One Spouse Will Want Florida and One Will Want the Grandkids. The Couples Who Compromise Will Pay the Most
The retirement compromise that sounds perfectly fair to both spouses turns out to cost far more than picking either option outright, and the hidden expense has nothing to do with real estate prices.
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Many couples planning for retirement face the same decision: where to live. One spouse wants a condo on the Gulf Coast, and the other wants to stay near the grandchildren. The compromise usually looks the same: winters in Florida, summers near the kids. That seems like the sensible middle path. The challenge is that it is often the most expensive of the three options, because the couple pays to run two homes and gets the full benefit of neither.
Pricing a Florida-Only Retirement at 67
Florida’s appeal starts with taxes, and the state delivers in this regard. It ranks 1st on individual income tax in the Tax Foundation’s 2025 index, so Social Security and IRA distributions face only federal tax. Most other costs are less of a bargain. The BEA puts Florida’s price level at 103.414, above the national benchmark of 100, and the median Florida home sold for $384,600. Insurance costs are high for people moving in from other states. Insurify puts the average at $6,408 a year for $300,000 of dwelling coverage, the highest in the country.
Here is a working budget for a couple aged 67 who own a median-priced home outright. It assumes Medicare Part B at $202.90 per person per month and the average Medigap premium of $244 per month.
| Category | Annual cost |
|---|---|
| Property tax, insurance, 1% maintenance | $13,200 |
| Part B, Medigap, Part D and out-of-pocket | $14,700 |
| Food | $10,000 |
| Utilities | $6,000 |
| Transportation and vehicle replacement | $8,000 |
| Trips to see grandkids | $6,000 |
| Gifts, personal spending, reserves | $12,000 |
| Federal income tax | $3,000 |
| Total | $73,000 |
Prices are rising 3.7% year over year, according to the BLS, so the budget will grow over time.
A Summer Condo Near Family Sharply Raises the Annual Budget
In the compromise, Florida stays home base, and the couple adds a modest condo near the family. This budget assumes $12,000 for the condo’s taxes, insurance, HOA, and maintenance, $4,000 for a second set of utilities, and $5,000 for seasonal moves and a second car. The grandkid travel line goes away. Federal tax rises about $2,000 because bigger withdrawals pull more Social Security into taxable income under 26 U.S.C. § 86(a)(2). The total comes to about $90,000.
An average retired couple where both spouses draw benefits receives $3,355 a month after the 2027 COLA, equal to $40,260 a year. That amount, removed from spending and divided by a 4% withdrawal rate, which fits a 30-year horizon, gives the following:
- Florida only: a $32,700 gap, which takes about $818,000 invested
- Compromise: a $49,700 gap, which takes about $1.24 million invested
That is $425,000 more, plus the condo’s purchase price. If both spouses wait until 70 to claim, their benefits rise to roughly $49,900, and the target falls to about $1.0 million. In exchange, they need a bridge of roughly $120,000, often held in a ladder of short-term Treasuries.
Too Many Days Up North Can Erase the Florida Tax Savings
Many couples price the condo and stop there, but residency is the larger risk. New York, a common state for grandkids, treats anyone who keeps a permanent residence there and spends more than 183 days in the state each year as a resident, even if they live elsewhere. A summer condo counts as that kind of abode. Once a couple crosses that line, New York taxes all their income. Its retirement exclusion covers up to $20,000 of pension and IRA income per spouse.
Florida’s property tax protections also depend on residency. The homestead exemption, which cuts taxable value by up to $50,000, and the Save Our Homes assessment cap both require the Florida house to be the couple’s permanent residence. If they lose the homestead, the house can be reassessed, so property tax jumps just as the condo bills start. Keeping both protections takes a day log, a Florida driver’s license, Florida voter registration, and a declaration of domicile, kept current every year.
What It Takes to Make Both Homes Work
The compromise takes about $90,000 a year in today’s dollars. That means roughly $1.24 million invested if both spouses claim at 67, or about $1.0 million plus a $120,000 bridge if they delay to 70. The condo is paid for separately. A 4% inflation-adjusted withdrawal from a diversified mix of bonds and stock index funds has historically held up 30 years, so ordinary balanced returns have historically supported that rate once the extra $425,000 is in place.
New York’s residency threshold is 183 days. The compromise pays off only if Florida stays the couple’s legal home, which depends on how many nights they spend up north each year and on records that prove it.
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David Beren has been a Flywheel Publishing contributor since 2022. Writing for 24/7 Wall St. since 2023, David loves to write about topics of all shapes and sizes. As a technology expert, David focuses heavily on consumer electronics brands, automobiles, and general technology. He has previously written for LifeWire, formerly About.com. As a part-time freelance writer, David’s “day job” has been working on and leading social media for multiple Fortune 100 brands. David loves the flexibility of this field and its ability to reach customers exactly where they like to spend their time. Additionally, David previously published his own blog, TmoNews.com, which reached 3 million readers in its first year. In addition to freelance and social media work, David loves to spend time with his family and children and relive the glory days of video game consoles by playing any retro game console he can get his hands on.
