Tips from those that left California (Riverside, Empire: neighborhood, buying, schools)

[1AngryTaxPayer]

Originally Posted by Mister 7

I had no idea about Oklahoma.

And I’m not trying to turn this into a state vs. state thing.

But Tennessee is in great financial shape and we pay next to nothing in taxes. Rated #1 for fiscal stability yet 47/50 for overall tax burden. If you live well here you kind of are getting a free lunch. The only tax is minimal on retirement but we are phasing even that out by 2021. So we are doing something right.

OP-
Tips to those who leave California?

Buy real estate.
Adapt to less pleasant weather.

I'm from Colorado My stint here was to make some money. Mission accomplished and did some surfing too.

[Mister 7]

Originally Posted by 1AngryTaxPayer

I'm from Colorado My stint here was to make some money. Mission accomplished and did some surfing too.

Glad you like it. Just wasn’t for us. They offered to double my husband’s (already good) salary for us to stay; we declined.

I don’t hate California, I have lots of good memories. But it’s definitely a place to visit, not live. In my opinion.

[neutrino78x]

Originally Posted by Mister 7

It's not; the rest of the state is mostly like the rest of the country. But you're still stuck paying those insane taxes. It's like my inlaws up in Rochester, they are murdered in taxes paying for NYC, just like inland CA is paying for the coast.

It's the other way around. The salaries are far higher in Silicon Valley than in the inland empire. There is vast wealth in Silicon Valley. Silicon Valley by itself has among the top 3 per capita GDPs in the world. Silicon Valley is paying for inland California, trust me on that.


https://news.yahoo.com/silicon-valle...211020494.html

[Mister 7]

Originally Posted by neutrino78x

It's the other way around. The salaries are far higher in Silicon Valley than in the inland empire. There is vast wealth in Silicon Valley. Silicon Valley by itself has among the top 3 per capita GDPs in the world. Silicon Valley is paying for inland California, trust me on that.


https://news.yahoo.com/silicon-valle...211020494.html

I know that. I guess you guys took what I said wrong. Obviously I know about Silicon Valley.

For example, some rich guy in crappy Riverside will pay the same amount of high taxes, high gas prices, car registrations, etc as someone in SoCal or SF. LA and SF are great cities where some would say all that is worth it. Fresno and Riverside, not so much.

[neutrino78x]

Originally Posted by Mister 7

I know that. I guess you guys took what I said wrong. Obviously I know about Silicon Valley.

For example, some rich guy in crappy Riverside will pay the same amount of high taxes, high gas prices, car registrations, etc as someone in SoCal or SF. LA and SF are great cities where some would say all that is worth it. Fresno and Riverside, not so much.

Well, state taxes are uniform across the state. Local taxes...you'd have to ask the city of Riverside about that, lol.

[CA4Now]

Originally Posted by Mister 7

some rich guy in crappy Riverside will pay the same amount of high taxes, high gas prices, car registrations, etc as someone in SoCal or SF .

Riverside has some beautiful areas. You need to get out more. (And Riverside is in "SoCal.")

[RMESMH]

Originally Posted by 2sleepy

I support most of the politics of the State of California as do the majority of residents of the state, so what?

A majority of the voters do, but that's not the same thing as saying a majority of the residents do.

[2sleepy]

Originally Posted by RMESMH

A majority of the voters do, but that's not the same thing as saying a majority of the residents do.

Hey, if they aren't motivated enough to vote then that's their problem, right? All I'm saying is the voters in California have shown support at the polls for the very things that people here are claiming are horrible. So I have a little problem believing that the state's policies are out of line with what residents want.

[RMESMH]

Originally Posted by 2sleepy

A married couple with an AGI of $1,100,000 in California has an effective state income tax rate of 9.65%, New York state effective tax rate for the same taxpayers is not far behind at 8.82%, in Hawaii they would pay 9.91%. Oklahoma is the poster child for reducing taxes, they cut taxes so much that they only have school 4 days a week and limit the number of miles their highway patrol officers can drive because the state can't pay for gas. Some states have high taxes but provide the services that the public expect, and others like Oklahoma cut taxes so much that they could only keep the schools open 4 days a week and had to limit how many miles their highway patrol officers drove because the state couldn't afford gas for their cars - so I guess you've gotta pick your poison because there's no such thing as a free lunch.

And in Texas a married couple with an AGI of $1,100,000 has an effective state income tax rate of 0 %.

And in Nevada a married couple with an AGI of $1,100,000 has an effective state income tax rate of 0 %.

And in Tennessee (starting in 2021) a married couple with an AGI of $1,100,000 will have an effective state income tax rate of 0%.

In each of those states, such people can eliminate a direct property tax by renting, and control what they pay if they do buy re what level of property they buy.

Some people who advocate for smaller government don't mind 'picking their poison' .

[RMESMH]

Originally Posted by 2sleepy

Hey, if they aren't motivated enough to vote then that's their problem, right? All I'm saying is the voters in California have shown support at the polls for the very things that people here are claiming are horrible. So I have a little problem believing that the state's policies are out of line with what residents want.

But you don't know for certain.

Voters = definitely, and it's easily measurable

Residents = ?, possibly measurable, but doing so would be more difficult.

People choosing not to vote definitely equals 'you snooze, you lose', but those snoozers still might not be getting what they want. They may just (with 'just' not being a good thing in this instance) be lazy.