Reply to The median Boomer has a housing cost of $612. That includes taxes and insurance.

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]It’s because we have stupid “age in place” incentives, which aren’t good public policy.

Being older isn’t an excuse not to pay your share of property taxes (some locales lock taxes in place based on age).

Keeping older people in giant SFHs (which are a finite resource in areas near job centers) is terrible public policy. It’s not environmentally friendly to have one or two people using all these utilities. And as in the case of my aging MIL who refuses to move, it leads to a lot of family stress from falling down the stairs (already had one hospital stay and she continues to go downhill as her giant home falls into disrepair).

Everyone likes to tell younger people you don’t always get what you want, but why can’t we say the same to older people? We as a society shouldn’t have to subsidize them through low property taxes just because they want to sit in their wealth without tapping into equity to pay taxes or move. We shouldn’t be giving tax credits so they can modify their homes to make them adapted to the elderly.

If you want to stay in your big house as you get old then you need to be able to pay for it yourself (taxes, modifications, and all). It’s so hypocritical to tell younger people that if they want something they have to save/pay for it themselves, but then also expect society to help them afford what they want.
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I agree, with one caveat.  Everyone should absolutely pay their fair share in taxes.  But on the other hand, it's understandable that older people who have lived in a house for their whole lives resent having to move.  Rather than subsidies, or locking low rates/assessments in place, we should have a program where senior citizens can defer some or all of their taxes until either they move or sell the property, whichever comes first.  When that happens, the back taxes become due, along with some reasonable interest.

So no, a senior citizen isn't forces out of their home because they can't afford the taxes.  But neither are they absolved from paying what they owe forever.  [/quote]

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