Can I afford it?

[Mike Griffin]

I am in the fortunate position to retire at 50 years old and I plan to do so. I live in Florida but was born in Ontario Canada. Since I was a child I wanted to move back. I go to Canada on vacation as often as I can, last year was Quebec City. Anyways I have been reading the forum and the costs are scaring me. I will have a pension when I retire of about 50,000 USD/year. Right now I am in the 28% tax bracket, pay $1450/year in property taxes on a 150k USD home, $2k/year auto insurance for a 4X4 Toyota and a corvette, $350/year insurance on a motorcycle. Currently I live very comfortably on my salary. I plan to go to Nova Scotia (I can afford to pay cash for a home and land there) but I am not locked in on that. I would love Quebec.

Now I keep hearing these people talking about $ 7000/year auto insurance for 1 car and 4 grand a year in property taxes on top of the 30% or more in income tax. I came from Canada and I want to return but it sounds like I cant afford it. Its crazy since my salary is double the national average for an entire family in the US.

Any help on this?

[Baloo]

My auto insurance (in Ottawa) is much lower than that on a 2010 Honda Civic.
The best way to get a real answer to the auto insurance question, is to ask for an insurance quote from a Canadian company.

Property taxes ( depending on property and location) can obviously be worse.

Don't forget the weather is nothing like Florida:)

[Cdn28]

Insurance will always be higher in your first year if you come back to the country.  This unfortunately is the norm for insurance companies, but it should decrease in year 2.

Depending on where you want to settle the property taxes will be different.

I would look on www.mls.ca to see what some of the current own, or rental property taxes would be in your area.

[toby]

I can't help you with auto insurance; I'm out of date. 

But I have been searching MLS listing for homes in White Rock (pricier than in Nova Scotia), and property taxes are consistently below $2000 a year.  Unless you plan to buy a mansion, $4k per year is unlikely.

Home prices are rock-bottom in Florida, and many residents of Canada go there to escape the winters.  Why not stay in Florida, upgrade your house at historically-low prices if you wish), and visit Canada during the nice summer months (be it Nova Scotia or Quebec, or wherever)?