covidexitstrategy.org is the web site that our governor uses to adjust his travel order as to which states are so plague-ridden that a quarantine is required on arrival in our righteous disease-free midst (New York and New Jersey had a higher death rate than #3 Maskachusetts).
Can we use the same map to plan an optimum American lifestyle in the face of coronaplague? My casual inspection of the map reveals that Florida and Texas both have fairly low rates of “cases” (positive tests, potentially from those who actually are not even infected, much less sick), especially given that they didn’t have raging Wave #1 plagues and therefore wouldn’t have the immunity that at least some populations in MA, NJ, NY, CT, etc. would have.
Would the optimum lifestyle right now therefore be to live in a single-family home in a low-density part of Florida during the winter and in a single-family home in a low-density part of Maine during the summer? If 183 days are spent in Florida (for the excellent schools, according to NYT), the optimizer escapes state income and estate tax.
Why not walk unmasked on a wide Atlantic beach in the winter and then walk in the Maine woods (don’t forget a gallon of 100% DEET bug spray!) in the summer while paying only property tax in both locations? Play outdoor tennis and eat in outdoor restaurants all year in both locations.
Who has a better idea for a family of at least moderate wealth?
Atlantic Beach, Florida (near Jacksonville), January 2019:
Jacksonville Beach, also January 2019:
Why not go a little further and establish residency in Puerto Rico? You can then avoid federal income tax.
https://www.districtofcolumbiataxattorney.com/articles/tax-weary-americans-find-haven-in-puerto-rico/
Everyone’s immune system is about to get shot to shit through disuse. If the Hygiene Hypothesis is right, get ready for a generation of kids to develop asthma and allergies real bad.
Me, I’m going to keep on drinking Crown Royale from the bottle with the bums, because I am a filthy frenchman, just like Steve McQueen:
https://youtu.be/6GvcNDt_FpU
@Mememe: What’s always been amazing to me about people who pretend to understand the immune system is that they never mention the fact that the histocompatibility complex genes are constantly in flux so that the immune system adapts. There is such a thing as “too clean.” MHC genes are “Second, the MHC is highly polymorphic; that is, there are multiple variants of each gene within the population as a whole. The MHC genes are, in fact, the most polymorphic genes known.”
You develop immunity because you are exposed to pathogens, not because you aren’t exposed to them. Obviously there’s a point at which immunocompromised individuals are overwhelmed, but for most people, “Clean enough to be healthy but dirty enough to be happy” isn’t a bad rule of thumb. You can’t develop immunity without exposure, that’s what the body does.
And I know this very pointedly right now.
@Mememe: And just between us, anything with Steve McQueen is fine by me!
The reality is a bit different than what lions dreamed of, 25 years ago. Owning a 2nd house you don’t live in 1/2 the time is a terrible pain. Not sure about the tax deductions if you only live there 1/2 the time. Are you going to move twice a year or have 2 copies of everything? Everyone in Calif* owns a house 300 miles from their job & undergoes the weekly commute up 80 to fix everything that broke during the week.
lion2: That’s a good point. Just having two places here in the Boston area is a lot of work. The KitchenAid range in Cambridge just failed for the second time in the same way: gas burner stuck on with no way to shut off the gas other than pulling the (still burning) range away from the wall. Maybe a condo in Maine then where the association has to maintain the pool and tennis court. I guess in the age of COVID-19 that isn’t so good, but I am informed by the NYT that the coronavirus cannot survive even a few months of a Biden-Harris administration.
Kids of a certain age will hate you for shuffling their friends twice a year. 6 month rentals, at least on one end, are probably cheaper than maintaining two houses. Met a guy that spent half the year in New England and half in New Zealand. Spring, summer, fall, spring, summer, fall, spring, summer, fall…
Maybe south Florida, West Palm, Jupiter or Amelia Island if you want less artificial for Winter and then Cape Breton NS for summer would be nice. The issue you have is a dog so you need a base, otherwise just an FL home for taxes and Winter avoidance and then move around interesting places in Summer: SE Alaska, Scotland, Montana etc. That is harder to do with a dog so 2 bases might be easier.
Most of the people who have the means near me do this already. They live in MA during the summer and and then decamp for Florida in the winter. In Alan Chartock’s home town of Great Barrington (7,000 in the winter, 30,000 in the summer) most people do the same thing. You wouldn’t find anyone who objects to the tax strategy there.
Great Barrington is the birthplace of W.E.B. DuBois and it’s a certainty that many of their citizens take advantage of every opportunity they can to minimize their taxes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Barrington,_Massachusetts
Most people in the Bay Area are purchasing second homes in Lake Tahoe NV! Beautiful summers and winters in tax free Nevada.
In my opinion 30 to 40 percent DEET in a cream that resists being sweated off for the whole day works better. It meets the CDC recommendation for strength and is less of a hassle. 3M has such a product.
Also, clothing works better than DEET, and you should douse your clothing with permethrin, which can survive washing. DEET on clothing doesn’t work. Permethrin is CDC recommended for clothing. A few manufacturers sell pre-permethrinized duds.