For decades, wealthy retirees have headed to Florida for the sunshine, lower taxes and year-round warm weather. But many are discovering that one thing is harder to relocate than an investment portfolio: trusted medical care.<\/p>\n
Now, a growing number of affluent former New Yorkers are buying small second homes back in the city \u2014 often called \u201cmed-\u00e0-terres\u201d \u2014 so they can continue seeing the doctors and specialists they\u2019ve relied on for years.<\/p>\n
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Melissa Talarico is one of them. After spending 40 years working in the city, the 72-year-old spends much of the year in Miami as she eases into retirement, but she and her 75-year-old husband haven\u2019t fully severed their ties to Manhattan.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou leave a place, and you think you\u2019re done there,\u201d she told the Wall Street Journal<\/a>.\u201cBut you\u2019re not.\u201d<\/p>\n Here\u2019s why some retirees are holding onto a foothold in New York after moving south and what the trend says about the growing value of access to top-tier medical care.<\/p>\n Keeping their doctors close <\/p>\n Even after relocating to Florida, Talarico and her husband continued returning to New York for appointments with specialists at institutions such as the Hospital for Special Surgery, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Mount Sinai Hospital and Lenox Hill Hospital. While they often stayed at a vacation home on Long Island during those trips, the three-hour commute into the city eventually became a burden.<\/p>\n Bill Kowalczuk<\/a>, Talarico\u2019s real estate broker at Coldwell Banker Warburg, said the decision came down to convenience.<\/p>\n \u201cFlying up from Florida and then adding a multi-hour drive to get to medical appointments was stressful, especially with frequent or time-sensitive visits,\u201d Kowalczuk told Moneywise.<\/p>\n Last December, the couple purchased a 900-square foot loft in Jersey City. Nicknamed \u201cSoHo for seniors\u201d by Talarico\u2019s friends, the apartment is just a short train ride from many of their doctors and makes healthcare trips significantly easier.<\/p>\n The challenge isn\u2019t just finding a new doctor after a move, it\u2019s finding one at all. The Association of American Medical Colleges<\/a> projects the US could face a shortage of up to 86,000 physicians by 2036.<\/p>\n The desire to stay connected to doctors isn\u2019t unique to the Talaricos. William Yau<\/a>, a real estate broker at Coldwell Banker Warburg, said he has seen similar situations among his clients. One client\u2019s mother owns a multifamily home in Queens but now spends most of her time in Connecticut with her daughter and grandchildren.<\/p>\n Story Continues <\/p>\n \u201cShe is retired, qualifies for Medicaid and keeps her official residency here,\u201d Yau told Moneywise. \u201cMost of her doctors are in NYC and she doesn\u2019t want to go through the hassle of finding new ones.\u201d<\/p>\n Read More: BlackRock warns buying and holding the S&P 500 isn\u2019t enough for retirement anymore \u2014 here’s why<\/a><\/p>\n The tradeoff <\/p>\n Florida continues to attract residents from high-tax states. IRS migration data<\/a> analyzed by the Tax Foundation found Florida gained more than 55,000 net tax filers between 2022 and 2023, while New York lost nearly 72,000.<\/p>\n But maintaining access to New York\u2019s healthcare system often comes with financial tradeoffs. New York lawmakers have approved a new tax on second homes as part of an effort to help close the city\u2019s budget gap. The pied-\u00e0-terre tax<\/a> will apply to certain non-primary residences assessed at $1 million or more and is expected to generate roughly $500 million in revenue.<\/p>\n Beyond the new tax, George Dimov, a CPA licensed in all 50 states and the founder of Dimov Tax Specialist<\/a>, said New York\u2019s residency rules can also catch some snowbirds by surprise. In general, people who maintain a permanent place to live in New York and spend more than 183 days<\/a> in the state can be considered tax residents, potentially exposing their income to New York state taxes.<\/p>\n Dimov said some people move to Florida expecting to reduce their tax burden, only to find that regular visits to New York can complicate those plans.<\/p>\n \u201cMy advice is always the same. People should keep track of the days they spend in New York because it affects how they have to pay in taxes,\u201d Dimov told Moneywise.<\/p>\n Still, access to specialized medical care remains a compelling reason to maintain a foothold in New York despite the added costs.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople are keeping New York homes because New York is New York, and that includes their doctors,\u201d Rebecca Cavallaro of Sotheby\u2019s International Realty-East Side Manhattan Brokerage told the Wall Street Journal<\/a>.<\/p>\n What retirees should consider before moving <\/p>\n For many retirees, the move south delivers exactly what they hoped for: lower taxes, warmer weather and a slower pace of life. What it doesn\u2019t always provide is an easy replacement for the physicians and specialists they\u2019ve spent years getting to know.<\/p>\n The key is to treat healthcare access as part of the relocation budget. A lower-tax address may save money on paper, but frequent travel, temporary accommodations and the challenge of rebuilding a medical team can carry costs of their own.<\/p>\n As for the Talaricos, the calculation was clear. Melissa returns to Manhattan every few months for medical appointments, while her husband \u2014 himself a physician \u2014 also sees specialists in the city.<\/p>\n You May Also Like <\/p>\n Join 250,000+ readers and get Moneywise\u2019s best stories and exclusive interviews first \u2014 clear insights curated and delivered weekly. Subscribe now.<\/a><\/p>\n This article originally appeared on Moneywise.com<\/a> under the title: ‘SoHo for seniors’: Rich retirees who fled to Florida are buying ‘med-\u00e0-terres’ in NYC just to keep seeing their doctors<\/a><\/p>\n This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For decades, wealthy retirees have headed to Florida for the sunshine, lower taxes and year-round warm weather. 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