Is the job market really that bad??? (Naples, Hampton: mortgage, credit)

[JSnFla]

i really dont know how anyone makes a living in sw fla besides medical or starting their own buisiness.

[ChrisA70]

Well, it's not easy... I'm not doing to well here at all. And even starting business is not going to get you rich. My stepfather is barely keeping afloat with his restaurant. He is in the process of selling it off to get out.

Originally Posted by JSnFla

i really dont know how anyone makes a living in sw fla besides medical or starting their own buisiness.

[nbres]

Originally Posted by JSnFla

wow, thats a really sweet deal, nice job. i dont know of any entry level, first yr jobs that pay 55k in florida...maybe a doctor, lawyer but nothing else. if u move to florida u will take about a 20k salary cut to start.....its difficult to make traditional money down here, u have to go outside the box.

The cut in salary Rachel would have to take to be a teacher in Florida is not worth it. She is making $55,000 now as a first year teacher. That is more than what the average teacher in Florida makes with 25 years of experience. She would have to take an $20,000 pay cut at least and her benifit package would be less as well (Pension, Medical, etc..).

My point being that Florida's lower cost of living is not really any lower. When people say the cost of living is lower there and you can take a cut in pay, that is baloney. The only way to get ahead is if you can get a job in Florida that pays the same as the job in New York. Otherwise you are going to lose income and your standard of living will decrease.

[ChrisA70]

Nbres is right.

ANYONE saying Florida has a low cost of living is full of... Rent here for a 3 bedroom apartment is $900-$1000 average from Fort Myers down to Naples(Naples being higher). Heck most of Floridas towns and cities for that matter. I am from Western Mass. and I can live in the Northampton, Mass. area, Amherst, Hadley, a very nice college town, beautiful area for the same money or LESS. Gas is the same, food is the same or more in places, car insurance is the same, no income tax here... well woopie doo dah. Taxes on Clothes and everything else at 6%-8% in Fl. makes up for no income tax... trust me. People just don't see that.

Also, wages between here and say NY, MA, CT, etc. Are NIGHT AND DAY. In my type of work I can make $18-$24 per hour in Mass., here $10-$14. Lousy health insurance. I won't even drag weather into this this time.

Originally Posted by nbres

The cut in salary Rachel would have to take to be a teacher in Florida is not worth it. She is making $55,000 now as a first year teacher. That is more than what the average teacher in Florida makes with 25 years of experience. She would have to take an $20,000 pay cut at least and her benifit package would be less as well (Pension, Medical, etc..).

My point being that Florida's lower cost of living is not really any lower. When people say the cost of living is lower there and you can take a cut in pay, that is baloney. The only way to get ahead is if you can get a job in Florida that pays the same as the job in New York. Otherwise you are going to lose income and your standard of living will decrease.

[NY62]

Amen !!!! I agree, now you will get clobbered just like me . LOL

[ChrisA70]

That's fine that you are doing what you are to be happy, I am doing the same with Florida too. This time my whole family is moving back up, so I know I won't have to come back here for anything. Didn't bash New England, just wasn't used to cold and winter, but I am determined to get that out of my system this time.

Can't we all just get along??? LOL!!!! Everyone has thier own opinions, lets just respect that, ok?

Originally Posted by Go_get_happy

LOL ahh yeah lets go look up every post I wrote shall we? We can do the same and see how much you bashed the NE... I wrote all of that (HAVEN'T I SAID THIS TO YOU LIKE A MILLION TIMES ALREADY THOUGH?) Before I even lived through a NE winter and once I did corrected myself about how wrong I was and how I should have listened to northerners when they told me stories about it. As I said in my above post I learned my lesson and won't be making that mistake of going back up again!!

[Go_get_happy]

Originally Posted by BacktoFLigo

That's fine that you are doing what you are to be happy, I am doing the same with Florida too. This time my whole family is moving back up, so I know I won't have to come back here for anything. Didn't bash New England, just wasn't used to cold and winter, but I am determined to get that out of my system this time.

Can't we all just get along??? LOL!!!! Everyone has thier own opinions, lets just respect that, ok?

Truce is fine...

[TANaples]

Originally Posted by nbres

The cut in salary Rachel would have to take to be a teacher in Florida is not worth it. She is making $55,000 now as a first year teacher. That is more than what the average teacher in Florida makes with 25 years of experience. She would have to take an $20,000 pay cut at least and her benifit package would be less as well (Pension, Medical, etc..).

My point being that Florida's lower cost of living is not really any lower. When people say the cost of living is lower there and you can take a cut in pay, that is baloney. The only way to get ahead is if you can get a job in Florida that pays the same as the job in New York. Otherwise you are going to lose income and your standard of living will decrease.

The benefits working here in the school district are HORRIBLE, not mentioning salaries. Yes, the employee is free, so far, but to cover just a spouse it is $400 a month and to cover the whole family it is $700 a month. That is JUST for medical. It is extra for dental, eye, long term disability. The teacher in the class where I worked said she had her husband cover her under his plan, because his benefits were so much better than hers.

I used to work for a non profit agency in NY. It cost me last year, ready for this, $84 a month for PPO family coverage, everything from soups to nuts: medical, dental, eye, and long term disability. I was able to cover both my husband in another state and my daughter in college with PPO. Otherwise, HMO family coverage would have been $48 a month. My husband used my NY insurance because it was better and more comprehensive than what he had through his job here in Florida.

It really was a shock to me how awful and EXPENSIVE benefits are down here.

[TANaples]

Originally Posted by nbres

The cut in salary Rachel would have to take to be a teacher in Florida is not worth it. She is making $55,000 now as a first year teacher. That is more than what the average teacher in Florida makes with 25 years of experience. She would have to take an $20,000 pay cut at least and her benifit package would be less as well (Pension, Medical, etc..).

My point being that Florida's lower cost of living is not really any lower. When people say the cost of living is lower there and you can take a cut in pay, that is baloney. The only way to get ahead is if you can get a job in Florida that pays the same as the job in New York. Otherwise you are going to lose income and your standard of living will decrease.

when you live in NYC. You can take the bus, train, or WALK to just about anything. Think of all the money you save on GAS, maintenance, insurance, etc.

Yeah, things balance out.

[nbres]

Originally Posted by TANaples

The benefits working here in the school district are HORRIBLE, not mentioning salaries. Yes, the employee is free, so far, but to cover just a spouse it is $400 a month and to cover the whole family it is $700 a month. That is JUST for medical. It is extra for dental, eye, long term disability. The teacher in the class where I worked said she had her husband cover her under his plan, because his benefits were so much better than hers.

I used to work for a non profit agency in NY. It cost me last year, ready for this, $84 a month for PPO family coverage, everything from soups to nuts: medical, dental, eye, and long term disability. I was able to cover both my husband in another state and my daughter in college with PPO. Otherwise, HMO family coverage would have been $48 a month. My husband used my NY insurance because it was better and more comprehensive than what he had through his job here in Florida.

It really was a shock to me how awful and EXPENSIVE benefits are down here.

NYC teachers can opt for medical plans where they pay ZERO for family coverage. The Dental, Eye and RX's are at minimal cost. Also, teachers can get a nice pension once they are 55 years old after 25-30 years and then move down to Florida. But you have to remember, New York is a pro-Labor state with a strong history of Unionism. Whereas Florida is a Right-To-Work state. Unionism is frowned upon there.

Why do you think Walt Disney located his Disney World there.

BTW Where do folks from Florida go to retire?