Relocation advice

[remydat]

http://taxfoundation.org/blog/real-value-100-each-state

Thought this might be useful. Lists the purchasing power of $100 in all 52 states. Cheapest states are Mississippi, Arkansas, Missouri, Alabama, and South Dakota.

 

[botfly10]

Such a fallacy. Places where cost of living is low also tend to have below average wages.

 

[Omeletpants]

Such a fallacy. Places where cost of living is low also tend to have below average wages.

Sometimes. Take John Deere in Moline for example. Everyone there makes every bit of what they would make downtown Chicago. yet cost of living is lower. Besides top notch salaries there is profit sharing, stock options , low cost/no cost health care and crazy good retirement benefits.

 

[botfly10]

John Deere has offices in downtown chicago?

 

[JimJohnson]

Such a fallacy. Places where cost of living is low also tend to have below average wages.

Unless you have your own business and can work anywhere. Then you could dominate in places like Alabama and Mississippi.

 

[DrGonzo]

Unless you have your own business and can work anywhere. Then you could dominate in places like Alabama and Mississippi.

Domination is boring.

 

[nvanprooyen]

Unless you have your own business and can work anywhere. Then you could dominate in places like Alabama and Mississippi.

If you're gonna do that, why bother with a boring shit hole like Mississippi. Go abroad and live like a fucking king. If I didn't have a family etc I would have done this a long time ago.

 

[wklink]

I live in Olympia Washington and love the area. Came here on the Army plan and stayed here after retiring.

A lot of people (most that don't live here) talk about the rain and the weather but in all honesty, it isn't that bad. We might get snow or ice a half a dozen times a year and most of the winters are in the 35-40 degree range. We had a couple of days in the 20s otherwise the temps are mild. It does get dreary and rainy here in the winter but I don't think the gray is really much different from the gray snowy days we would get back in Illinois. The summers are fantastic, usually in the 80s, sunny from mid june until late september.

There is a lot to do, I am less than three hours from the coast and the mountains. Houses in the Oly/Tacoma area average around 300K for a 2200sqft home and there is no income tax. I pay less in taxes here in Olympia than I did in Galesburg and my house is valued at four times the cost of my old home.

 

[Nail Polish]

I live in Olympia Washington and love the area. Came here on the Army plan and stayed here after retiring.

A lot of people (most that don't live here) talk about the rain and the weather but in all honesty, it isn't that bad. We might get snow or ice a half a dozen times a year and most of the winters are in the 35-40 degree range. We had a couple of days in the 20s otherwise the temps are mild. It does get dreary and rainy here in the winter but I don't think the gray is really much different from the gray snowy days we would get back in Illinois. The summers are fantastic, usually in the 80s, sunny from mid june until late september.

There is a lot to do, I am less than three hours from the coast and the mountains. Houses in the Oly/Tacoma area average around 300K for a 2200sqft home and there is no income tax. I pay less in taxes here in Olympia than I did in Galesburg and my house is valued at four times the cost of my old home.

My wife and I vacationed at Lake Quinalt years back..That whole area is beautiful

 

[KittiesKorner]

It's spelled la quinta

 

[Nail Polish]

lol

 

[ChiSoxCity]

I live in Olympia Washington and love the area. Came here on the Army plan and stayed here after retiring.

A lot of people (most that don't live here) talk about the rain and the weather but in all honesty, it isn't that bad. We might get snow or ice a half a dozen times a year and most of the winters are in the 35-40 degree range. We had a couple of days in the 20s otherwise the temps are mild. It does get dreary and rainy here in the winter but I don't think the gray is really much different from the gray snowy days we would get back in Illinois. The summers are fantastic, usually in the 80s, sunny from mid june until late september.

There is a lot to do, I am less than three hours from the coast and the mountains. Houses in the Oly/Tacoma area average around 300K for a 2200sqft home and there is no income tax. I pay less in taxes here in Olympia than I did in Galesburg and my house is valued at four times the cost of my old home.

Washington is high on my list... lived in Spokane in the early 90s and loved it. I heard bad things about Tacoma though.

 

[JimJohnson]

If you're gonna do that, why bother with a boring shit hole like Mississippi. Go abroad and live like a fucking king. If I didn't have a family etc I would have done this a long time ago.

Where would you go? Some spots are easier than others. If you want to go to Europe, you would need a resident visa and how would you get that if you're running your own small business?

 

[nvanprooyen]

It's been awhile since I've thought about it or looked into it. Since I originally did research, a lot has probably changed in terms of cost of living / exchange rates etc. For me it probably would not be Europe. Few places I was looking into included South America, Central America and Southeast Asia. If you want to do more research, lots of good articles on this site:

http://www.expatexchange.com/libglobal.cfm

 

[ShiftyDevil]

My wife and I vacationed at Lake Quinalt years back..That whole area is beautiful

I spent a few days out there years and years ago, it's a pretty awesome place. Highly recommend renting a cabin and watching the Bald Eagles hunt in the lake, it's pretty cool.

Washington is high on my list... lived in Spokane in the early 90s and loved it. I heard bad things about Tacoma though.

That's because it does kinda suck.

Ft. Lewis is right there, and the port and it used to have a bunch of paper mills. For those of you who don't know, paper mills smell like ass.

The mills have largely closed, and it's gotten nicer, but Tacoma is still mostly industrial, if you go south closer to Olympia it's nice.