Jan Orey: No senior destination

I came to North Carolina four years ago for the great health care and cultural opportunities and even moved my elderly mom across the country last year for the same reason. The cost of memory-care homes for Alzheimer’s patients is a little less in North Carolina, and I wanted us to be together.

Since none of the $93,264 in medical costs was deductible in North Carolina this year, she had to pay a bunch in state taxes. Sorry, Mom. Somehow I did not know what they had done until tax time, and I got hit hard, too.

I chose North Carolina as my new home when AARP and others began touting it as the shiny, new alternative destination for retirees and seniors. I should have seen the writing on the wall when teacher pay was cut, and they began leaving in droves.

I never dreamed tax deductions used by the sick and elderly would be eliminated to pay for incentives to attract big, fancy corporations.

The time has come to pack up and join the teachers in Texas or return to California, where they care about their seniors.

Great health care and museums won’t do us any good if we can’t afford to live here.

This story was originally published May 6, 2015 at 6:17 PM with the headline "Jan Orey: No senior destination."