May 8, 2026 • 23 mins
Retiring to Tennessee sounds simple until you start adding up the real numbers. We hear the same line again and again: “Tennessee is tax-friendly.” That’s true, but it’s also the fastest path to a bad decision if taxes are the only thing you consider.
In this episode I walk through what “no state income tax” actually means for retirees and what it doesn’t mean. Tennessee doesn’t tax IRA and retirement account withdrawals, pension income, or Social Security at the state level, which can be a meaningful benefit for people moving from high income tax states. But federal taxes still apply, and the biggest win is often better tax planning flexibility, especially if you’re considering Roth conversions early in retirement. Let's also pressure-test the assumption that Tennessee is always “lower cost.” Housing has climbed fast in places like Nashville, and even historically affordable areas like Chattanooga and Knoxville are changing as more people move in.
The trade-offs people miss on the highlight reels: High combined sales tax that can approach 9% to 10%, healthcare access that varies a lot by location, and weather realities like hot humidity, storm risk, and brutal seasonal allergies. We also talk about growth and infrastructure, including traffic congestion and rising demand that can reshape the day-to-day experience of retirement.
If you’re thinking about relocating for retirement, use this conversation as a checklist for evaluating taxes, cost of living, lifestyle fit, and your full income strategy. Subscribe, share this with someone considering a move, and leave a review with your biggest question about retiring to Tennessee.
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Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_00 (00:04):
If you're thinking about retiring to Tennessee,
you're not alone.
In fact, Tennessee hasconsistently ranked as one of
the top inbound states forretirees relocating from other
places.
And I see this firsthand workingwith families who've moved here
or considering moving here fromplaces like California,
(00:25):
Connecticut, Illinois.
But there's one thing that'svery interesting.
Almost every conversation startsthe same way.
That is around taxes.
They've heard that Tennessee istax-friendly, but they're not
exactly sure what they'remissing.
They don't know what they don'tknow.
Tennessee can be an incredibleplace to retire.
(00:47):
I might be biased, I live here,I'm not retired yet, but there
are some things that you need toconsider and think about.
There are some trade-offs thatdon't show up on the highlight
reels you may be seeing onInstagram or YouTube or
Facebook.
So in this video, I'm going towalk you through some things to
consider as you're trying toplan for where are you going to
(01:11):
retire to?
Are you going to relocate?
So we're going to talk about isuh some real financial
advantages, maybe the hiddencosts people overlook, and how
to know if Tennessee actuallyfits your retirement
destination.
So first, why are retireesmoving to Tennessee?
(01:31):
Let's start with this.
This is the biggest thing, thebiggest reason I think uh are
getting retirees' attention andcreating that magnet for people
to move and retire to Tennessee.
And that is no state income tax.
But let's go a little bitdeeper.
(01:52):
Tennessee is one of the fewstates with no state income tax.
There's a couple of others outthere.
So what does that mean?
That means there's no tax onyour IRA or your retirement
account withdrawals, there's notax on your pensions, and
there's no tax on your SocialSecurity.
That's important to know andunderstand, but that doesn't
(02:14):
mean there's no taxes at all.
It just means there's no stateincome tax on those.
So you would still be requiredto file uh taxes federally on
your 1040, uh, and all of thosethings would be taxable events
or taxable income on your 1040.
They do not require a state taxfiling and there's no state tax
(02:37):
income on them.
So that's an important planningnuance that a lot of people
miss.
They hear no state income taxand they all of a sudden think
that there's no tax at all.
That's not the case.
So be be mindful of that whenyou're thinking about does it
make sense to relocate from asteady, uh, excuse me, a
high-income tax like Californiaor New York to a place like
(03:01):
Tennessee that has no stateincome tax.
It can feel like a massive win,but it's important to understand
all of the details.
Uh it might not be aslife-changing as you once
thought it was when youfantasize about no income tax.
So uh just just be thinkingabout that.
(03:22):
Let's let's walk through anexample.
Let's say you had a$100,000retirement income and there's a
5% state income tax somewhereelse.
Uh, I think Michigan's is around5%.
I don't have the exact figure uhin front of me.
I want to say 475, maybe fiveand a quarter.
(03:43):
Um, anyway, so is it helpful tonot have that additional state
income tax of roughly 5%?
Sure.
Is it transformational?
Not necessarily.
The bigger benefit here, Ithink, is the flexibility in tax
planning, especially when you'redoing Roth conversions early in
(04:03):
retirement.
So, how do we look at when we'regiving you financial planning
advice, when we're giving youretirement planning advice, how
do we look at the entire pictureto include uh state income tax,
federal income tax, and howthose might plan into or play
into things like Rothconversions?
So let's now talk about cost ofliving.
(04:26):
That's another benefit that uhpeople uh think is a benefit for
moving out of a high cost ofliving state like Illinois or
California and into a lower costof living like Tennessee.
So Tennessee is still relativelyaffordable, but it's no longer
(04:48):
cheap.
Um there are some areas thatthat you know might be cheap,
but reality is uh Tennessee isbecoming much more costly to
live in, to retire in than itonce was.
So uh a couple cities here,Knoxville, still still a strong
value, um, but it is becomingmore and more congested.
(05:12):
There are uh still somereasonable housing, but housing
is becoming more expensive.
Chattanooga is growing veryfast.
Um, there's still someaffordability in housing, but
again, houses are are areincreasing there as well.
And then Nashville has hadsignificant price appreciation.
Um so medium home prices, medianhome prices have increased
(05:37):
dramatically in all of theselocations and throughout the
rest of the state over the lastfive years.
And so it's important that asyou think about this trade-off,
while you might save on sometaxes, you might spend more on
housing or more than you wouldhave five years ago.
(05:58):
So that's something to thinkabout as you start to map this
out to see does this decisionmake sense?
Now let's talk about propertytaxes.
Property taxes go hand in handwith real estate as you're you
know, maybe moving and acquireacquiring a home here in
Tennessee.
And this is where I thinkTennessee really shines.
(06:19):
Property tax rates are among thelowest in the US, and many
retirees coming from uh you knowNorthwest or Pacific uh uh
northwest or or even in thenortheast may see significant
savings here.
In fact, I have friends inDallas who spend five times more
(06:42):
in property tax than I do.
Uh and so I find thatinteresting.
And depending where you go, I'mhere in Chattanooga, depending
on where you go, you could findsimilar situations where you
know you might have city andcounty taxes in one part of the
city or metro area, but inanother, you may only have
(07:04):
county property taxes.
So it's important to be thinkingabout how these property taxes
are going to affect uh your costof living here.
But overall, property taxes inTennessee are substantially
lower than you see in otherstates around the country.
So that's a huge benefit, andagain, where I think Tennessee
(07:26):
may really shine.
The next thing I want to talkabout is you know lifestyle and
quality of life.
Uh, this is not a part you canquantify with dollars, um, maybe
to a slight extent, but for themost part, uh you can't quantify
your quality of life and yourlifestyle, relocate somewhere
(07:46):
else, but it's often the realreason people move.
And they want to get away frommaybe the the larger cost of
living metropolitan cities, andthey want to have a quiet lower
key area to live in.
Um and so Tennessee offers uh alot of great access to lakes
(08:07):
across the uh across the state.
Um there is uh Tellico,Chickamauga, Watts Bar, uh
there's Dan, there's a lake inDandridge, there is Melton Hill,
there's uh Pickwick State Park,there's all kinds of places, uh
Nickajack, there's literally uhall kinds of lake access that
(08:31):
you can get to and uh enjoy someof that lifestyle that maybe you
don't get in a Dallas or Chicagoor you know, higher cost of
living uh city, Denver, some ofthose places.
So tons of lake access if thatis your thing.
(08:51):
We also have tons of mountains.
So uh I say tons.
We have one of the longestmountain chains in the country
with the Smoky Mountains uhdriving distance away from
anywhere in the state, butspecifically uh in East
Tennessee.
And the state parks thatsurround these mountains, these
smoky mountains, it is uhincredible for those of you that
(09:14):
want to hike, see waterfalls,explore nature, do some caving,
any of that stuff.
So a lot of great benefits withlake access and mountain access.
Winters are fairly mild.
We don't get extreme winters, itgets cold.
We have all four seasons, so itgets cold, but we're not dealing
with snow every single day,every single week, like you
(09:36):
might get in Minnesota orMichigan or in the Northeast.
And so you're not having to getout, shovel snow, shovel ice,
any of that.
You know, we might get a stormonce or twice a year.
Uh, it happens relativelyquickly, it's not severe.
So I think these mild wintersare another benefit that attract
(09:58):
people to this great state.
I think Tennessee has, no matterwhere you go, has a really
strong sense of community.
We are we're all very proud ofour state.
We are we are uh love the thenature that it provides.
Uh people are friendly, and youknow, we're really, really uh
(10:18):
have a strong sense ofcommunity.
And I think a lot of people lookfor that, especially maybe
retirees.
So think about this when you'rethinking about does it make
sense?
These might be some of thebenefits, some of the things
you're looking for when youconsider moving to Tennessee.
So let's talk about some hiddentrade-offs that might catch you
(10:42):
off guard.
You hear all the rosy stuff onblogs and YouTube videos and
podcasts about you know thegreat state of Tennessee.
So let's talk about some of thehidden trade-offs that might not
be talked about as much.
So the first one is high salestax, and this can add up
quickly.
(11:02):
Tennessee has one of the highestcombined sales tax in the
country, and this offsets someof the no state income tax that
uh you might, well, not that youmight see that that is true.
There is no state income taxhere, but again, that's offset a
lot of times by higher salestax.
So the more you spendconsumption, then the more the
(11:26):
state is going to get taxrevenue from that consumption.
So the state sales tax rate is7%, and then you can have local
sales tax rates that typicallyrange between two and three.
So, all in, your sales tax couldbe nine to ten percent when
you're purchasing you know goodsand services in Tennessee that
(11:50):
you may not be accustomed to.
As an example, I live inChattanooga.
Uh sales tax here is around ninepercent.
You can go right across theborder uh and go to the Costco.
The Costco for Chattanooga isactually located right across
the border in Georgia, and that,you know, because of that, sales
(12:11):
tax is half of what it would bein if they located that Costco
500 feet up the road and placeit in Tennessee.
And so it's something to becognizant of that when you
retire here, uh sales tax is ishigher.
And so this applies to diningout, purchasing furniture,
vehicle, everyday purchases thatyou make would cause you to
(12:36):
spend maybe a little bit more intaxes through that sales tax.
Um, so if you spend eighty to ahundred thousand dollars a year
in retirement, that could beanother eight to ten thousand
dollars a year in annual salestax.
So you avoid the income tax, butyou're still paying, it's just
in a different way.
And I think a lot of timespeople don't take that into
(12:58):
consideration.
Now let's talk about healthcareaccess.
And and location matters a lothere.
You've got some fantasticteaching hospitals here with
Vanderbilt and UT Med Center,and they act they provide great
access to healthcare, butthere's a uh couple actually
that you actually have St.
(13:19):
Dude, St.
Jude's Children's Hospital inMemphis.
So I want to make sure I don'tmention uh I don't forget to
mention them.
But it's also important thatsome of the uh healthcare access
is location specific.
So while some of these havegreat healthcare support
systems, some places don't haveuh as as good of options.
(13:40):
So you want to consider thatwhen you're moving into a
location, especially as youretire, you're gonna want to be
close to you know medicalproviders and healthcare access.
So that's important when you'rethinking through this.
Knoxville has a strong hospitalsystem, great specialist.
Uh they have UT Med Centerthere, and so Knoxville is, in
(14:03):
my opinion, uh really a gem of acity.
It is a fantastic place toretire, has everything.
Uh, and so uh you you can findgreat healthcore care resources
there.
Chattanooga has uh, I would saygood health care uh access, but
they're improving.
Uh we're getting a lot of peopleflooding in to Chattanooga from
(14:25):
around the country, especiallythose outdoor enthusiasts.
And so uh the healthcare accessthat you're getting in
Chattanooga is good andconstantly improving as more
people are moving in.
Nashville with Vanderbilt uh hasfantastic healthcare resources.
Again, Memphis with St.
Jude uh has good uh healthcareresources.
(14:47):
So it's really, really importantthat you know that the bigger
cities have this, the ruralareas have limited access,
longer drive times, maybe not asgood a specialist.
Um, maybe the hospital's not asgreat, or it takes longer to get
to the hospital.
So I don't think this should bea deal breaker for you, but it
(15:08):
should be factored into whereyou choose to live should you
decide to move to Tennessee.
So let's talk about weather now.
Um, Tennessee's weather ismixed.
We we get all four seasons, mildwinters.
Um, the cons are summers are areusually pretty hot and humid.
(15:29):
If you're not used to humidity,it can really kind of put some
pressure on your chest.
You you know, you're just youfeel sticky and gross.
And so it's it's reality issummers get hot and humid.
We have significant storm risk.
So especially in in kind of thespring season, I would say, uh,
tornadoes are a big risk here.
(15:51):
We we we've had them hitNashville, Chattanooga,
Knoxville, uh, Memphis.
It seems like spring, uh, itseems like Tornado Alley, the
old tornado alley out of youknow Kansas, um Western
Missouri, Oklahoma, all of that.
Um I don't follow thosespecifically as much.
Um but it feels like a lot ofthe tornado alley is shifted
(16:14):
down into kind of Arkansas,Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi.
We're having increased weatherrisk that we weren't having, you
know, 20 years ago, 30 yearsago.
And so it's something to reallyconsider is that it is not
uncommon for us to have some ofthese storms.
And I'm not saying that theseplaces get two, three, four
(16:35):
tornadoes a year, but it is aheightened alert that you should
be aware of as you make thesedecisions.
And then allergies.
Uh Knoxville, Tennessee,Chattanooga, Tennessee, East
Tennessee, but but Tennessee ingeneral, allergies can be really
uh brutal.
Uh, I struggle with these, I getallergy shots, um, my kids
(16:56):
struggle with these.
So if you don't have allergiesnow or mild allergies, you might
want to just be prepared thatallergies here can be really,
really uh unbearable.
And uh that totally depends onyour allergy type, uh, how
sensitive you are.
For me, you know, my allergieslast for six weeks in the spring
(17:20):
when pollen kicks out.
Um, and then after that, it'sit's pretty much over.
So, you know, just be thinkingabout that because the last
thing you want to do is movehere in the spring, settle down,
you find the house, whatever,and then you end up hating it in
the spring because excuse me, Imeant the fall, but spring rolls
around here and allergies arejust miserable.
So, you know, if you're movingfrom an Arizona or California
(17:43):
where you don't have theseseasonal type allergies, this
could be a real adjustment uhfor you.
Growth and infrastructure.
Um, this has caused Tennessee'spopularity with people moving
here, not just retirees, but butevery everybody, all shapes uh
and sizes across uh the countryand lifestyles are moving here.
(18:06):
And so this has caused somegrowing pains for some of these
areas.
Traffic congestion is increasingsignificantly, housing demand is
pushing home prices up, um,infrastructure is taking a while
to catch up.
And so it's important to knowthat places like Nashville and
(18:27):
Knoxville and Chattanooga,Memphis, you know, are having
significantly increasedcongestion and traffic uh
concerns that are making it umnot it wouldn't prevent me from
moving here, but I think youknow it's definitely causing
some some frustration for peoplethat were thinking they were
(18:49):
going to escape, you know, thetraffic that maybe they
experience in some of these morecongested metro areas.
Finally, what I want to kind oftalk about is the the financial
planning reality.
And this is where I think someof the biggest mistakes happen.
People move based on one factor.
And again, like I started out inthis video, it's usually taxes,
and they and they don't look atthe full picture.
(19:12):
So I want to walk through kindof a simple example.
Let's say a couple retires witha one and a half million dollar
portfolio, they have sixtythousand dollars a year in
Social Security, and they need$120,000 a year to live on.
They moved to Tennessee thinkingwe'll save on taxes, and again,
(19:34):
they probably will, but thenthey buy a more expensive home
than they were anticipating.
Uh, you know, might cost$700,000versus$500,000 where they were.
Again, another example uh herein Chattanooga, you can go right
across the border into Georgiaand get houses that are
significantly cheaper than theywould be on the Tennessee side,
(19:58):
but you're picking up stateincome tax there.
So, you know, again, these arethings you wanna you wanna uh
weigh out uh as you move toTennessee to determine does it
make sense?
Um maybe they went out more,they travel more, they spend
more, sales tax increased thecost of living, and so the net
(20:19):
result means they're spendingmore, not less than they thought
they would spend.
You know, the the idea ofspending less on taxes ends up
uh through other channelscausing them to spend more than
they originally would.
And so retirement isn't justabout minimizing taxes, it's
(20:43):
about everything, it's aboutspending, it's about uh aligning
that spending with yourlifestyle and your income
strategy and your portfolio anduh how all of these things are
woven together and play a partin your retirement plan.
Tennessee can absolutely helpand be a great place to retire
(21:08):
to, but it's got to fit intoyour broader plan.
So who is Tennessee best for?
Tennessee tends to be a greatfit if you want to reduce your
overall tax uh liabilities, yourtax drag.
You value lifestyle, space,community, outdoors, nature,
uhything outdoor living, and youwant flexibility in your
(21:32):
financial plan.
It may not be the best fit foryou if you want dense, walkable,
urban living, uh, very close toeverything within minutes, um,
need elite health care withinminutes, or prefer cooler, drier
climates year around.
At the end of the day, retiringto Tennessee isn't just about
(21:54):
saving money, it's aboutcreating a life you love.
And the best Retirement plansdon't just optimize numbers,
they give you the confidence inthe decisions you're making.
If you're thinking aboutretiring to Tennessee and want
to think through the financialside of it, that's exactly what
we do at Paradigm WealthPartners.
(22:15):
You can schedule a conversationin the in the below description.
There's a link directly to abooking page.
You can also uh go toparadigmwealthpartners.com to
learn more about what we do andhow we help people.
Thanks for watching.
If you haven't alreadysubscribed, please do so.
Be confident in your retirement.
(22:36):
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This podcast is not intended tobe a substitute for specific in
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You should consult the approvedqualified professional prior to
(23:18):
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If you're thinking about retiring to Tennessee,
you're not alone.
In fact, Tennessee hasconsistently ranked as one of
the top inbound states forretirees relocating from other
places.
And I see this firsthand workingwith families who've moved here
or considering moving here fromplaces like California,
(00:25):
Connecticut, Illinois.
But there's one thing that'svery interesting.
Almost every conversation startsthe same way.
That is around taxes.
They've heard that Tennessee istax-friendly, but they're not
exactly sure what they'remissing.
They don't know what they don'tknow.
Tennessee can be an incredibleplace to retire.
(00:47):
I might be biased, I live here,I'm not retired yet, but there
are some things that you need toconsider and think about.
There are some trade-offs thatdon't show up on the highlight
reels you may be seeing onInstagram or YouTube or
Facebook.
So in this video, I'm going towalk you through some things to
consider as you're trying toplan for where are you going to
(01:11):
retire to?
Are you going to relocate?
So we're going to talk about isuh some real financial
advantages, maybe the hiddencosts people overlook, and how
to know if Tennessee actuallyfits your retirement
destination.
So first, why are retireesmoving to Tennessee?
(01:31):
Let's start with this.
This is the biggest thing, thebiggest reason I think uh are
getting retirees' attention andcreating that magnet for people
to move and retire to Tennessee.
And that is no state income tax.
But let's go a little bitdeeper.
(01:52):
Tennessee is one of the fewstates with no state income tax.
There's a couple of others outthere.
So what does that mean?
That means there's no tax onyour IRA or your retirement
account withdrawals, there's notax on your pensions, and
there's no tax on your SocialSecurity.
That's important to know andunderstand, but that doesn't
(02:14):
mean there's no taxes at all.
It just means there's no stateincome tax on those.
So you would still be requiredto file uh taxes federally on
your 1040, uh, and all of thosethings would be taxable events
or taxable income on your 1040.
They do not require a state taxfiling and there's no state tax
(02:37):
income on them.
So that's an important planningnuance that a lot of people
miss.
They hear no state income taxand they all of a sudden think
that there's no tax at all.
That's not the case.
So be be mindful of that whenyou're thinking about does it
make sense to relocate from asteady, uh, excuse me, a
high-income tax like Californiaor New York to a place like
(03:01):
Tennessee that has no stateincome tax.
It can feel like a massive win,but it's important to understand
all of the details.
Uh it might not be aslife-changing as you once
thought it was when youfantasize about no income tax.
So uh just just be thinkingabout that.
(03:22):
Let's let's walk through anexample.
Let's say you had a$100,000retirement income and there's a
5% state income tax somewhereelse.
Uh, I think Michigan's is around5%.
I don't have the exact figure uhin front of me.
I want to say 475, maybe fiveand a quarter.
(03:43):
Um, anyway, so is it helpful tonot have that additional state
income tax of roughly 5%?
Sure.
Is it transformational?
Not necessarily.
The bigger benefit here, Ithink, is the flexibility in tax
planning, especially when you'redoing Roth conversions early in
(04:03):
retirement.
So, how do we look at when we'regiving you financial planning
advice, when we're giving youretirement planning advice, how
do we look at the entire pictureto include uh state income tax,
federal income tax, and howthose might plan into or play
into things like Rothconversions?
So let's now talk about cost ofliving.
(04:26):
That's another benefit that uhpeople uh think is a benefit for
moving out of a high cost ofliving state like Illinois or
California and into a lower costof living like Tennessee.
So Tennessee is still relativelyaffordable, but it's no longer
(04:48):
cheap.
Um there are some areas thatthat you know might be cheap,
but reality is uh Tennessee isbecoming much more costly to
live in, to retire in than itonce was.
So uh a couple cities here,Knoxville, still still a strong
value, um, but it is becomingmore and more congested.
(05:12):
There are uh still somereasonable housing, but housing
is becoming more expensive.
Chattanooga is growing veryfast.
Um, there's still someaffordability in housing, but
again, houses are are areincreasing there as well.
And then Nashville has hadsignificant price appreciation.
Um so medium home prices, medianhome prices have increased
(05:37):
dramatically in all of theselocations and throughout the
rest of the state over the lastfive years.
And so it's important that asyou think about this trade-off,
while you might save on sometaxes, you might spend more on
housing or more than you wouldhave five years ago.
(05:58):
So that's something to thinkabout as you start to map this
out to see does this decisionmake sense?
Now let's talk about propertytaxes.
Property taxes go hand in handwith real estate as you're you
know, maybe moving and acquireacquiring a home here in
Tennessee.
And this is where I thinkTennessee really shines.
(06:19):
Property tax rates are among thelowest in the US, and many
retirees coming from uh you knowNorthwest or Pacific uh uh
northwest or or even in thenortheast may see significant
savings here.
In fact, I have friends inDallas who spend five times more
(06:42):
in property tax than I do.
Uh and so I find thatinteresting.
And depending where you go, I'mhere in Chattanooga, depending
on where you go, you could findsimilar situations where you
know you might have city andcounty taxes in one part of the
city or metro area, but inanother, you may only have
(07:04):
county property taxes.
So it's important to be thinkingabout how these property taxes
are going to affect uh your costof living here.
But overall, property taxes inTennessee are substantially
lower than you see in otherstates around the country.
So that's a huge benefit, andagain, where I think Tennessee
(07:26):
may really shine.
The next thing I want to talkabout is you know lifestyle and
quality of life.
Uh, this is not a part you canquantify with dollars, um, maybe
to a slight extent, but for themost part, uh you can't quantify
your quality of life and yourlifestyle, relocate somewhere
(07:46):
else, but it's often the realreason people move.
And they want to get away frommaybe the the larger cost of
living metropolitan cities, andthey want to have a quiet lower
key area to live in.
Um and so Tennessee offers uh alot of great access to lakes
(08:07):
across the uh across the state.
Um there is uh Tellico,Chickamauga, Watts Bar, uh
there's Dan, there's a lake inDandridge, there is Melton Hill,
there's uh Pickwick State Park,there's all kinds of places, uh
Nickajack, there's literally uhall kinds of lake access that
(08:31):
you can get to and uh enjoy someof that lifestyle that maybe you
don't get in a Dallas or Chicagoor you know, higher cost of
living uh city, Denver, some ofthose places.
So tons of lake access if thatis your thing.
(08:51):
We also have tons of mountains.
So uh I say tons.
We have one of the longestmountain chains in the country
with the Smoky Mountains uhdriving distance away from
anywhere in the state, butspecifically uh in East
Tennessee.
And the state parks thatsurround these mountains, these
smoky mountains, it is uhincredible for those of you that
(09:14):
want to hike, see waterfalls,explore nature, do some caving,
any of that stuff.
So a lot of great benefits withlake access and mountain access.
Winters are fairly mild.
We don't get extreme winters, itgets cold.
We have all four seasons, so itgets cold, but we're not dealing
with snow every single day,every single week, like you
(09:36):
might get in Minnesota orMichigan or in the Northeast.
And so you're not having to getout, shovel snow, shovel ice,
any of that.
You know, we might get a stormonce or twice a year.
Uh, it happens relativelyquickly, it's not severe.
So I think these mild wintersare another benefit that attract
(09:58):
people to this great state.
I think Tennessee has, no matterwhere you go, has a really
strong sense of community.
We are we're all very proud ofour state.
We are we are uh love the thenature that it provides.
Uh people are friendly, and youknow, we're really, really uh
(10:18):
have a strong sense ofcommunity.
And I think a lot of people lookfor that, especially maybe
retirees.
So think about this when you'rethinking about does it make
sense?
These might be some of thebenefits, some of the things
you're looking for when youconsider moving to Tennessee.
So let's talk about some hiddentrade-offs that might catch you
(10:42):
off guard.
You hear all the rosy stuff onblogs and YouTube videos and
podcasts about you know thegreat state of Tennessee.
So let's talk about some of thehidden trade-offs that might not
be talked about as much.
So the first one is high salestax, and this can add up
quickly.
(11:02):
Tennessee has one of the highestcombined sales tax in the
country, and this offsets someof the no state income tax that
uh you might, well, not that youmight see that that is true.
There is no state income taxhere, but again, that's offset a
lot of times by higher salestax.
So the more you spendconsumption, then the more the
(11:26):
state is going to get taxrevenue from that consumption.
So the state sales tax rate is7%, and then you can have local
sales tax rates that typicallyrange between two and three.
So, all in, your sales tax couldbe nine to ten percent when
you're purchasing you know goodsand services in Tennessee that
(11:50):
you may not be accustomed to.
As an example, I live inChattanooga.
Uh sales tax here is around ninepercent.
You can go right across theborder uh and go to the Costco.
The Costco for Chattanooga isactually located right across
the border in Georgia, and that,you know, because of that, sales
(12:11):
tax is half of what it would bein if they located that Costco
500 feet up the road and placeit in Tennessee.
And so it's something to becognizant of that when you
retire here, uh sales tax is ishigher.
And so this applies to diningout, purchasing furniture,
vehicle, everyday purchases thatyou make would cause you to
(12:36):
spend maybe a little bit more intaxes through that sales tax.
Um, so if you spend eighty to ahundred thousand dollars a year
in retirement, that could beanother eight to ten thousand
dollars a year in annual salestax.
So you avoid the income tax, butyou're still paying, it's just
in a different way.
And I think a lot of timespeople don't take that into
(12:58):
consideration.
Now let's talk about healthcareaccess.
And and location matters a lothere.
You've got some fantasticteaching hospitals here with
Vanderbilt and UT Med Center,and they act they provide great
access to healthcare, butthere's a uh couple actually
that you actually have St.
(13:19):
Dude, St.
Jude's Children's Hospital inMemphis.
So I want to make sure I don'tmention uh I don't forget to
mention them.
But it's also important thatsome of the uh healthcare access
is location specific.
So while some of these havegreat healthcare support
systems, some places don't haveuh as as good of options.
(13:40):
So you want to consider thatwhen you're moving into a
location, especially as youretire, you're gonna want to be
close to you know medicalproviders and healthcare access.
So that's important when you'rethinking through this.
Knoxville has a strong hospitalsystem, great specialist.
Uh they have UT Med Centerthere, and so Knoxville is, in
(14:03):
my opinion, uh really a gem of acity.
It is a fantastic place toretire, has everything.
Uh, and so uh you you can findgreat healthcore care resources
there.
Chattanooga has uh, I would saygood health care uh access, but
they're improving.
Uh we're getting a lot of peopleflooding in to Chattanooga from
(14:25):
around the country, especiallythose outdoor enthusiasts.
And so uh the healthcare accessthat you're getting in
Chattanooga is good andconstantly improving as more
people are moving in.
Nashville with Vanderbilt uh hasfantastic healthcare resources.
Again, Memphis with St.
Jude uh has good uh healthcareresources.
(14:47):
So it's really, really importantthat you know that the bigger
cities have this, the ruralareas have limited access,
longer drive times, maybe not asgood a specialist.
Um, maybe the hospital's not asgreat, or it takes longer to get
to the hospital.
So I don't think this should bea deal breaker for you, but it
(15:08):
should be factored into whereyou choose to live should you
decide to move to Tennessee.
So let's talk about weather now.
Um, Tennessee's weather ismixed.
We we get all four seasons, mildwinters.
Um, the cons are summers are areusually pretty hot and humid.
(15:29):
If you're not used to humidity,it can really kind of put some
pressure on your chest.
You you know, you're just youfeel sticky and gross.
And so it's it's reality issummers get hot and humid.
We have significant storm risk.
So especially in in kind of thespring season, I would say, uh,
tornadoes are a big risk here.
(15:51):
We we we've had them hitNashville, Chattanooga,
Knoxville, uh, Memphis.
It seems like spring, uh, itseems like Tornado Alley, the
old tornado alley out of youknow Kansas, um Western
Missouri, Oklahoma, all of that.
Um I don't follow thosespecifically as much.
Um but it feels like a lot ofthe tornado alley is shifted
(16:14):
down into kind of Arkansas,Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi.
We're having increased weatherrisk that we weren't having, you
know, 20 years ago, 30 yearsago.
And so it's something to reallyconsider is that it is not
uncommon for us to have some ofthese storms.
And I'm not saying that theseplaces get two, three, four
(16:35):
tornadoes a year, but it is aheightened alert that you should
be aware of as you make thesedecisions.
And then allergies.
Uh Knoxville, Tennessee,Chattanooga, Tennessee, East
Tennessee, but but Tennessee ingeneral, allergies can be really
uh brutal.
Uh, I struggle with these, I getallergy shots, um, my kids
(16:56):
struggle with these.
So if you don't have allergiesnow or mild allergies, you might
want to just be prepared thatallergies here can be really,
really uh unbearable.
And uh that totally depends onyour allergy type, uh, how
sensitive you are.
For me, you know, my allergieslast for six weeks in the spring
(17:20):
when pollen kicks out.
Um, and then after that, it'sit's pretty much over.
So, you know, just be thinkingabout that because the last
thing you want to do is movehere in the spring, settle down,
you find the house, whatever,and then you end up hating it in
the spring because excuse me, Imeant the fall, but spring rolls
around here and allergies arejust miserable.
So, you know, if you're movingfrom an Arizona or California
(17:43):
where you don't have theseseasonal type allergies, this
could be a real adjustment uhfor you.
Growth and infrastructure.
Um, this has caused Tennessee'spopularity with people moving
here, not just retirees, but butevery everybody, all shapes uh
and sizes across uh the countryand lifestyles are moving here.
(18:06):
And so this has caused somegrowing pains for some of these
areas.
Traffic congestion is increasingsignificantly, housing demand is
pushing home prices up, um,infrastructure is taking a while
to catch up.
And so it's important to knowthat places like Nashville and
(18:27):
Knoxville and Chattanooga,Memphis, you know, are having
significantly increasedcongestion and traffic uh
concerns that are making it umnot it wouldn't prevent me from
moving here, but I think youknow it's definitely causing
some some frustration for peoplethat were thinking they were
(18:49):
going to escape, you know, thetraffic that maybe they
experience in some of these morecongested metro areas.
Finally, what I want to kind oftalk about is the the financial
planning reality.
And this is where I think someof the biggest mistakes happen.
People move based on one factor.
And again, like I started out inthis video, it's usually taxes,
and they and they don't look atthe full picture.
(19:12):
So I want to walk through kindof a simple example.
Let's say a couple retires witha one and a half million dollar
portfolio, they have sixtythousand dollars a year in
Social Security, and they need$120,000 a year to live on.
They moved to Tennessee thinkingwe'll save on taxes, and again,
(19:34):
they probably will, but thenthey buy a more expensive home
than they were anticipating.
Uh, you know, might cost$700,000versus$500,000 where they were.
Again, another example uh herein Chattanooga, you can go right
across the border into Georgiaand get houses that are
significantly cheaper than theywould be on the Tennessee side,
(19:58):
but you're picking up stateincome tax there.
So, you know, again, these arethings you wanna you wanna uh
weigh out uh as you move toTennessee to determine does it
make sense?
Um maybe they went out more,they travel more, they spend
more, sales tax increased thecost of living, and so the net
(20:19):
result means they're spendingmore, not less than they thought
they would spend.
You know, the the idea ofspending less on taxes ends up
uh through other channelscausing them to spend more than
they originally would.
And so retirement isn't justabout minimizing taxes, it's
(20:43):
about everything, it's aboutspending, it's about uh aligning
that spending with yourlifestyle and your income
strategy and your portfolio anduh how all of these things are
woven together and play a partin your retirement plan.
Tennessee can absolutely helpand be a great place to retire
(21:08):
to, but it's got to fit intoyour broader plan.
So who is Tennessee best for?
Tennessee tends to be a greatfit if you want to reduce your
overall tax uh liabilities, yourtax drag.
You value lifestyle, space,community, outdoors, nature,
uhything outdoor living, and youwant flexibility in your
(21:32):
financial plan.
It may not be the best fit foryou if you want dense, walkable,
urban living, uh, very close toeverything within minutes, um,
need elite health care withinminutes, or prefer cooler, drier
climates year around.
At the end of the day, retiringto Tennessee isn't just about
(21:54):
saving money, it's aboutcreating a life you love.
And the best Retirement plansdon't just optimize numbers,
they give you the confidence inthe decisions you're making.
If you're thinking aboutretiring to Tennessee and want
to think through the financialside of it, that's exactly what
we do at Paradigm WealthPartners.
(22:15):
You can schedule a conversationin the in the below description.
There's a link directly to abooking page.
You can also uh go toparadigmwealthpartners.com to
learn more about what we do andhow we help people.
Thanks for watching.
If you haven't alreadysubscribed, please do so.
Be confident in your retirement.
(22:36):
Have a wonderful day.
Thanks for joining me on anotherepisode of What the Wealth.
If you enjoyed the episodetoday, smash that subscribe
button.
It helps me more than you think.
Also, if you found this episodeinsightful and a light bulb went
off, share it.
Your friend Aunt Judy, therandom guy in the office who's
always talking aboutinvestments, wealth isn't about
(22:57):
just the chip chain.
It's about our choices, chances,and changing our financial
futures.
The information in this podcastis informational and general in
nature and does not take intoconsideration the listener's
personal circumstances.
This podcast is not intended tobe a substitute for specific in
financial, legal, or tax advice.
You should consult the approvedqualified professional prior to
(23:18):
making a final decision.
Securities offered through LPLFinancial, member FINRA SIPC.
Paradigm Wealth Partners is theother business name for
Independent Advisor Alliance.
Investment Advice offeredthrough Independent Advisor
Alliance, a registeredinvestment advisor, Independent
Advisor Alliance, and ParadigmWealth Partners are separate
entities for LPL Financial.
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