Post: #26

No personal experience, but why not establish your business in a low tax locale, perhaps in a stage where it's challenging to pierce the veil, and live somewhere with a low personal tax?

Post: #27

Looks like I’m not the only one...

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/16/think-tw...state.html

I think that the tax rates for small businesses in the US in low or no income tax states when factoring in the new 20% deduction (if you qualify) are pretty damn reasonable compared to the rest of the developed world.

I haven’t any interest in getting island fever on some expensive tax haven in the Caribbean really.

Post: #28

(03-16-2018 12:22 PM)polar Wrote:  No personal experience, but why not establish your business in a low tax locale, perhaps in a stage where it's challenging to pierce the veil, and live somewhere with a low personal tax?

If you do any work, in a state, you have what is called nexus. That means you pay taxes in that state even if your company is set up in another state.

Post: #29

Since this is a recent thread on the subject of moving to Texas, I'm seriously committed to move somewhere else this year.

Kansas blows it's cold as balls here and after several years I can't take it anymore. I have some family in Texas and some others are migrating there soon too. They're all in the Dallas area, mostly the far outskirts.

What the expected cost there? I'm used to rents of 500-600 for a nice 1br in a non-murdery part of the city.

Post: #30

I hear Austin is exploding right now.

Couldn't help myself...

Post: #31

(03-22-2018 03:31 PM)DJ-Matt Wrote:  Since this is a recent thread on the subject of moving to Texas, I'm seriously committed to move somewhere else this year.

Kansas blows it's cold as balls here and after several years I can't take it anymore. I have some family in Texas and some others are migrating there soon too. They're all in the Dallas area, mostly the far outskirts.

What the expected cost there? I'm used to rents of 500-600 for a nice 1br in a non-murdery part of the city.

You are not going to get a crack den studio for 500-600 in Dallas - and that is a reasonably priced city.

Think $1200+ for a one bed in a reasonable area. More like $1500. Downtown $2k plus...

Post: #32

(03-22-2018 06:28 PM)jbkunt2 Wrote:  You are not going to get a crack den studio for 500-600 in Dallas - and that is a reasonably priced city.

Think $1200+ for a one bed in a reasonable area. More like $1500. Downtown $2k plus...

Yikes! Fortunately I wasn't planning to live in Dallas itself, I was thinking Denton or thereabouts.

Post: #33

I’ve been down in Austin now for 3 weeks in an AirBnB while debating moving here.

There is a lot to like about this town.

Pluses:

- It’s pretty nice looking. Parts are beautiful.
- Good food truck grub.
- Cheap drinking at bars.
- Weather is good but not in July/Aug.
- There is a good amount to see and do.
- Generally positive, outgoing vibe.

Minuses:

- It’s a little on the smaller side coming from Chicago.
- Traffic is hilarious
- People are kind of “grungey”
- Cost of living is a little higher than I anticipated
- Real estate market has been very disappointing. I’ve been around with a realtor and have a solid budget of $700k and there is not much to get excited about. That was a surprise.

I have recently had a meeting with a local CPA and it turns out the tax savings will be More like $20-25k.

Final thought:

Can I just give some love for Chicago?

It’s a fucking great city. It really is.

Yes, Jan to April weather wise sucks but it’s a densely populated place so it sucks less.

November and December weather is enjoyable. It’s that holiday season feel.

Summer and fall are perfection.

It has 98% of what NYC has to offer for half the price.

Some pondering for me to do...

Post: #34

Oh man, I could probably go on for a while about this topic. I lived in Chicago for 1.5 years, and about 1 year in Austin. Coming from the East coast, it's a pretty tough call in my mind.

People have already talked a lot about traffic in Austin being really bad...that's mostly because everyone from California and New York seems to be considering this same question. Someone in Austin told me there was something like 150 new people moving to Austin every day. Considering there is really bad public transit in Austin, that's a lot of new cars hitting the road every single week. Austinites like to bitch about the traffic, but it's really just something you deal with if you want to live with low taxes.

Here's a quick comparison I can offer:

CHICAGO -
Pros: Big City with more cosmopolitan vibe, plenty of EE immigrants, pretty decent food scene, cheap international / domestic flights, CHEAP RENT, decent public transit
Cons: Horrible city / state gov't, crappy winters, geographically boring (flat as hell), fat mid-western chicks, everything very spread out

AUSTIN -
Pros: Banging yoga / runner chicks, warm weather year-round, cheap taxes, awesome BBQ, best live-music at bars, awesome bar scene, lot's of businesses moving to the city, tech-talent, outdoor activities, great music festivals (SXSW, ACL), easy / loose women
Cons: Overrun by SJW liberal jerk-offs, lots of LA transplants / California money, traffic, bad public transit, food options are limited (BBQ, Mexican Taco stands, or burgers), small-town mentality, expensive rent, July / August heat SUCKS, 2 am last-calls

Austin is generally pulling in a TON of people just like you, all showing up with the same notions as you have. It's really nothing more than a glorified college-town that has expanded too fast. Spend enough time there and you definitely start running into the limitations of the city.

As for the rest of Texas, I spent time in Dallas/Ft. Worth for business and those two cities suck big-time -- just housing development after housing development, no real character. Don't know much about Houston, except that it's massive.

Post: #35

(04-19-2018 11:02 PM)jbkunt2 Wrote:  It has 98% of what NYC has to offer for half the price.

Some pondering for me to do...

Having lived in Chicago, and spent a lot of time visiting friends / family in NYC, I can tell you that statement is bull. New York is a 24-hour, culture mecca with best food you can imagine, and every possible desire you want covered. Chicago has maybe 2/3rds of that

Post: #36

As someone who lived in both Chicago and NYC, I firmly disagree.

Chicago has an incredible food scene.

Yes, NYC has a buzz that doesn’t compare but when it gets down to it there isn’t much in NYC that you cannot find in Chicago. At all.

Post: #37

Well the Dem candidate JB Pritzker (Billionaire ofc) won the governorship of IL and the GOP are a sipermonority and do not have the votes to block his path to graduated (higher) taxes so I’m back to thinking about this.

I really love Chicago and the big city buzz. Austin is cool though...

Post: #38

I can't believe I never seen this thread. I'm over here in IL, don't follow the politics at all but knowing how bad the state is it's pretty obvious politicians will raise taxes. In layman's terms for people that don't live here: We're broke and the Democrats are the main cause. A lifelong politician named Mike Madigan runs this state and nothing gets by him. From someone who barely followed what Rauner did or didn't do my guess is a combination of typical GOP cucking and the fact that the Democrats run the state is why Rauner couldn't do much if anything. I have worked with people that are banking on collecting pensions and to be polite I just smile and say nothing. I repeat, we're broke. I've met people that told me of going to public schools where they had 70 year old books. Between IL and CA I wonder which state will declare bankruptcy first. My best guess is IL will be the first since we don't have money makers like Silicon Valley or the entertainment industry. AI and automation will absolutely wreck the hospitality industry. Mark my words. NY can't be too far behind either.

I know of other people that are moving away and some are thinking about commuting from Indiana. Just to connect this to President Trump while I applaud his efforts over here our state is rotting. I remember Forney saying President Trump will turn Chicago into military zones and while it didn't happen I wouldn't be opposed to it. It would be a very very slight upgrade over what we currently have. We will have traffic jams like Los Angeles but at least we'll be safer as a whole. Off the top of my head Chicago was top 5 if not even 1 for murders by guns for years. Hopefully under a military junta crooked politicians will be arrested...of course the military guys could just be bribed with politician money.

Anybody that lives in IL needs to get ready to be able to move to another state.

Post: #39

You will find, especially if you live outside of the inner Austin area, that a lot of Texans do not like yankees and won't be shy about saying so. You might be excited about the prospect of having guns but, if you live in a rural area, your neighbors​ will have them too, and think it's normal to fire off a hundred rounds as something to relax at the end of work day or weekend. It can be loud and annoying when you just want to chill. San Marcos is a small boring campus town. Can't recommend it in any way, maybe since back in the day of Willie, Waylon and the Armadillo World Headquarters. (I hear the former manager lives in Western Massachusetts now, Willie lives in Hawaii.) Fire ants are bad enough but there's plenty of critters that will kill or mess you up real bad - rattlesnakes, coral snakes, moccasins, chiggers, scorpions, ticks, brown recluse. Never put your hands into something you can't see like a board or under a rock and check your clothes and boots for scorpions before you get dressed. Don't think I'm joking about that. Texas is more like a foreign country with a strong culture, not everyone will appreciate it, especially yankees. Those Hill Country towns around S. Marcos flash flood a lot and people die. Texas is very big, you'll put a lot of miles on the truck if you want to go anywhere.

Post: #40

Just spent a week in Austin and was impressed.

Great food and especially so for a small/medium city.

Prices of stuff are reasonable. Much cheaper than the coasts and a bit cheaper than Chicago. Same goes for rent from what j can see.

Summer does sound rough though...