Brought up in another thread and I don’t want to derail.
cost of living difference in wages is largely a load of BS and is used as an excuse to pay us Midwesterners and those in the south a far lower wage than our counterparts in the northeast and western states. Sure there is some difference but is it enough that a carpenter wage in indiana should be roughly $32 and in California it’s 53 with double the $ put in pension fund?
Let’s talk about this scenario that almost happened, kids changed it.
For instance my wife and I almost made the move to Oakland CA (I know gross) for financial reasons. I did the math. My wage would more than double, my wife’s wage would go up 400%. Dry goods, groceries, clothes, cars are the same price here as they are in California. The only real difference is housing cost, utilities and taxes. Why do you think everyone in California is driving bmw,Mercedes, and Tesla?
They put the same 6-10% in a retirement account as we do in indiana, only difference is that number is significantly higher. We were going to buy a house there on a 50 year mortgage, no we would never pay it off but if we lived there for 10 years and sold it we could move back to indiana and buy a house with cash.
It was a 10 year plan to put us far ahead of our peers in indiana financially. Now if the “cost of living” reasoning was valid we would be on the same footing as a peer in indiana after 10 years right?
IMO this is the real reason for the exodus of people flooding to the Midwest and Texas from California. They are selling their not paid off houses or the house they paid less than 100k for in the 70’s and 80’s for more than enough to buy a expensive mini mansion in Carmel for cash. I personally know someone who left the Chicago suburbs and told me “how affordable” Carmel is.
cost of living difference in wages is largely a load of BS and is used as an excuse to pay us Midwesterners and those in the south a far lower wage than our counterparts in the northeast and western states. Sure there is some difference but is it enough that a carpenter wage in indiana should be roughly $32 and in California it’s 53 with double the $ put in pension fund?
Let’s talk about this scenario that almost happened, kids changed it.
For instance my wife and I almost made the move to Oakland CA (I know gross) for financial reasons. I did the math. My wage would more than double, my wife’s wage would go up 400%. Dry goods, groceries, clothes, cars are the same price here as they are in California. The only real difference is housing cost, utilities and taxes. Why do you think everyone in California is driving bmw,Mercedes, and Tesla?
They put the same 6-10% in a retirement account as we do in indiana, only difference is that number is significantly higher. We were going to buy a house there on a 50 year mortgage, no we would never pay it off but if we lived there for 10 years and sold it we could move back to indiana and buy a house with cash.
It was a 10 year plan to put us far ahead of our peers in indiana financially. Now if the “cost of living” reasoning was valid we would be on the same footing as a peer in indiana after 10 years right?
IMO this is the real reason for the exodus of people flooding to the Midwest and Texas from California. They are selling their not paid off houses or the house they paid less than 100k for in the 70’s and 80’s for more than enough to buy a expensive mini mansion in Carmel for cash. I personally know someone who left the Chicago suburbs and told me “how affordable” Carmel is.
