Did you have an opportunity to hear Gov. Pat Quinn deliver his State of the State speech before the Illinois Assembly earlier this month? The commentary that followed was quite critical, asserting that the Governor missed the most critical issues ā Medicaid and government pensions. āI felt like I was listening to a game of fantasy government,ā said Tom Cross, House Minority Leader. Apparently, the big issues will be addressed by the Governor in a follow-up speech later this month.
What is the State of Our State? According to the latest update from topRetirements.com, a website maintained by retirees interested in studying ideal places to retire, Illinois is second only to Connecticut as the worst state in the union to retire. The ranking is based on the following five criteria: the stateās fiscal health, property taxes, income taxes, the cost of living, and the climate. We have seen a number of articles that claim that the state of Illinois is close to bankruptcy. I am sure we will learn more about this during the Governorās address later this month. If you havenāt seen the new IL 1040 form for 2011, it reflects the new increase in income taxes from 3 percent to 5 percent. That is a 66 percent increase in one year. My last few articles have cited examples of the increases in cost of living. The most recent examples are the increases in Metra fares (an average increase in fares of 25 percent) and the fees for Illinois tolls (a recent 100 percent increase for passenger vehicles). We havenāt received our property tax bills yet. Will the trend continue there?
In addition to the five main criteria that topRetirements.com uses to rank the worst and best states for retirement, they suggest individuals consider āotherā factors to make a determination where to retire. The āotherā factors include: proximity to friends and family, sales/inheritance/estate taxes, crime, recreation, transportation, healthcare, education (including colleges), cultural resources, natural disasters, and fitting in socially/politically/religiously. This seems to be quite a comprehensive list. Unfortunately, it includes additional economic factors that donāt fare well in Illinois. Our sales taxes are among the highest nationally. Compared to other states, our education is substantially underfunded.
It may be quite some time before Illinois gets off the bottom (worst) 10 list. Where do we go from here?
Keep those letters coming, folks. Send in your ideas to: The Frugal Forum, P.O. Box 693, Huntley, IL 60142 or by email to: thefrugalforum@gmail.com
