Also if you plan to eventually sell one home,if it is not your primary residence you will pay capital gains on sale. You must live as a resident 2 out of last 5 years to skip capital gains on $500,000 as a couple,$250,000 as a single. See accountant before you switch to Florida residency.

Florida does a better job of protecting you assets and retirement than many states.

We kept our residence in our home state. We love our home state and pay the taxes for which we are responsible there to support and uphold it.

We enjoy Florida but aren’t in love with it and the crowding that’s happened in the last 18 years since we began coming to The Villages is a big turnoff for us. No need to jump all over me. If we all loved the same square inch of dirt, the world would be a mess.

We also find that even with a state tax, we can live less expensively in our home state. Florida has a beauty of it’s own, just has to be in your wheelhouse.

In terms of finance, Florida has no state tax or Colorado's "proud to be there" tax lol. Taxes are higher in Colorado as memory serves....we came down here from there and live here permanently, though I go back every so often to see family and friends and former students. In fact, I'm going back in November again for a couple of weeks. I miss the mountains too and my old music studio and students! But I sure don't miss shoveling!

Just remember that if you are in Florida for more then 90 days you need to change your car insurance to Florida

Wish that was true (you can if less than 10,000) but one, two or three homes you can only claim $10,000 in property tax when you file your federal income taxes.

Ridiculous law
 

It’s true but rather a dumb law that few snowbirds even have any knowledge about.

I agree. But, I wonder what would happen if you were involved in a major, expensive accident, and the insurance company could prove that you violated the Florida insurance law.

A lot of factors go into this decision. One of them is tax law in each state: one could be legally a resident of two different states depending on their rules, so check this with your tax preparer. It is rarely a case that, for tax purposes, one gets to choose which state they declare as their residence; it's a matter of counting days and seeing if you meet that test.
As I recall, income from sources such as pension, Social Security (if taxed), interest, capital gains, etc., all go with the location of the taxpayer. Timing may also matter: When I moved from MD, I took my IRA withdrawals after the move to avoid MD tax. Income from real property and other sources that are fixed is taxed in the state of the property; e.g., unemployment paid by a state.
Another, as others have mentioned, is the homestead exemption, which lowers property tax. If you switch to FL you pay lower tax here, but you pay in turn pay higher tax in CO; check the rules there.
A third is the home sale exclusion on Federal taxes. You can exclude up to $250000 of gain ($500000 if filing jointly) if the home that was sold was your primary home for 2 of the preceding 5 years before the sale. If you change residence to FL, that starts the clock on the CO home. So if you don't plan to sell it within 5 years, you start to lose some of the exclusion.
Some things to consider.

As I understand the exclusion rule, if you move from Colorado to Florida, you would only have 3 years sell the Colorado house and qualify for the 2 out 5 year primary residence rule requirement. And, you either qualify for the entire exclusion or none of it. You cannot get some of it.

Remember the Dorrance finding that his estate owed taxes to two very needy greedy states?

"When Campbell Soupmaker John Thompson Dorrance died in 1930 leaving a $100,000,000 estate, two States greedily claimed him as a native son. New Jersey asserted his residence was Cinnaminson Township, N. J.; Pennsylvania protested that he officially lived in Radnor, Pa. First to win out in this long litigation was Pennsylvania which last year received a juicy $14,500,000 slice of inheritance taxes.

Last week when the U. S. Supreme Court refused the harried estate executors a rehearing, implicitly approved was the first double state death-tax payment on record. To Camden rushed New Jersey's Inheritance Tax Bureau Supervisor William D. Kelly to pick up a $15,620,793.45 check from the disconsolate executors. Hastily stuffing it in his vest pocket, he bustled off to Trenton, triumphantly deposited it.

More than ordinarily grateful for this money was New Jersey. For the first time in 50 years the State faced a deficit, $13,000,000. Persistently loud has been the demand for additional taxes for Relief (TIME, May 4). Equally loud has been the Legislature's reluctance to legislate a tax bill. That the Dorrance largess, one-fourth of which was interest on the original amount due, was a beautifully-timed blessing seemed apparent to everyone but State Senator Charles E. Loizeaux. Snapped he: "This is just staving off the evil day. . . . Next year there won't be any Dorrance money.""

From: NEW JERSEY: Soup Relief - TIME

Applies if you change your residence to Florida, then you have 90 days to change plates, title, and insurance. If you keep your residence in home state, you can travel anywhere you want, without change of car status. My family members are travelers (contacted to work in different states up to 4 months). None of them claim that state as residence, and have never in 15 years changed their car insurance in the state they are working in.

Since the majority of my income is made in my home state, I have to pay state income tax on it anyway. Also, my homestead exemption is higher there. You just have to do your research to see which is best for you.

In CT you had to spend 6 mos. in FL to claim residence and avoid the state income tax in CT. However, that meant you gave up your capital gains exemption when or if you sold your high priced home there. Best to talk w your accountant.

Not true, the law says if you reside in Florida for 90 days, you must have Florida auto insurance.