Congrats!

Having lived in Oklahoma for 4 years and only driven through Montana, I will wholeheartedly agree with this comment. Just driving through the state made me feel better.

Serious question. How is the situation in MT for a retiree as far as taxes and COL on the western side? I’ve been looking at the Libby/Troy area for years.

Great question!

I would be already packing if not for the crazy cold and ridiculous snow. I freely admit I can't handle that shit anymore. Plus I can't abandon the previous generation of relatives who we still care for and can't move.

Lastly I laugh at the clowns who moved to AZ. That place went in the liberal toilet really quickly.

Saw this great piece of news for the Montana thread this morning:
https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/montana-voters-approve-gun-control-preemption-ballot-measure/

Dug this up from my old post on Idaho/Montana taxes.

Idaho
Sales and income tax. Sales tax can run between 6%-9% depending where you live. It averages 6%. The higher rate usually applies to the liberal utopia areas (Sun Valley).

Income tax is a graduated tax.

1.6% on the first $1,451 of taxable income.
3.6% on taxable income between $1,452 and $2,903.
4.1% on taxable income between $2,904 and $4,355.
5.1% on taxable income between $4,356 and $5,807.
6.1% on taxable income between $5,808 and $7,259.
7.1% on taxable income between $7,260 and $10,889.
7.4% on taxable income of $10,890 and above.

Idaho does not tax social security income.

Montana
May tax SS benefits depending your income.

Social Security taxable
There is a deduction available for taxpayers below a certain income level.
For taxpayers with Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) of less than $25,000 for single filers or $32,000 for joint filers, all Social Security retirement income is deductible.
For taxpayers above those limits but below $34,000 for single filers or $44,000 for joint filers, half (50%) of Social Security retirement income is deductible.
Above those second-level limits, 15% is deductible.

No sales tax.

Montana Taxable Income Rate
$0 - $2,900 1.00%
$2,900 - $5,200 2.00%
$5,200 - $7,900 3.00%
$7,900 - $10,600 4.00%
$10,600 - $13,600 5.00%
$13,600 - $17,600 6.00%
$17,600+ 6.90%

AZ has always been a purple state. It goes one way or the other depending on what's on the table. I got out of there due to having been priced out of my apartment. I sold most of my personal belongings, loaded up what little I had in the car I had at the time, and headed to WaRshington in late 2010 without a job lined up. Managed to find something lucrative rather quick. Looking back, I should have ridden out that wave a little bit longer. The move to Tejas was a disastrous miscalculation on my part. I was hoping for the same luck and fortune I had in WA.

This is pretty much spot on.

Other factors to consider in calculating MT expeditures:
~No sales tax!
~In our county (lake) electricity runs 0.06890 KW. Never had an electric bill over $200 yet. Averages $150 year around for a 1600 sq foot house for forced air electric and heat pump.

~Gasoline is dirt cheap. Diesel is cheaper than gas. Average price for regular is $2.24 and diesel is $2.17. Been that way for well over a year.

~Property taxes are 1/4 of what we paid in WA state.

~Permanent car tabs for vehicles 10 years or older. One time $87 fee.

~ONE time tabs (Perm) for boats or trailers. Every two years you must buy a new AIS sticker for your boat. I think they are $20?

~My combo Elk Deer liicense, Fishing license, Upland Bird general Conservation license cost $120 combined.
~ Wife says food prices are about the same. We paid $2.50 lb for a half cow ($1.50 processing fee, lower valley meats, so $4/lb total for 398 lbs of beef.)

I have a friend who just moved from Bothell to Hamilton, MT. He bought a decent house on 40 acres for what he sold his manufactured home in Bothell. He loves it there (always has); he was surprised though at how it got really cold really fast this year.

95% of MT is effing cold Nov thru April. Not as cold as MN where I grew up, but it's cold. The first retirement property I bought when I was 39 (yeah, planning makes perfect) was in Ennis, MT, where I hunted and fished for 42 years. 30 acres, 5,000 feet access through 4wd chains only in winter. As we grew older, wife said "no cabin that far off the grid when we will need medical care" (She's got her masters in nursing so when she speaks, I listen) Sold that off in 2005 for 6 times what we paid for it. It was a hunters dream for elk, deer, and fishing.....but I digress....

The 5% of the really good weather in MT is in "The Valley" (Polson to Kalispell) where average Jan temps (coldest month) is 24 daytime and 14 deg night time.
They call our area "The Banana belt of Montana"

Its really an oddity, we have wild junipers growing all over the West South end of the lake.(Juniper is a known wild tree that only growns in arid, warmer climates compared to severe cold conifers) No Tamarack here(Larch) which prefer a LOT of rain. We have a lot of cherry tree , Apricots, apple and grape orchards although the grape don't do well due to the short growing season.

Then travel 10 miles north to Lakeside MT (10 miles south of Kalispell)....tons of tamarack trees, absolutely no wild juniper trees very few orchards.

We watch the weather split from west to east where we live. Sorta like Sequim WA. Yeah, we get wild weather now and then, hell we had a blizzard 2 weeks ago, and 5 degrees one morning....but it goes back to nominal seasonal weather after outbreaks of weather chaos.

Texas is nice in the winter. That's where we spend our winters retired. After hunting season naturally ;)

Imagine that, a republican governor actually listening to the people and acting on their behalf. What a concept!

After reviewing feedback from small business owners, nonprofit organizations and civic leaders, the COVID-19 task force says that most feedback was on the confusing and restrictive nature of current directives. To solve this, effective Friday, Jan. 15, the Governor is repealing directives that restrict hours of operation and capacity in restaurants, bars, breweries, distilleries and casinos. He says business should still follow industry best practices to prevent the spread of the virus, including any local health directives still in place.

I'm heading to Avon here in a few weeks. Boss-man bought a few hundred acres with a house on it and I am designing a 2nd home for the property.

^^ That's near "In the valley of a thousand haystacks". Beautiful area. Rich with history too.

Be careful with MT. They had a democrat governor for 16 years prior to Gianforte. They still have a democrat Senator, Jon Tester, who isn't up for reelection until 2024 and is vehemently anti gun and who said he'd vote for more gun control.

The reason MT was screwed for so long and why they may be screwed again is they are small with only a million people and they let college kids vote in elections, which is stupid as many came from elsewhere. The silver lining of the Wuhan Virus is that colleges emptied and most of those out of state college kids left and didn't vote, hence you got the first republican governor in 16 years and a stronger GOP presence in the state legislature.

My advice to you MT guys, take this time NOW to reform your voting system and change residency length requirements to stop out of state college kids from getting residency fast enough to vote before they leave for the summer and also lock that shit up in the state Constitution so it can't be easily changed.

I've been in Libby in the dead of winter. Might I suggest chains or 4wd is not an option (sometimes in Oct).