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Old 10-09-2018, 04:53 PM   #61
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You found the secret to cheap living in retirement - love where you live. It is probably the single most important factor in living an inexpensive lifestyle in retirement. Congrats.
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Old 10-09-2018, 04:56 PM   #62
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I traded one HCOL city for another one in a different country and saved and made alot of money in the process!
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Old 10-09-2018, 05:06 PM   #63
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Originally Posted by ShokWaveRider View Post
Where we are by far the best parts are (In order):

1) The non compromising access too top notch health care, ACA plans are plentiful and well priced.
2) Beach Access (Walking distance), beach quality is superb
3) Everything one needs is within a 5 mile radius
4) A big city within 40 mins for the big stuff

Home prices (in the good areas) are a little on the high side but not as bad a southern California, RE taxes are reasonable. ~$400k - $800k gets you a reasonable ~2800 - 3500 sqft home in a great area. If you want to go a little inland into the sauna you can get a nice place ~$300 - $600k.
1. check ,no need for aca.
2. check, although it is a surfing beach and if sharks swim in schools, I am pretty sure I saw a school of them today while I was eating lunch out on the Palisades.
3.Check , only everything here is within 16 blocks.
4. check, with 10 million people , we are the big city!
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Old 10-09-2018, 07:35 PM   #64
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We did the exact same thing! Wonder if we're in the same town?

The high cost of real estate here means we don't live in our dream house; but, millions of acres of open space and trails, snow capped mountains, fresh air, free events, top notch amenities, healthy living, and a beach vacation once or twice a year make living in the CO mountains an easy decision!
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Old 10-09-2018, 08:09 PM   #65
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Our prior residence was in a prairie city - no forests, no ocean, no views, few lakes, parks and trees with not great weather most of the year. In summer it as too hot to go out much. We went out to eat often but overall we were really bored on the weekends and cooped up inside quite a bit. For our next move we picked a location mainly based on weather, scenery, hiking and things to do. We just decided that for us we would rather have a lot to do and be surrounded by natural beauty even if it meant not having as big or new of a house as we could elsewhere.
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Old 10-09-2018, 08:47 PM   #66
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We have a property in both Southern California and Palm Beach County Florida (as well as one in Europe). If you own your property free and clear and you have had your home for a while, Southern California can be pretty an inexpensive place to live. Only 18% of homeowners in Los Angeles County own their homes free and clear, which may explain why people complain how expensive it is to live in California. You don't have the run-away property tax increases that other states like Florida has. Proposition-13 protects you from that.

In 1995 our property tax in California was $3300 per year. We were re-assessed a few times due to the addition of the pool and other improvements but after 23 years our property tax is $5700. The value of our home is 4.6 times higher than in it was in 1995.

Contrast that with Florida. When we purchased our intra-coastal condo in 2011 in an all cash transaction, the taxes were $1872 per year and last year it was $4500 per year and it's going up to $4700 this year. The valuation has increased by 3.7 since 2011. A home with the same valuation as ours in California would be taxed at over $21K in Florida. Home insurance costs are extremely expensive in Florida. Finding coverage in coastal areas is difficult if you have a home.

At the moment our fixed non-discretionary expenses for our condo in Florida are more than our home in Southern California.

In addition to amenities and entertainment, the other consideration is travel. Los Angeles is a popular travel hub where you can get good airline ticket prices to Europe or Asia or most major cities in the US and Canada.

As far as health care facilities, Cedar Sinai and UCLA are much better healthcare facilities that I have seen in South East Florida which is much better than other parts of Florida. We pray that we don't need serious medical attention in Florida. Many of the doctors that live in our building in Florida are in worst shape than many of their patients. Oddly enough a lot of people in South East Florida are transplants from New York and New Jersey.

We were looking into changing our residence to Florida for income tax purpose, but after considering property taxes, insurance, healthcare, we are going to stay put for now and use our condo in Florida as our hub to the Caribbean.
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YMMV, for sure
Old 10-09-2018, 10:01 PM   #67
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YMMV, for sure

Interesting discussion, and good food for thought. I tend to agree with the poster who referenced "Cost of Living Is Really All About Housing", including property taxes and insurance. The latter hadn't occurred to me as property insurance has never been too high for me, so it's been enlightening to read about the high costs in FL, etc.

Ironically, it would probably be cheaper for me to move back to HCOL Bay Area for retirement, as I already have housing (condo that's currently rented out) and the property taxes are 1/3 of what I pay in Oregon (where my house is worth 1/3 less). Other expenses are about the same or less (utilities, for example). I'd lose the rental income, but could make it up with either a housemate or short-term rental while I travel.

But...I'd hate the traffic, congestion and collective stress I feel there, and would miss the four seasons, readily accessible outdoor recreation and generally good quality of life of my current MCOL city. So I'll stay in place, for now anyway.
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Old 10-10-2018, 07:16 AM   #68
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Originally Posted by gooddog View Post
You found the secret to cheap living in retirement - love where you live. It is probably the single most important factor in living an inexpensive lifestyle in retirement. Congrats.


I agree completely. We just don’t need to spend to make us happy here. Just looking at the view everyday reminds us how blessed we are. Now it needs to stops raining and start snowing!
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Saving money by moving to a "HCOL" area?
Old 10-10-2018, 07:21 AM   #69
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Saving money by moving to a "HCOL" area?

Quote:
Originally Posted by cb7010 View Post
We did the exact same thing! Wonder if we're in the same town?



The high cost of real estate here means we don't live in our dream house; but, millions of acres of open space and trails, snow capped mountains, fresh air, free events, top notch amenities, healthy living, and a beach vacation once or twice a year make living in the CO mountains an easy decision!


Maybe...[emoji3][emoji961][emoji467]

Housing was definitely our biggest challenge, but we’ve always lived by the “worst house in the best location motto” and it served us well again. We found a house that had been a short term rental for ten years. Was definitely a diamond in the rough that wasn’t selling because it was just filthy.

Once we found it we knew this was going to work out great.

Like you, loving CO life!
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Old 10-10-2018, 02:18 PM   #70
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Thank you, DayLate! I'll register on Goldstar today!

I hope you find some good deals. Facebook is another great source. I sign up for feeds for all the local theater groups, parks events, our favorite bands, tourist boards, etc. and usually at least one or two fun events pop up every day. Today I just bought half price tickets for a theatrical version of Rocky Horror Picture show on a one day Facebook deal.
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Old 10-10-2018, 08:51 PM   #71
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If we ever left northern Nevada we couldn’t afford to come back unless prices crashed again and I don’t think that will happen. They are crazy high for here
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