Cost Of Living Difference (Cape Coral, Fort Myers: health insurance, how much, house)

[MartyGras]

Originally Posted by cviz

I live in the NJ/NY area. I'm an IT Professional and I work for a NYC Based Company. Initially, I was told the position pays within 80K to 90K range. However, my skill set is in high demand and no one on their current staff has the experience that I have. I'm just concerned that a 50K - 60K pay cut may be too great.

I'm not sure of your age but I think a consideration needs to be made for the long term.

I'm also from NJ and yeah everything is a lot more expensive here but so are the salaries.

Looking long term I think it makes more sense to stay in NJ earning the higher salary, higher real estate appreciation and larger retirement savings and the moving to FLA.

I own a house in FL and will be making a move in the next year or two but my earnings will not change.

Gary

[cviz]

I'm in my early 50's. I understand your point. I'm just getting tired of the rat race so to speak. Would like to enjoy the twilight of my career. If I can find a home, employment-wise, I wouldn't mind riding out the rest of my career in FL. My ultimate dream would be for my existing employer to allow me to work from my Florida home and keep my NY salary. I currently work from home 90% of the time now.

[MartyGras]

Originally Posted by cviz

I'm in my early 50's. I understand your point. I'm just getting tired of the rat race so to speak. Would like to enjoy the twilight of my career. If I can find a home, employment-wise, I wouldn't mind riding out the rest of my career in FL. My ultimate dream would be for my existing employer to allow me to work from my Florida home and keep my NY salary. I currently work from home 90% of the time now.

I understand, I'm 55 myself and can't wait to make the move.

You need to be aware that even thou Florida has no income tax as an employee of a NY company you will still be required to pay NY income tax. The only way to get around that would be if your company had an office in Florida.

Gary

[mattdaddy204]

Originally Posted by cviz

I'm in my early 50's. I understand your point. I'm just getting tired of the rat race so to speak. Would like to enjoy the twilight of my career. If I can find a home, employment-wise, I wouldn't mind riding out the rest of my career in FL. My ultimate dream would be for my existing employer to allow me to work from my Florida home and keep my NY salary. I currently work from home 90% of the time now.

So why don't you buy a house in CC and rent it out for a little while longer before you move down. That way you could practically pay down the house with your current high income and move later after the house is paid down a bit and refinance. Your lower salary would cover the lower payments and you could wind down your career and start enjoying the twilight years.

[meekocat]

Depending on what you do for a living? I do Help Desk, Desktop Support, Data Center Operations, I made 40k+ in Denver, Colorado, here they only want to pay $9 - $13 an hour for EXPERIENCED, degreed, certified people. They are NUTS.

[meekocat]

Also the one thing I didn't look at before moving, because of how unstable the IT world is, the MAXIMUM UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFIT HERE IS $275 per week. My max benefit in Colorado after getting laid off is $513 per week. And Florida wonders why they have so much crime (robbery and #1 FRAUD state in the country).

[meekocat]

Originally Posted by wjj

Same here. I paid a little over $400 last summer to register a car in FL. It was a lot in my opinion and the process was crazy, but the ongoing annual renewals are much less than what I pay in Illinois. So over several years, it all evens out. Note that this is a one time fee for registering a car the first time in the state. If you trade it in for another car in FL, there is only a small transfer fee and you do not get hit for $400 again.

It's higher than that. We just registered our last two cars, and both were over $500 and now registered until May 2015. The downside is there is no 30 day grace period, and they all expire at the same time on your birthday.

My annual renewal in Colorado isn't any more than it is here so it's not saving anything and won't. They told me the annual renewal will stay at $75.00 a year, in other states the renewal will usually keep dropping down. Upside is there are no emissions here but $20 every other year is not much to worry about.

[meekocat]

Originally Posted by cviz

I live in the NJ/NY area. I'm an IT Professional and I work for a NYC Based Company. Initially, I was told the position pays within 80K to 90K range. However, my skill set is in high demand and no one on their current staff has the experience that I have. I'm just concerned that a 50K - 60K pay cut may be too great.

I applied for a remote in home customer care position with Apple (part time). In Denver, the pay was $16.50 an hour, here in SW Florida it is $14.50 an hour. They couldn't explain to me why the difference in pay. What I don't understand is where equal pay for equal work fits in. I can only imagine in LA or SF the pay rate is more like $30.50 an hour.

[MartyGras]

Originally Posted by mattdaddy204

So why don't you buy a house in CC and rent it out for a little while longer before you move down. That way you could practically pay down the house with your current high income and move later after the house is paid down a bit and refinance. Your lower salary would cover the lower payments and you could wind down your career and start enjoying the twilight years.

If you read the OP it starts out with :

"I've owned a home in Cape Coral for several years now. We rent it out as a Vacation Rental when we are not down."

Their question is more about when to make the move

Gary

[cviz]

Thanks Gary.

Had an interview recently with a large firm in Fort Myers and I believe it went very well. So we'll see what they offer. I told them what I was looking for and they did not seem to be overly concerned. I'm a Senior Network Engineer.