WY at 'top' of List: Good Fiscal Condition

[bobcat]

http://finance.yahoo.com/focus-retirement/article/108198/ailing-states-retirees-may-want-to-avoid?mod=fidelity-livingretirement

Ailing States Retirees May Want to Avoid
 by Philip Moeller
Friday, November 20, 2009
 
If you're nearing retirement or are considering relocating to a different state any time in the next several years, you need to do some careful thinking about how the recession and housing downturn have affected the finances of different states. The National Governors Association says it will take a decade for states to recover. Many states have had little choice but to raise taxes and fees in the teeth of the recession, and further increases are likely. Even so, public services will decrease, especially after one-time funds from the federal stimulus program stop flowing to the states.


More from USNews.com:

• America's Best Affordable Places to Retire

• Slide Show: America's Best Affordable Places to Retire

• Find Your Best Place to Retire 


These financial dilemmas will affect the quality of residents' lives, and could change your thinking about the place you'd like to spend your retirement years.

The Pew Center for the States recently released a study listing what it judged to be the country's 10 most imperiled states:


•California
•Arizona
•Rhode Island
•Michigan
•Oregon
•Nevada
•Florida
•New Jersey
•Illinois
•Wisconsin

California is the unfortunate poster child for states that have been effectively bankrupted during the past few years. Pew ranked all 50 states using six factors that it said had played major roles in California's spiraling financial decline: 1) high mortgage foreclosure rates; 2) worsening unemployment; 3) loss of state revenues; 4) the percentage size of the state's budget shortfall; 5) a legislative supermajority requirement that makes it hard to enact tax and budget cuts, and 6) a Pew ranking of how poorly each state managed its money. California had the high score of 30—a bad thing in this ranking—and scores in the other nine states ranged from 28 in Arizona down to 22 in Wisconsin. Pew noted, however, that many other states also were hurting and, in fact, the national average state score was 17.

While Pew focused on the more troubled states, it's worth noting the 10 states that had the lowest, or best, scores on its ranking system:


•Wyoming (score: 6)
•Iowa (score: 7)
•Nebraska (score: 7)
•Montana (score: 9)
•North Dakota (score: 9)
•Texas (score: 9)
•Pennsylvania (score: 11)
•Utah (score: 11)
•South Dakota (score: 12)
•West Virginia (score: 12)

Of these states, Wyoming, Texas, and South Dakota have no state income tax. RetirementLiving.com has a detailed look at the various taxes levied by each state. To help provide a rough guide of how far your dollars will go in other places, SalaryExpert.com has a free set of city cost-of-living reports that include comparisons with other cities.
<snip>

[MichaelNotMike]

Shhhh! Don't tell anyone in California or New York!

LOL!

[Prairie Fire]

Good info there, bobcat.  A numerical ranking can help people get past their feelings as they may decide on a better place to be.
 
Wyoming has had a couple of decent Democrat Party governors during my time here.  First one was Ed Herschler, he stood down the federal Department of Transportation over its threat to cut passbacks from DC of fuel tax collections at the pump.  The Secretary of that agency was saying that Wyoming was not enforcing the current 55 mph speed limit well enough, on its interstate highways.  Herschler either 1) threatened to blockade I-80 east and west with construction equipment, or 2) told the feds to come in with federal highway police and federal snowplows and enforce and keep open I-80 theirselves.  Which version, depends on who told the story.  FWIW, I matured on that Wyoming event/legend, somebody might want to Snopes that event from the Ford admisistration times.
 
The other Democrat Party Guv of the couple, has to be the current one, Fruedenthal.
 
The local radio station has him on for a half hour interview once or twice a month.  Although his supporting of Obama as the One appeared to have won the Dem nomination for the presidential campaign, nauseated me as I listend to it, I'll give him comparative good marks as he is trying to herd the WY cats in this bummer economy.
 
I'll give him credit in three ways:  1) That he saw the crash of the economy before it hit this place; 2) That he told the state department heads to decrease their proposed budgets by 10%; and 3) That he is sticking with that.
 
On a different subject, I like the fact that he is fighting the federal government on Wolves and their federal status here.
 
He might be a fighter for WY, as Barry tries to tax what he calls "old and outdated technologies."  The mineral extraction, and state taxes taken off of it, are just about all that keep Wyoming from being in the ranks of other failed and about-to-fail US states.  I do think that he will split with Barry over Barry's intended destruction of this country via the Cap and Tax bill.  Putting that bill into effect  is not a done deal, only one of the houses of Congress has passed it.
 
I still would not vote for him if he runs for another term, just like I did not vote for him the last time.  You would think that in a state like this, there might come out of the cowshit and coal dust, a decent R-type.  Or an L-type, maybe?  The R-s generally do beat the D-s, for Guv. Just the fact that I listened to the Guv giving support to Barry during the election of '08, makes anything else he might ever do in his life, not supportable by me by my vote.
 
Sorry for the hijack.  Some would say that there's not much to argue about bobcat's posted rankings of states likely to fail, and states less likely.  I'd say that some noob's who might read it, may want a little background on this state's politics and where the state gets its money.  Some here will want to argue about just about anything, as long as it relates to the individual v the State. Or irons v optics.  Or NATO calibers v specialty calibers.  It all brings out the worst and best in folks.

[bobcat]

No hijack noted.

The reason I posted the article was to spur discussion on reasons why one would want to consider and move to WY.  And to get some input from those on the ground in WY.

We need more governors with an attitude like Herschler.  Standing up to the leviathan like the 'many states' should...   

[adambomb]

Very interesting, nice to see some sort of numbers on it.  I can personally see things looking comparatively well in Iowa, which is at #2 on that list.  There's actually a considerable amount of growth in some parts of the state at least.  I grew up near Council Bluffs, and since I moved away 11 years ago I don't even recognize the place anymore, it has exploded.  And I'm really not seeing and feeling the effects of the recession that hard either.  Got a couple friends who have been laid off and are looking for work, but there are still new companies moving here (most often to escape places like CA).  The small town I went to school in grew from about 500 people in the late 90's to 700 a couple years ago.  Of course the more rural parts of the state are more or less dying off, and there is still net de-population, but economically it's a nice place. 

Funny though, in another thread I remember seeing the question asked, which other state are people trying to get you to move to.  For me, most people I talk to just tell me to stay in Iowa.  And all in all it's not a bad place to live, cost of living is low (especially if you don't mind living in a small town), getting a small acreage of some nice land with trees and a creek and maybe even a pond is not hard to do, and the people are generally very nice, more or less trustworthy and mind their own business.  Having your won "Edward Abbey style" kick in your teevee, brew your own beer, and pee of your front porch liberty is not hard to do.

With that being said...as mentioned before, most of the growth is in the cities; urbanization is taking place.  Most of the people leaving are college grads who want to see the world, and most of the people coming in are "coasties"...some coming to find a more wholesome place to raise their kids, but mostly just people coming for the jobs (and they just LOVE to talk down to the "under-privileged, backwards  " locals).  Also the gun laws are among the worst in the country:  concealed carry is one of the few "may issue" states, (it's up to the discretion of your sheriff, who may not issue them to anyone), and you also need a permit to buy a handgun.

As for the political climate, the urbanization is tending to make it a more Liberal state (in the bad way, not the good way), and the conservative base is largely made up of moralist neocons, the type who would say things like "there should really be a law against that," or support the PATRIOT act because "I'm not a terrorist, I've got nothing to hide." 

But if Wyoming has similar (or better) economic prospects, and the people have a generally more "western" attitude, I think it would be worth the potentially higher property prices, for me at least.

[Paul Bonneau]

Just so we don't go overboard patting Wyoming politicians on the back, part of Wyoming's success in this ranking has to do with successfully transferring the cost of government outside the state (sales and lodging tax in a tourist state, rather than income tax, and the mineral severance taxes). On the other hand, we do have the trust fund, which implies at least somewhat a view (back when it was established anyway) of saving some for a rainy day rather than pissing away every dollar of income, and then some, as happens in most states.

Wyoming government is still capable of spending like a drunken sailor, though. Next downturn is going to be rough, what with all the socialism our "conservative" legislators have voted in.

Shhhh! Don't tell anyone in California or New York!

LOL!

Actually, such places are our best recruiting bets, as people get disgusted enough to leave more easily there. (Of course the question comes up, why are liberty lovers still in such places, but some people take a while to learn I guess  ). It doesn't make that much sense to recruit from SD or Iowa. Only problem with Californians is the need to get the ones who are willing to adjust their ideas about what constitutes "normal" government action. I recommend recruiting hard-core anarchists from such places.