Here's a statement of the obvious: The opinions expressed here are those of the participants, not those of the Mutual Fund Observer. We cannot vouch for the accuracy or appropriateness of any of it, though we do encourage civility and good humor.
Your points are all very valid. We have always discussed this aspect with the young ones in the family. One in particular, obtained her law degree from the U. of Michigan. 'Course, she was young and inspired and thought about going to D.C. to start work; kick butt and take names thing. We directed her to the below web site or one very similar; so that she could determine how much money she needed for salary to live there, versus Michigan. She has a comfortable job, in Michigan; associated with her degree and a nice home. Most of Michigan is very affordable.
Other family members recently returned to Michigan with their last residence being in South Orange, NJ. They had a decent home in that city; but not the most expensive one in the area; and their annual real estate taxes were $25,000. Ouch!
Keep the weather warm & hurricanes out of there tampabay. We'll be hanging out next month. --- I've found we tend to adjust our life styles to our income by and large. Pitch cable and save $100+ a month.
Rely soley on public wifi and save another $50-100.
Drive a clunker and save a bunch on car & insurance.
Eat copious quantiles of macaroni & cheese and your grocery bill shrinks - but your waist line expands.
Eat copious quantiles of macaroni & cheese and your grocery bill shrinks - but your waist line expands.
It absolutely costs more to eat healthy.
The flip side of that is that health insurance may cost less for those (healthy) people who can most afford to pay for insurance.
Found this related item about North Shore - LIJ Care Connect - a new individual insurer, affiliated with North Shore LIJ (a hospital complex serving primarily Long Island, NY):
"North Shore-LIJ Care Connect ... [is requesting] for next year a decrease of 1.3 percent. ... North Shore-LIJ also had a large proportion of members take up Platinum memberships—the most expensive—which could indicate that their customer base was generally better off and therefore in better health, and lower cost to insure." http://www.northshorelij.com/hospitals/news/behind-new-yorks-2015-health-insurance-rates
"My guess is that there are 'OLDER' posters here born earlier then apx 1960 or '64 who have large assets who will disagree with me on the difficulty of accumulating $1M"
No sir, as a mater of fact I not only agree with you 100% but I have often expressed my concern over that fact. Our generation had a much easier and better chance to accumulate significant resources by being frugal and saving/investing as much as possible. These days the system is so rigged against workers that they are increasingly lucky to even have a stable 40hr/week decent paying job with minimal benefits.
Historically, if this type of situation is allowed to persist and degenerate, significant social unrest has sometimes been the result.
Comments
Your points are all very valid. We have always discussed this aspect with the young ones in the family. One in particular, obtained her law degree from the U. of Michigan. 'Course, she was young and inspired and thought about going to D.C. to start work; kick butt and take names thing. We directed her to the below web site or one very similar; so that she could determine how much money she needed for salary to live there, versus Michigan. She has a comfortable job, in Michigan; associated with her degree and a nice home. Most of Michigan is very affordable.
Other family members recently returned to Michigan with their last residence being in South Orange, NJ. They had a decent home in that city; but not the most expensive one in the area; and their annual real estate taxes were $25,000. Ouch!
Compare cost of living
Thanks for your input.
Catch
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I've found we tend to adjust our life styles to our income by and large. Pitch cable and save $100+ a month.
Rely soley on public wifi and save another $50-100.
Drive a clunker and save a bunch on car & insurance.
Eat copious quantiles of macaroni & cheese and your grocery bill shrinks - but your waist line expands.
It absolutely costs more to eat healthy.
Found this related item about North Shore - LIJ Care Connect - a new individual insurer, affiliated with North Shore LIJ (a hospital complex serving primarily Long Island, NY):
"North Shore-LIJ Care Connect ... [is requesting] for next year a decrease of 1.3 percent. ... North Shore-LIJ also had a large proportion of members take up Platinum memberships—the most expensive—which could indicate that their customer base was generally better off and therefore in better health, and lower cost to insure."
http://www.northshorelij.com/hospitals/news/behind-new-yorks-2015-health-insurance-rates
No sir, as a mater of fact I not only agree with you 100% but I have often expressed my concern over that fact. Our generation had a much easier and better chance to accumulate significant resources by being frugal and saving/investing as much as possible. These days the system is so rigged against workers that they are increasingly lucky to even have a stable 40hr/week decent paying job with minimal benefits.
Historically, if this type of situation is allowed to persist and degenerate, significant social unrest has sometimes been the result.
never More true than today and the future