This Florida alligator will take a smaller bite out of you than the New Jersey tax collector. .
I was down in Florida the other day communing with my many high-school friends who have moved there when I came upon yet another of those articles ranking New Jersey in the top tier of states from which people are moving.
As I read it, I was sitting in the house of a friend who has every reason to move his residency out of the reach of the New Jersey Division of Revenue.The house in question has two bedrooms and is on a lake, one that comes with the alligator that seems to be de rigueur these days in Florida. Next door is the community clubhouse and pool.
The finest beaches in Florida are but a 10-minute drive away.
The cost of this crib? A mere $80,000 when my old high-school pal bought it two years ago.
That got me doing the math that so many Jerseyans do when they contemplate escaping the cold north for the Sunshine State.
My friend reported that the total cost of keeping up the house, including the club fees and taxes, is about $500 a month. That’s a mere $6,000 a year.
My friend pays several thousand more than that in New Jersey income taxes each year. But if he were to stay in his second home for six months and a day of every year, he could declare himself a resident of Florida, which has no income tax.
At that point, he would be saving more in taxes than he is spending to buy his second home. He told me he will soon be meeting with his financial advisor to discuss that very issue.
That sort of thing is far from uncommon, said another financial adviser. Josh Jalinski, who has an office in Toms River, told me he meets many a wealthy senior citizen who is planning to make the switch to Florida residency.
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