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Old 01-03-2012, 10:03 PM
 
Location: My Own Private Island
258 posts, read 614,774 times
Reputation: 264

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ultrarunner View Post
Not everyone is a slave to the Dollar ...
Ask yourself a simple question: Might you have a job, or perhaps own a business? Can you walk away from that 9-5 tommorrow? If you cannot, then you are a slave to the U.S. Dollar.
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Old 01-03-2012, 11:33 PM
 
28,115 posts, read 63,672,505 times
Reputation: 23268
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr.Kurtz View Post
Fort Myers is a well known undesirable area. IMO, a dump. I would never live there. Perhaps your neighbors didn't do enough research before relocating. Blame them, not the city they chose to relocate. Better yet, move to Arizona because it's so much closer to CA.

Ta ta...
They have family in the area...

California... like Florida has a wide variety of offerings...
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Old 01-03-2012, 11:38 PM
 
28,115 posts, read 63,672,505 times
Reputation: 23268
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr.Kurtz View Post
Ask yourself a simple question: Might you have a job, or perhaps own a business? Can you walk away from that 9-5 tommorrow? If you cannot, then you are a slave to the U.S. Dollar.
Funny you should say that...

I have worked closely with missionary and have several Mormon neighbors... I'm not a Mormon...

There are also many retired that do just fine in California... one of the guys I went to High School with retired at age 51 from the OPD and he was not the Chief... his retirement is 180k a year plus full medical...

A former teacher of mine lives in Carmel... she joined an order of nuns...

Just saying not everyone is a slave... some of modest means do have options... especially more so if there are no dependants involved.

My Dental Hygienist works two days a week... her schedule is always full... she said she could easily work the 6 days the office is open but money isn't that important to her... she spends her free time doing volunteer work with the animal shelter mostly.
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Old 01-04-2012, 12:06 AM
 
1,027 posts, read 1,949,414 times
Reputation: 551
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ultrarunner View Post
My Dental Hygienist works two days a week... her schedule is always full... she said she could easily work the 6 days the office is open but money isn't that important to her... she spends her free time doing volunteer work with the animal shelter mostly.
So, let me guess she either is a home owner cause she inherited one from family, or will inherit. Otherwise she wouldn't be working "2 days a week" in CA. Cause if she gets sick and has no home or significant savings... she may die on the street I've seen that. Wouldn't want to end up in subsidized housing either, seen these ghettos. A lot of Mormons are quite rich actually and conduct business just the same way as average Joe. Yes, in California people are either: living off drug dealing, or off public assistance, or slaving to the money or came from old money/inherited real estate. Of course you can still find examples of disappearing middle class, plucked from here and there once in a while.

Last edited by Ultrarunner; 01-04-2012 at 11:48 AM..
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Old 01-04-2012, 12:08 AM
 
7,150 posts, read 10,898,467 times
Reputation: 3806
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr.Kurtz View Post
Ask yourself a simple question: Might you have a job, or perhaps own a business? Can you walk away from that 9-5 tommorrow? If you cannot, then you are a slave to the U.S. Dollar.
No job. No business. No need for much of anything. Live in a van and on a boat. Love it. Guaranteed incomes as strong as if I were a congressman. Net worth in income real estate. Don't spend it or draw it down for any reason.

And yet: I'm still a slave to the U.S. dollar, Mr. Kurtz. As are you and everyone in the world. If the dollar should happen to fall, 99 bottles of beer on the wall is about all that will be left. Everything you claim in your fantasy posts relies on the US dollar: the exotic places you travel to in your dream world on yachts and jets, your golden crib, your sensuous women (we know how they love to hook up with old fat bald guys as true soul mates) ... yea, verily, it all goes down the toilet. Yes, even your gold neck chains with the big pocket watch dangling will be worthless to you -- because it will have been snatched by either the girls or some really big guys named Bubba and Horace ... oh, and you will be dead. Can you walk away from that Mr. Kurtz? Before you answer: it's time for your medication.
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Old 01-04-2012, 08:42 AM
 
Location: Paranoid State
13,044 posts, read 13,867,365 times
Reputation: 15839
Quote:
Originally Posted by .highnlite View Post
... True, housing costs are high here, but, once you nail that, I don't see other things any higher in CA...
Some things are higher. It seems to me that the price of housing permeates many other industries - especially small businesses, who in turn have employees, who in turn live in CA.

NYC has the same issue - except even more so.




Quote:
Originally Posted by .highnlite View Post
... Demand drives prices, CA prices are not high because of some cartel, but because California is a desirable place to live.

And for instance, Mississippi ain't.
Truer words have never been spoken.
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Old 01-04-2012, 09:41 AM
pll
 
1,112 posts, read 2,486,586 times
Reputation: 1130
Where you choose to live and how much you pay for your home is going to determine how far your money will go. I lived about 10 minutes driving distance from the ocean for 13 years and forgot it was there. Also, when and if you have children your priorities will change. You will want good schools and a safe community for your family. Sometimes coastal towns can have shady people.

Remember, you can live inland and drive to the ocean. You will save a lot of money.
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Old 01-04-2012, 11:52 AM
 
28,115 posts, read 63,672,505 times
Reputation: 23268
Quote:
Originally Posted by alexxiz View Post
So, let me guess she either is a home owner cause she inherited one from family, or will inherit. Otherwise she wouldn't be working "2 days a week" in CA. Cause if she gets sick and has no home or significant savings... she may die on the street I've seen that. Wouldn't want to end up in subsidized housing either, seen these ghettos. A lot of Mormons are quite rich actually and conduct business just the same way as average Joe. Yes, in California people are either: living off drug dealing, or off public assistance, or slaving to the money or came from old money/inherited real estate. Of course you can still find examples of disappearing middle class, plucked from here and there once in a while.
She is married... her husband is retired... from what I don't know.

They have no children and have been renting in the same building for years... he does offset the rent by being an assistant manager of sorts...

Just saying some turn down the opportunity to easily double their income..

Can't speak for Mormons... other than I have never met a "Bad" one... they make great neighbors... speaking from experience.
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Old 01-04-2012, 12:53 PM
 
15 posts, read 41,930 times
Reputation: 26
You are obviously looking in the expensive areas! In Fresno you can buy a nice home for 250k. My family lives on a 30k per yr. income and make it just fine! We don't have expensive vehicle loans or credit card loans! You will be absolutly fine on your income-trust me!
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Old 01-04-2012, 01:19 PM
 
812 posts, read 1,470,559 times
Reputation: 2134
Quote:
Originally Posted by .highnlite View Post
True, housing costs are high here, but, once you nail that, I don't see other things any higher in CA.
Love it. Kind of like ... true, it's dangerous to be in a cage with a tiger, but, once you subdue the tiger with your bare hands, being in a cage for awhile ain't so bad!

The friends I grew up with in coastal CA who found a way to "nail" the housing issue and who are in the process of raising reasonably normal families in CA (only 2 out of roughly 10-12 close childhood friends managed to achieve this fairly basic goal) did so in two ways: (1) one friend's wife's father gave them a paid-off two-bedroom house several blocks from the beach and (2) another friend worked for a Fortune 500 tech-company outside the US for 10+ years aquiring income/assets and then moved back to coastal CA to be closer to family at the height of the (most recent) real-estate bubble and has seen his home lose roughly $500K in "value." I guess you could say they both "nailed" the housing thing, but I am personally thankful every day that I can pursue the American dream in a beatiful non-congested non-CA locale without having to engage in that crazy game of financial Russian Roulette.
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