My folks have a vacation home near Denver, it's such a wonderful city. One of my best friends moved there from DC to work on a political campaign and never left he just loves it so much.
I can see living in Boulder, on one of the streets in the old town near the Boulderado Hotel, that would be wonderful. I'd keep well away from the CU campus. I don't understand the enthusiasm for Denver, it strikes me as a pretty boring city, nice ballpark though.
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Join Date: Mar 2003
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Re: How to verify/roadtest an ER budget?
Quote:
Originally Posted by saluki9
I would also use the calculator from the CFA institute to see what investment jobs are paying out there. There are plenty of fund companies in Denver where I'm sure you could get a M-F 9-5 job with decent benefits.
Actually, the thought is that in a few years we should have a large enough stash to semi-retire. DW and I would probably pursue our chosen professions on a PT, sole proprietor basis that could be dialled up or down as we wished. DW already does this with her counseling business, and i think I could do it with a fee-based planner business. But its nice to know there are full-time gigs out there if I need one.
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I thought she confused Brewer with you... not that there's anything wrong with that!
Quote:
Originally Posted by brewer12345
I guess I just wonder if I am missing an elephant in the room, since cost of living appears to be a lot lower. Aside from liking the area, the lower COL potentially shaves 5 to 8 years off my need to work hard. So I cannot help but wonder where the catch is.
You live in NJ and work in NYC-- just about everywhere else in America is cheaper!!
I suspect that Denver won't pay as well for what you do in NYC. But you'll still come out ahead.
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I suspect that Denver won't pay as well for what you do in NYC. But you'll still come out ahead.
[/quote]
You'll probably have a less stressful and happier life as well. DH does a lot of business in Denver and says that Friday at noon a lot folks leave work and head for the mountains. It's not about being a workaholic in Denver, its about balance and enjoying life!
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Re: How to verify/roadtest an ER budget?
I'd think that if you track all your expenses with careful categorization, you can then do a pretty good estimate how each category will be different.
Here's the spreadsheet that I did after we moved to the boonies from the SF bay area (in 1999). Note that a lot of things change when you semi retire. In our case, DW retired at this point, so we had to pay our own health insurance, we eliminated maid and life insurance on DW, we paid off the mortgage. We had an antenna instead of cable before me moved.
Adjusted for inflation, the savings would be $13,700.
You might call a realtor in CO and see if there are any additional fees/taxes/utilities or benefits in the areas you are looking. There always seems to be something that an out of towner might never think of....
DW and I are toying with a relocation and semi ER, likely 2 to 4 years in the future...
How old will you be if you jump in 2-4 years? It's none of my business, but since you are closer than I am (~8-10yrs), I'm living vicariously through you...
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Re: How to verify/roadtest an ER budget?
Quote:
Originally Posted by bow-tie
How old will you be if you jump in 2-4 years? It's none of my business, but since you are closer than I am (~8-10yrs), I'm living vicariously through you...
33YO now. 2 years would be a real stretch goal/"help I am burning out" scenario. Portfolio safety at our target would require generating maybe $20k of a $50k estimated budget for several years, which wouldn't be too tough.
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You might call a realtor in CO and see if there are any additional fees/taxes/utilities or benefits in the areas you are looking. There always seems to be something that an out of towner might never think of....
I had a link that was specific to buying in the Mountain West -- Colo, Wyoming, etc.
Southern Flatlanders like me might never think to ask about water rights, grazing rights, mineral rights, covenants, restrictions, encumbrances, etc. In Colo, there are a lot of beautiful places that are in some sort of set aside/reserve program, so you may own the land, but you may not be able to clear it or use it for whatever purposes you have in mind. I think it even went into the social, cultural, and and ethos differences of thinking, that are unique to that region.
Brewer, the catch/tradeoff for cheaper COL in Denver is you will no longer have proximity to a world class city, nor water; it's harder to get good deals on airfare from here. For all the sunshine here, there is a disheartening lack of GREEN compared to where you are coming from.
You must already have some things aside from COL that appeal to you about Denver, though. I am sure the rhythm of life is much more relaxed here, as Barbara Anne mentioned.
Brewer, the catch/tradeoff for cheaper COL in Denver is you will no longer have proximity to a world class city, nor water; it's harder to get good deals on airfare from here. For all the sunshine here, there is a disheartening lack of GREEN compared to where you are coming from.
You must already have some things aside from COL that appeal to you about Denver, though. I am sure the rhythm of life is much more relaxed here, as Barbara Anne mentioned.
I think it all depends on what you think makes a "world class city" many of those things that other would consider important don't appeal to me.
Who knows, maybe Brewer goes to the ballet frequently?
Typical Colo rural county gov site - take a look at tabs on left to see how things are handled for landfill, zoning, sheriff, etc: http://www.custercountygov.com/
Brewer, I don't know anything about Denver but I did relocate from Boston to Portland, OR. The difference in the COL was amazing. I didn't have **** when I moved here after living and working in Boston for 8 years.
Even though Oregon has a higher state income tax rate I firmly believe I pay a lot less in taxes here than I did in Boston. Plus, the dollar really goes farther. I couldn't touch real estate back there, but I bought a place on three acres with a trout stream in my back yard and paid it off in three years.
The best benefit is that there is so much more to do here for free. I can spend a weekend backpacking or go on a long hike, or go to the beach and park for free. In Boston I felt I was being nickle and dimed to death.
Plus, when I relocated I took my Boston salary with me. I switched jobs after a year and a half and think I'm still making what I would have been making back there.
The East Coast is really expensive. You may very well improve the quality of your life while decreasing your expenses.
Brewer, I don't know anything about Denver but I did relocate from Boston to Portland, OR. The difference in the COL was amazing. I didn't have **** when I moved here after living and working in Boston for 8 years.
just make sure you don't have kids that you plan on having in public school. Oregon has totally trashed its educational system. Other than that, it has a lot going for it.
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Brewer, I'm happy for you and jealous at the same time. To be in that position already! I'm your age and no where near that point.
Like everybody else said, there probably isn't a "catch", you are in a high rent district right now. I would save a bundle moving from SD to Denver. I love Colorado, it's not as blue a state as NJ, but it has all types and is pretty tolerant. For some reason, this conversation seems familiar, but as long as your wife is 100% for the move, it's a no-brainer. If you play the "what's the worst that can happen" game, you quickly realize that's finding out CO isn't for you, moving back to Joisey, and adding a couple years to the ER date. Meanwhile you tried it and never wonder, "what if".
Plus, if you move to Denver, I only have to drive two days to drink your home brew.
The DW and I plan to retire to Fremont County so this is very interesting. We have a lot of friends in Denver so we can drive up there to mooch off them but figure that being out in the sticks will offer more hiking opportunities.
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Re: How to verify/roadtest an ER budget?
Quote:
Originally Posted by brewer12345
Actually, the thought is that in a few years we should have a large enough stash to semi-retire. DW and I would probably pursue our chosen professions on a PT, sole proprietor basis that could be dialled up or down as we wished. DW already does this with her counseling business, and i think I could do it with a fee-based planner business. But its nice to know there are full-time gigs out there if I need one.
Hey I'm all for it. You can then start giving me specific names when you make investment advice here. Colorado would be a great choice to relocate. One of my favorite places to visit. Good luck with your plans.
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Re: How to verify/roadtest an ER budget?
Quote:
Originally Posted by DOG52
Hey I'm all for it. You can then start giving me specific names when you make investment advice here. Colorado would be a great choice to relocate. One of my favorite places to visit. Good luck with your plans.
Heheh, maybe I will also start a stock-picking newsletter or an ad revenue generating blog that talks about stocks. Free trials for er forum folks, of course...
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Join Date: Oct 2005
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Re: How to verify/roadtest an ER budget?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Helen
Plus, when I relocated I took my Boston salary with me. I switched jobs after a year and a half and think I'm still making what I would have been making back there.
Yes, this can be very big. I was fortunate enough to take my Silicon Valley salary with me to Texas when I accepted a job transfer that required relocation four years ago. That's pretty much like an instant 30% raise when factoring in the cost of living and the lack of state income tax. That's what enabled us to start maxing out my 401K and our Roths.
__________________ "Hey, for every ten dollars, that's another hour that I have to be in the work place. That's an hour of my life. And my life is a very finite thing. I have only 'x' number of hours left before I'm dead. So how do I want to use these hours of my life? Do I want to use them just spending it on more crap and more stuff, or do I want to start getting a handle on it and using my life more intelligently?" -- Joe Dominguez (1938 - 1997)
Fill in your salary, where you're coming from and where you're going to. No detail, but its a data point.
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