \u00a0They wanted to be a part of their lives and making memories!
\nAfter they returned home, they decided it was time to start thinking about Delaware and were so surprised they hadn’t considered it before now. After\u00a0doing some research,\u00a0they\u00a0found out that the average property taxes were around\u00a0$1,000 to $2,000 a year. Yep, a year – not a month! But that wasn’t\u00a0all. Individuals 60 and over can exempt $12,500 of investment and pension income from state taxes. There is no personal or sales tax, and no taxes on your social security or inheritance. All of this\u00a0hit home with my parents, including\u00a0the fact that they would only be about 2 hours away from family.
\nThey did it! They made the move to Delaware and they haven’t\u00a0looked back since! \u00a0It makes me so happy to see how happy they are\u00a0now, and it’s fun to see everyone in the family\u00a0come visit them almost every weekend!
\nYou always hear location, location, location. Well, that\u2019s only part of the\u00a0story. Not only did my parents find a state with amazing benefits for retirees, but a state that is close enough to their family.
\nI am so proud to be their son and so very happy that they are living close enough to us all, and\u00a0living out their dream!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"