[CTartist]

Originally Posted by kidyankee764

Having a high income means little when you have a very high cost of living. Economics says CT’s income better be high, or you’re going to have a high double digit poverty level. Adjusted for COL, CT’s income is just above average.

This is what a high cost of living is getting my husband and I in our retirement. A social security check that is 2X as large as the average American's SS check and a house (asset) that is worth about 2X as much as the average Americans.

I can do one of two things in my retirement. Move to a condo in FFC CT and live a very a nice retirement, get a house in a lower cost area of CT, or move to a lower cost state and live like a king. Where do the people in the lower cost states go with 1/2 the average Social Security check and 1/2 the amount of asset in their house?


"you’re going to have a high double digit poverty level"
The irony is that CT has a LOWER poverty rate. Go look at my post that said CT has 1/2 the poverty rate as TX and we have almost 2X the per capita income.

"Having a high income means little when you have a very high cost of living."
It is all relative. You should study economics like I did and you know that statement doesn't make sense. Then we should all move to 3rd world countries and live where they have very low cost of living right? Then we would really be well off. Is that what you are contending?

I want to tell you about my uncle who moved down to FL when he was first married and basically worked his entire career down where there is a lower cost of living. He worked middle class jobs like his brothers and sisters but guess what? He is poor......and he is very poor compared to his brothers and sisters who live in FFC CT.

Here is another case in point. When my parents moved to NC in retirement their middle class neighbors (teachers etc.) would say "your parents are rich....in fact you kids are rich too". I would argue with them and say we are middle class just like them. Then I understood in relative terms to most people in NC middle class people in FFC are rich.

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by CTartist

This is what a high cost of living is getting my husband and I in our retirement. A social security check that is 2X as large as the average American's SS check and a house (asset) that is worth about 2X as much as the average Americans.

I can do one of two things in my retirement. Move to a condo in FFC CT and live a very a nice retirement, get a house in a lower cost area of CT, or move to a lower cost state and live like a king. Where do the people in the lower cost states go with 1/2 the average Social Security check and 1/2 the amount of asset in their house?


"you’re going to have a high double digit poverty level"
The irony is that CT has a LOWER poverty rate. Go look at my post that said CT has 1/2 the poverty rate as TX and we have almost 2X the per capita income.

"Having a high income means little when you have a very high cost of living."
It is all relative. You should study economics like I did and you know that statement doesn't make sense. Then we should all move to 3rd world countries and live where they have very low cost of living right? Then we would really be well off. Is that what you are contending?

I want to tell you about my uncle who moved down to FL when he was first married and basically worked his entire career down where there is a lower cost of living. He worked middle class jobs like his brothers and sisters but guess what? He is poor......and he is very poor compared to his brothers and sisters who live in FFC CT.

Here is another case in point. When my parents moved to NC in retirement their middle class neighbors (teachers etc.) would say "your parents are rich....in fact you kids are rich too". I would argue with them and say we are middle class just like them. Then I understood in relative terms to most people in NC middle class people in FFC are rich.

Sigh. I don’t have the energy to reply because I don’t think you’re understanding exactly what I mean. Maybe it’s how I worded it, but who knows?

[RunD1987]

Originally Posted by BPt111

40 is very high

40 versus 70 isn't that bad

Also hopefully the State steps away from the Gift and Estate tax. As well as taxing social security and pensions as income.

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by JayCT

As CTartist noted Connecticut and New Jersey are still very well educated and affluent states. In fact Connecticut is becoming more affluent not less. Their economies are fairly stable and not subject to boom and busts like you see in other parts of the country. Connecticut has its issues but then again so does Texas. Many of the problems we face are overblown by the media to sell newspapers. I am not sure it is bad as some claim. Jay

So what happens is the affluent areas become more affluent and the poor areas continue to decay.


I think the coastal region will see a lot of gentrification. Poor people will get displaced out of Bridgeport and New Haven. Since they safety net programs aren't portable between states, those people will merely be pushed inland in Connecticut.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by LakeOntarioLiving

I see CT losing about 5% of its population by 2050 and becoming <50% White. I could see it also losing a lot of its insurance companies in Hartford in the future.

It is interesting you say this. There was just an article in the Courant that the insurance industry is growing in Hartford, not contracting. I will post it but I think it required a subscription to read it. Also note that Hartford was named one of the top five cities in the country for jobs.

And despite what people think Connecticut has not lost population. It just has not grown as much as other states. Jay

[Stylo]

I don’t personally see any of this mass exodus trend.

Very few friends and collegues have left the state. Houses in my area aren’t sitting empty. New apartments and homes are still being built. Homes that are priced right sell swiftly (mine did in days).

This is just a SW CT perspective, but still. I’ve seen many areas of the country that truly struggle and we are nowhere near that.

That said, we do have real challenges and I’m very curious how Lamont will do. But we are also still a very fortunate state with a tremendous quality of life, human development index, high income, quality education, etc.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by Stylo

I don’t personally see any of this mass exodus trend.

Very few friends and collegues have left the state. Houses in my area aren’t sitting empty. New apartments and homes are still being built. Homes that are priced right sell swiftly (mine did in days).

This is just a SW CT perspective, but still. I’ve seen many areas of the country that truly struggle and we are nowhere near that.

That said, we do have real challenges and I’m very curious how Lamont will do. But we are also still a very fortunate state with a tremendous quality of life, human development index, high income, quality education, etc.

I don’t see it either. Home prices across the state have not crashed and our highways and transit lines are not empty during rush hour. It is expensive to live here for a reason. We live in a supply and demand economy and that determines what is paid for things. If the state was as bad off as some claim, this would not be the case. Jay

[Stylo]

Originally Posted by JayCT

I don’t see it either. Home prices across the state have not crashed and our highways and transit lines are not empty during rush hour. It is expensive to live here for a reason. We live in a supply and demand economy and that determines what is paid for things. If the state was as bad off as some claim, this would not be the case. Jay

“Nobody goes there anymore, it’s too crowded”

One problem CT has is a PR problem and Malloy was terrible at that. Let’s hope Lamont is better

[HumpDay]

Rural areas in Connecticut, like in other parts of the nations are declining while urban areas are experiencing less than 1% population growth over a span of a few years. The rural areas are experiencing a beating. Whenever I drive through those areas, I see more for sale signs than pre-2008. Suburban homes seem to sell pretty fast, at least from what I’m seeing.

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by Stylo

I don’t personally see any of this mass exodus trend.

Very few friends and collegues have left the state. Houses in my area aren’t sitting empty. New apartments and homes are still being built. Homes that are priced right sell swiftly (mine did in days).

This is just a SW CT perspective, but still. I’ve seen many areas of the country that truly struggle and we are nowhere near that.

That said, we do have real challenges and I’m very curious how Lamont will do. But we are also still a very fortunate state with a tremendous quality of life, human development index, high income, quality education, etc.

Mass exodus is a bit of a dramatic way to put it, but I do know a lot of people who have left. Most have left because their jobs have transferred them, some have left for reasons I did (access to major city and airport preferred due to job), and many retire out of state. CT hasn’t lost population, since for everyone leaving, someone is replacing them. But you have to look at who is leaving and who is coming. It’s statistically two different demographics.

The one thing that should concern CT is the amount of seven figure income families leaving and being replaced by people making 200k. Like I said earlier, I’ll be curious to see what the next census says about the income in CT. Tax returns last year showed concerning stats and the media jumped on the fact that CT had the slowest income growth in the Northeast by quite a bit. That should be far more of a concern than any claims of population decline.