Wanting to move to The Villages (annual income)
 

If I was able to pay off a house there; would I be able to live in The Villages on an annual salary of about $50,000?

Yep

If you will be mortgage free -- then more than enough.

Most likely but you need to look at your expenses as well as income, just as you would anywhere else.

You'll do great

You say salary. If you think you are going to get a job that pays that in TV you may want to check what jobs pay around here. Generally lower than what you would expect. If you meant income from SS and investments you can live very comfortably on that amount. You cannot golf at the country clubs daily and eat out every night, but, probably half the households here spend less than 4K a month.

50K? Figure on doing just fine.

Just remember that a salary of $50,000 has $10,000 taken out by Federal withholding and FICA.

Taxes and Insurance here in FL are quite high and they will cut into the $50k a bit. Like others stated you need to do a budget and see how it pans out when you add up all the expenses.

Hi jayerose: You ask a fairly broad question, one that I would feel uncomfortable to respond to without more detail. One poster asked if your $50,000 (4,1666.66 per mo) was a result of retirement income or a viable occupational income. Additionally if you expected that you could secure such income....Maybe you can maybe your occupation is universal? Or maybe its retirement income?
How old are you and how many people will be dependent on your income?
Are there health issues with you or dependents?
You address paying off a mortgage but other than that absent are other debt obligations.

The Villages marketing states you can live a millionaire's lifstyle on your retirement income. I view this as hyperbole. If you want to live like a millionaire you either have to be one or suffer the debt consequences...but then again living like a millionaire is in the eye of the beholder

Next is your lifestyle. Are you are active and travel or a homebody?

One's lifestyle is dictated more by "outgo" than "income."

thank you, everyone!

it would be my retirement (pension, social security and 401k). I don't have anyone to take care of and my health is ok.

someone told me to research whether I would want to pay off my mortgage or keep that money and make mortgage payments.

I visited The Villages earlier this year and loved it...and having Walt Disney World an hour away is another great plus :smiley:

Impossible to answer unless one knows your life style, bills other than mortgage,
is the 50Ksalary, guaranteed income? or variable, how many years until you retire-if not already, whether you plan to live here or near here should you require assisted living , would you have access to other incomes, what type of house/CYV you would want, how many cars you would have, etc. etc. etc. Too little information. I can think of some who might be able to live on that amount, and them some who would feel stiffled. Depends on your life

I agree with Disney being so close it great, but I need a separate budget for Mickey. If you came, you saw, you loved it, think about renting in couple different areas to see what fits for you. I chose to take a mortgage instead of cash. If you have specific questions you can pm anyone on this site.

A lot of my neighbors live quite happily in The Villages on only their social security and maybe a small pension. The expenses here are no higher or lower than in other parts of Florida.

Disney sells an annual pass for Florida residents only which, if you use it a lot, can be a really good deal.

I'd bet close to half the people here live on less than that,

by the time we all reach the age when we are trying decide where we want to live we certainly have enough experience in life to know what we can and cannot afford. So I suspect you already know the answer and are looking for support.

I say the answer is absolutely.......your check book and resources will determine what size home and neighborhood. The reall attraction of TV lifestyle is whether one is dependent on SS only or whether one has a 6 figure ++++++ monthly income/revenue.......they are all entitled to the same amenities.

:BigApplause: Tie your way of life to your income.

One of my biggest fear is that the amenities fees will skyrocket in the near future....what do you all think?

There is no guarantee in life, and I think the amenities fees will be a question in the future, but it is all speculation .

According to city-data dot com the estimated median household income in The Villages was $51,139 in 2012.

Just a review, median basically means that half the people make more and half the people make less.

I believe the amenity fees are tied to the CPI, and can only be raise 3% max per year. Not even a dent to your monthly income.

I am sure many people are living here on less than 50K, per year. Nothing to worry about. IMHO

So I was close. Not quite half.

In MY opinion the Info from City-Data.com is highly flawed.!!!!

Has anyone looked at the Data Sets used by City-Data.com
to get median income levels for The Villages ??

They used ZIP Codes 34484 and 34491 and 32162.

34484. covers OUTSIDE of Villages westbound to WEST of Interstate 75

34491. covers SUMMERFIELD Florida

32162 . The ONLY Zip Code they used which is actually IN The Villages.

IF you used ONLY 32162 , containing CDD's actually IN The Villages.
I would tend to believe the AVERAGE
income IN The Villages is Higher than $ 75,000.

The Morse and Company Data Set which has VERIFIBLE income
for those who took out mortgages with Citizens First Bank shows
an AVERAGE income of OVER $ 90,000. per household.

Wonder what the income level might be for the more than
50% of Villagers who do not even need a mortgage.

I believe someone posted a long time ago:

On $50K, you can live like a king. "Here King, here King". :D

$50K should be enough to live on in TV. I know some people who live on less than $50K.

Outgo
 

Financial Planner here. I have looked at a lot of cash flow spreadsheets over the years. Three items that drastically affect how much income you need to live on:
1) Cars. you can save a ton of money by downsizing to one small economical car. You can save a ton more by doing basic repair and maintenance yourself.
2) Eating out. The more you eat out, the more expensive your life is.
3) Technology. You can spend $300 or more a month on cell phone, cable TV and internet or you can spend less than $50 on antenna TV, the least expensive internet and a non-smart phone with a basic minutes plan.
There are, of course, a ton of other things you can do, like setting the thermostat higher in summer and lower in winter and eating low on the food chain, but the 3 above tend to account for a LOT of discretionary spending.

Yes life style is important. But at least you can adjust these if you need to. Individuals estimating their budget should budget the last two items as high as you can. I think these are easy to under budget. Remember your life style is changing.

And that would leave out 32159 which includes the historic district and the Rio Grande area. All of the The Villages does not lie south of 466.

And how many people living here never took out a mortgage. I paid cash for my house as did many of my neighbors.

Most of my neighbors don't even own a car. That's the benefit of having everything you need (grocery, drug store, banks, churches, medical care, recreation, shopping, dining, etc) all an easy golf cart ride away. This saves money on car maintenance and insurance.

And after living in TV many years, some residents find the dining choices so monotonous that they prefer to eat at home.

Spending
 

Janmcn, if you can get away without having a car you can save a bunch of money. Cars are a BIG expense. I see many people here with two or more cars. There is also the issue of what you plan to do to your house. Those who come in and rip everything up and basically start over, putting in a new kitchen, new floors and buying new furniture, may spend $100,000 or more in their first year. Those who are willing to live with Formica countertops and Merrillat cabinets, shampoo the older rugs, and forego the painted garage and driveway can get away with minimal expenditures. People living in the same kind of house in the same neighborhood can spend $40,000 or $200,000 per year, depending on the decisions they make.

The decision to have a mortgage is a personal one.

Can your advisor use that money (that you would use to pay off mortgage) to generate more of a return ?

But there is nothing like a mortgage burning party!

If you like safety and security, pay off the mortgage and do not ever take out a reverse mortgage. Sleeping soundly at night and not worrying about the mortgage is a blessing. There are arguments about having a mortgage for the tax deduction. But if you are retired, you may be pulling money out of your tax-deferred retirement accounts to make that payment. That will raise your taxable income and negate the effect of the deduction.

Take a look at Cost of Living in The Villages, Florida

Note no income tax is in the budget but it has a mortgage.

Thank you for posting the link to the spreadsheet. The CDD monthly assessment was listed at $300; is this an average monthly fee (meaning some villages CDD assessments are higher than $300/month and some villages CDD assessments are lower than $300/month?).

I assume average. If you compare communities be sure you know the services included. One may include garbage pick up and the other may not.
Pay attention to bonds and annual maintenance attached to the home even when bond is paid.