New Jersey
You stayed in New Jersey your whole life — and now retirement may force you out
A few weeks ago I wrote about staying in New Jersey feeling like a bad relationship. The love is real. The memories are real. But the bills keep coming and the promises from Trenton keep not arriving. And most people keep saying just one more year.
Here is the part of that story I did not get to. For a lot of New Jersey residents, the “just one more year” conversation does not end with a decision to leave. It ends with retirement — and the sudden realization that the math that was already hard just got impossible.
The friends who are no longer here
I think about this a lot because I see it in my own life. Friends and relatives I grew up with — people who are approaching retirement or are already there — are gone. Not gone as in passed away. Gone as in New Jersey made them leave. Financially bullied out of the state they built their lives in.
Off the top of my head I can place friends and family in western Pennsylvania, Illinois, Arizona, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Hawaii — and of course Florida, always Florida. A few landed in Delaware, close enough to drive back for a long weekend. Most are not that lucky. When you move to Scottsdale or Nashville or Maui, Sunday dinner with the grandkids is no longer twelve minutes down the road. It is a flight.
Thank goodness for social media. It is the only reason we stay connected.
These were not people who wanted to leave. They coached Little League. They served on school boards and rescue squads. They wore badges and volunteered at firehouses. Stand-up citizens who would have gone on contributing to their communities for another twenty years. New Jersey pushed them out anyway.
SEE ALSO: Staying in NJ is starting to feel like a bad relationship
Photo by Zac Gudakov on Unsplash
When paying off your house becomes a rude awakening
For many of them the realization came at the worst possible moment — the moment they should have been celebrating. Paying off your house is supposed to be the reward of a well-lived life. Decades of mortgage payments finally done. You own it. Free and clear.
Except in New Jersey, that moment of triumph comes with a brutal clarity. The property tax bill that was quietly folded into your monthly mortgage payment is now sitting on your kitchen table all by itself. No mortgage to soften the blow. Just a number. A big one.
The average New Jersey property tax bill tops $9,800 a year statewide. In Bergen, Morris and Essex counties it pushes well past $12,000. That is the bill you get for owning something you already paid for. Pay it or face consequences. It is not quite Tony Soprano showing up at your door — but the message is not entirely different. Pay up, or we make things very difficult for you.
Social Security was not designed to absorb that number. Most pension checks were not either. (For those who worked hard and were fortunate to receive them.) For many residents who paid into their 401k…it sadly just does not cut it here.
The Stay NJ promise that isn’t
What makes it sting even more is that relief was supposed to be coming. Governor Sherrill’s proposed budget cuts the Stay NJ property tax relief program — $500 million gone. That program was supposed to cut property tax bills nearly in half for eligible homeowners over 65. People built their retirement plans around it. Stayed in their houses because of it.
Now it may not happen. And for retirees sitting on a house worth four times what they paid for it, the calculation is shifting fast. Cash out. Head south. Let someone else argue with the tax assessor.
What Trenton owes this generation
The people facing this decision did not fail New Jersey. They showed up for decades. They raised families here, served their communities, paid their taxes, and stayed through every rate hike, toll increase and broken promise of reform.
They deserve better than a retirement that forces them to choose between financial survival and the only home they have ever known.
New Jersey is still worth loving. The Shore, the food, the neighborhoods, the culture — none of that has changed. What has changed is the price the state charges for the privilege of staying.
For a generation that gave everything they had, that price has finally gotten too high.
LOOK: Here’s where people in every state are moving to most
Gallery Credit: Amanda Silvestri
‘Jeopardy!’ contestant cracks joke (and wins). See the final clue.
A “Jeopardy!” contestant joked in her Final Jeopardy answer. The bet payed off as the others wagered everything and lost, making her the winner.
The “Jeopardy!’ champ just keeps on rolling.
Jamie Ding, of Lawrenceville, N.J., won his 17th straight game on the long-running game show to put him alone in 10th place on the all-time “Jeopardy!” wins list, according to TheJeopardyFan.com. He broke a tie with Ryan Long (16 wins in 2022) and fellow New Jerseyan Scott Riccardi, an engineer and Rutgers grad from Somerville, who won 16-straight last July.
On the Monday, April 6 show, Ding won $31,611 to bring his 17-day total to $494,012, which is eighth on the regular-season money list all-time and 19th overall.
Ding’s opponents on Monday’s show were: Mikey Hlebasko, a sales operations director from Marietta, Georgia, and Maggie Faucher, a research assistant from Pittsburgh.
Heading into Final Jeopardy in Monday’s game, Ding had the contest wrapped up with $44,200 to Faucher’s $7,400 and Hlebasko’s $3,000, TheJeopardyFan.com reported.
The Final Jeopardy was: “At least since 1890 plans have existed to link these two islands across the North Channel: a 2021 estimate ranged around $450 billion.”
All three contestants missed the correct answer, which was: “What is Great Britain and Ireland?”
Who is Jamie Ding?
Ding, who works for the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency, has secured a spot in the season-ending Tournament of Champions.
He has a supporter in New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill, who posted applauding Ding after he set an impressive record on the show that began 62 years ago.
On the March 17 show, Ding set the mark for highest Coryat score with with $42,400, topping the record of $39,200 achieved by now “Jeopardy!” host Ken Jennings back on June 10, 2004, according to TheJeopardyFan.com. On the April 1 show, Ding tied Jennings with at $39,200 Coryat. A Coryat score, named after a former contestant, is the sum of the natural value of any clues without Daily Doubles or Final Jeopardy.
Sen. Andy Kim has also tweeted out congratulations to Ding during this impressive run on the show.
While Sen. Cory Booker tweeted on April 1: “Jamie Ding! Making New Jersey proud! This Lawrenceville resident spends his days helping fund affordable housing across the Garden State, then goes on national TV and dominates. The man answers trivia on @Jeopardy and houses people for a living. New Jersey does not miss. Keep buzzing, Jamie.”
Originally, Ding is from the Detroit area, having graduated from Grosse Pointe North High School in 2009. He graduated from Princeton University in 2013.
Ding told his alma mater that being on the show is “phenomenal.”
He and his sister have a Instagram account where they review General Tsos chicken at restaurants called: @attorneygeneraltsos. Ding talked about it on the show.
New Jersey offers some fantastic spots for sea glass hunting, particularly along the Delaware Bay and certain parts of the Atlantic coast.
Here are some of the best places to increase your chances of finding frosted treasures:
Jersey Shore
- Barnegat Light: Many sea glass enthusiasts recommend Barnegat Light, especially by the jetty. Look in the sand and around the jetty rocks.
- Popamora Point Beach (Highlands): A free, clean state park beach with good potential, offering views of the Sandy Hook Bay.
- Bay Head: This peaceful Ocean County beach has gained a reputation as a great sea glass destination and is often less crowded than other spots.
- Sandy Hook (Bayside): While the ocean side might not be as fruitful, the bay side of Sandy Hook can yield good results.
South Jersey
- East Point Beach (Heislerville, Maurice River Township): This hidden gem where the Delaware River and Maurice River meet the bay is excellent. The area has a rich history of glass production and shipwrecks, contributing to the sea glass supply.
- Higbee Beach (Cape May): Another Delaware Bay gem, known for its rustic feel and good potential for sea glass, pottery shards and old bottles.
- Sunset Beach (Cape May): This is perhaps the most famous spot in New Jersey for sea glass and for “Cape May Diamonds” (naturally tumbled quartz). The Delaware Bay beaches tend to yield more glass due to historical shipping activity and less intensive beach replenishment compared to some oceanfront areas.
- Townbank (Cape May): Located on the Delaware Bay and often cited by local hunters for its good finds.
Where to look for sea glass
- High tide wrack line: This is the line of debris left by the highest tide, often containing shells, driftwood and, yes, sea glass.
- Rocky or pebbly beaches: Sea glass tumbles and smooths more effectively on beaches with a mix of sand and pebbles or rocks. Heavily raked sandy beaches are generally less productive.
- Near inlets, bays and historic areas: Areas with historical shipping, fishing or even old dump sites can be great sources of old glass that has been tumbling for decades.
- Near jetties: These structures can trap debris, including sea glass.
What is sea glass?
Sea glass is essentially nature’s polished gemstone, born from discarded glass that has been transformed by the persistent forces of the ocean. Imagine a broken bottle or piece of tableware tossed into the sea. Instead of remaining a sharp, dangerous shard, it embarks on a multi-decade journey of transformation.
Sea glass occurs in a spectrum of colors, reflecting its original source. Common hues include greens, browns and clear/white, primarily from bottles and jars. Rarer colors like blue, purple, red, orange and yellow are highly prized by collectors, often originating from older or less common glass items such as medicine bottles, insulators or specialized art glass.
The Garden State is expected to see a quick shift in weather Easter Sunday, with low clouds and pockets of dense fog in the morning giving way to warmer temperatures and thunderstorms by midday, according to the National Weather Service.
Forecasters note that areas north of a warm front were seeing low clouds and locally dense fog Sunday morning. That front is expected to lift north after daybreak, leading to temperatures in the 60s and 70s later in the morning. The warmer stretch is not expected to last long.
A cold front is forecast to approach by midday, bringing a line of showers and isolated thunderstorms
The National Weather Service said some storms could be strong to severe. A Marginal risk was in place Sunday across the Delmarva region and southern New Jersey.
According to the weather service, the primary threat with the stronger storms is locally damaging winds. The forecast does not list other threats in the source material provided. Residents in areas included in the Marginal risk may want to keep an eye on changing conditions through the middle of the day as the front moves in.
The setup points to a fast-changing day for people making outdoor plans. Morning fog and low cloud cover are expected to improve after daybreak as the warm front lifts north, but the window for milder weather may be brief before the next system arrives. By midday, showers and isolated thunderstorms are expected to develop along the approaching cold front.
The National Weather Service did not provide a more specific timetable in the source beyond saying the cold front would approach by midday and that the warm front would lift north after daybreak. It also did not identify individual towns expected to see the strongest conditions.
The forecast area highlighted for the stronger storm risk includes southern New Jersey and Delmarva.
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