An email: “who is more affluent, the retiree who stays
in New Jersey, or the retiree who moves to Florida? Correct: It is the MORE
AFFLUENT retirees who relocate to the Sunbelt. Now, because Social Security
income is calculated on a formula based on total Social Security tax
payments (and thus reflects lifetime earnings), this means that the retiree
who moves to Phoenix, Ariz., Gulf Shores, Ala., or Galveston, Texas, likely
has a much LARGER monthly SS check than does the shlub who’s stuck in
Milwaukee or Peoria. And because Social Security checks are to a great
degree tax exempt, this aspect of the higher income of affluent Sun Belt
retirees does not result in a higher level of federal tax payments from Red
states.”