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A lot of people who failed to succeed in NYC have said the same thing before shipping out for the boondocks. It's their way to project their own failures and incompetence on those who succeeded. (aka,"I never aspired for it anyway" Lol).
Succeeding at the rat race has it's own price, measured in terms of what you want to give up for that success, and give up you will, esp. here in NYC/LI. Do you measure a person by the size of their wallet or type of car they drive, place where they vacation or restaurants they patronize? Do you measure your life's accomplishments by the size of your bank account? Is that what we want to teach our children?
The money and status that is certainly part of the 'winnings' (that is summarily taxed and surcharged away here in NY) buys the one extremely valuable asset. That's the ability to say I'm leaving, I've had enough. And I don't care how much money you have, competing in the rat race consumes an inordinate amount of energy.
I have no plans to 'ship out' to the boon docks. However, I do see a simpler life living in another locale not LI nor NYC. And as I grow older and wiser, having experienced winning the rat race as well as losing in the rat race, I find the race boring and life too short to be spent coping with the 'race.'
More guesswork. I work from home and actually do love it here. Fact is, people complain everywhere, myself included - but it's all relative.
And we will retire with plenty in the bank (both started our planning in our early 20s). We are not alone doing this, don't you worry.
Sure people complain everywhere, but not like here. And it's not relative. Complaining and whining are participant sports here on LI. Just compare this forum (which I'll admit had gotten much less so over the last three months), to many other suburban forums on CD. There's more nastiness and mean-spirited put-downs on this forum than any other I've read.
I get it, though: there's a ton to complain about life on LI. I mean nowhere else, and I do mean NOWHERE ELSE, do they tax you so hard and give you so little. It takes a lot of human energy to cope with the crappy conditions and services we are subjected to here on LI. I'm generalizing because there are way too many threads that talk about teachers and cops, bad roads, the LIRR, LIPA/PSEG, Nat'l Grid and those lovable politicians.
I'm happy to hear you and your better half will retire well and no, I'm not worried. Truth is, you'd probably be able to retire earlier and with more in your pockets if you lived outside of NY. Just sayin'.
^ you forget they tax more just a wee bit north of us in Westchester. People complain most here purely based on numbers. Did I already mention 3 million?
And what's with "bad roads" repeated over and over? It's like you don't see what they've done in the last few years alone. 135, Sunrise Hwy, NSP, some local roads like OCR, Jackson Ave, SOB Road... smooth as silk now. They even managed to fix the fricken Kosciuszko Bridge pavement west of us - this isn't 3rd world India people paint NY to be. What year are you living in? You claim you still live here? Or did you mix up your account logins? I didn't ask you not to worry - it was that other dolt going on about our money.
It doesn't take a genius to see what you pessimists like to do - you take every single complaint ever mentioned on here and apply it to every person who's ever been unhappy about anything. No, it doesn't work that way in real life. My spouse works in the city but gets home at 515 and attends 90%+ of our kids practices and games along with me. Rat race? Chauffeur? I feel bad for anyone who feels that way - either they are out of touch (too old to remember their kids' younger years) or just don't care when their kids are having fun (I coach too). Grandma goes too (there's that family thing again). Why purposely pay this much if you have no skin in the game? Maybe you are better off outta here. At least be honest about it - you have no reason to be here anymore. I've said it numerous times - the good outweighs the bad. That's why it's relative. Parting shots are self-serving. Also obvious.
Sure people complain everywhere, but not like here. And it's not relative. Complaining and whining are participant sports here on LI. Just compare this forum (which I'll admit had gotten much less so over the last three months), to many other suburban forums on CD. There's more nastiness and mean-spirited put-downs on this forum than any other I've read.
I get it, though: there's a ton to complain about life on LI. I mean nowhere else, and I do mean NOWHERE ELSE, do they tax you so hard and give you so little. It takes a lot of human energy to cope with the crappy conditions and services we are subjected to here on LI. I'm generalizing because there are way too many threads that talk about teachers and cops, bad roads, the LIRR, LIPA/PSEG, Nat'l Grid and those lovable politicians.
I'm happy to hear you and your better half will retire well and no, I'm not worried. Truth is, you'd probably be able to retire earlier and with more in your pockets if you lived outside of NY. Just sayin'.
I noticed that too when I first moved to Long Island. I frequented these forums, and compared them to everywhere else in the area with the same higher cost of living (NYC, NJ, CT, Westchester), but despite that they were all pretty normal. The Long Island forum, meanwhile, seemed filled with anger, complaining, nastiness, lots of posts about leaving, etc. moreso in comparison. It didn't make me feel very comfortable about moving here, that's for sure. I'm glad I'm not the only one that noticed that.
I noticed that too when I first moved to Long Island. I frequented these forums, and compared them to everywhere else in the area with the same higher cost of living (NYC, NJ, CT, Westchester), but despite that they were all pretty normal. The Long Island forum, meanwhile, seemed filled with anger, complaining, nastiness, lots of posts about leaving, etc. moreso in comparison. It didn't make me feel very comfortable about moving here, that's for sure. I'm glad I'm not the only one that noticed that.
Yes, it's very simple: There are a LOT of very unhappy people in the NYC metro area- More so than just about anywhere else in the country. They moan and complain, but most are afraid to leave, because of the disparity in income between what they make in NY vs. somewhere else- not realizing that one can live so much better on a lot less money in many other places. So they stay- and it sucks the life and humanity out of them. They give the best years of their lives...and get squat in return.
For my generation it's even worse, because when the bubble finally bursts for good (as I believe it soon will- and I'm talking real estate; stocks; pensions; auto industry...) they're not even going to have the retirement options that the last few generations had to fall back on so that they could enjoy the last few years of their lives after devoting their best years to being a tax slave.
A lot of people who failed to succeed in NYC have said the same thing before shipping out for the boondocks. It's their way to project their own failures and incompetence on those who succeeded. (aka,"I never aspired for it anyway" Lol).
Depends what you mean by "success". To me, having to live in NYC or anywhere near it, is not success. I doubt that youi can be so successful there, as to be able to look out over 28 acres with a 360 view and be debt-free- as I am. You might well be able to buy and sell me- but I'm living the life i always wanted. I do hope that you truly enjoy your life...but by referring to it as a rat-race, I would tend to think that you measure success only in comparison to those around you- rather than quality of life.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ovi8
More guesswork. I work from home and actually do love it here. Fact is, people complain everywhere, myself included - but it's all relative.
And we will retire with plenty in the bank (both started our planning in our early 20s). We are not alone doing this, don't you worry.
I do hope you live to enjoy that retirement. I'm living my dream now, while I'm still young and healthy. I work from home too- and the beauty of that is, that we can live anywhere- so I'm taking full advantage of it. I know too many people who were banking on retirement, but who didn't live to enjoy it very long/at all- or the finances went south- which can happen in a heartbeat. How will your retirement assets fare in the next major market crash?[rhetorical question]. Believe me- it's coming- i used to be a commodity futures day trader- I got out just before the big bust of '01. This time, it ain't coming back- the fuindamentals just aren't there- the economy is propped-up with baling wire and duct tape- and even more so in places like LI which are in a bubble.
Perhaps I have a double whammy, as I live in both NYC and Long Island. But be careful of the unitary focus on the cost of living aspect of this. Sure, it is (perhaps vastly) cheaper to be somewhere else, but so too is your likely pay. College tuition is no cheaper if your live in Georgia, and your next car, no matter how luxurious, is no cheaper. Despite what everyone says, much of the rest of life -- food, clothing, etc. is not cheaper somewhere else.
On the other hand, as someone trying to plan for retirement in 10-15 years, it is difficult to justify living around here in non-income earning years, but entirely for tax reasons. Paying 12% income tax and property taxes that only support schools for kids we never had is hard to justify.
Perhaps I have a double whammy, as I live in both NYC and Long Island. But be careful of the unitary focus on the cost of living aspect of this. Sure, it is (perhaps vastly) cheaper to be somewhere else, but so too is your likely pay. College tuition is no cheaper if your live in Georgia, and your next car, no matter how luxurious, is no cheaper. Despite what everyone says, much of the rest of life -- food, clothing, etc. is not cheaper somewhere else.
On the other hand, as someone trying to plan for retirement in 10-15 years, it is difficult to justify living around here in non-income earning years, but entirely for tax reasons. Paying 12% income tax and property taxes that only support schools for kids we never had is hard to justify.
State tuition down south can be much cheaper versus NY. In state tuition for UVA is a song in comparison to what out of state residents pay.
You are 100% wrong regarding less expensive clothing, food, cars down south. Additionally, utilities are cheaper, gas is cheaper, car insurance is cheaper, sales tax is cheaper. List goes on...
Yes, it's very simple: There are a LOT of very unhappy people in the NYC metro area- More so than just about anywhere else in the country. They moan and complain, but most are afraid to leave, because of the disparity in income between what they make in NY vs. somewhere else- not realizing that one can live so much better on a lot less money in many other places. So they stay- and it sucks the life and humanity out of them. They give the best years of their lives...and get squat in return.
For my generation it's even worse, because when the bubble finally bursts for good (as I believe it soon will- and I'm talking real estate; stocks; pensions; auto industry...) they're not even going to have the retirement options that the last few generations had to fall back on so that they could enjoy the last few years of their lives after devoting their best years to being a tax slave.
For the time being I don't want to leave either, mostly because I have friends and family in Connecticut. For now I'm glad to be moving back there, and we'll see what happens after we get married and want to start a family. We have big plans and we'll see how it goes.
I agree though that the NY Metro area is in bad shape. However, of all the regions I listed (NYC, Westchester, Long Island, NJ, Fairfield and New Haven Counties), and as someone born and raised in Connecticut, lived in NYC, and elected to live on Long Island, I think out of every region here, the most broken and problematic is Long Island.
I noticed that too when I first moved to Long Island. I frequented these forums, and compared them to everywhere else in the area with the same higher cost of living (NYC, NJ, CT, Westchester), but despite that they were all pretty normal. The Long Island forum, meanwhile, seemed filled with anger, complaining, nastiness, lots of posts about leaving, etc. moreso in comparison. It didn't make me feel very comfortable about moving here, that's for sure. I'm glad I'm not the only one that noticed that.
Interestingly enough, the most vocal and negative posters are the ones who no longer live here.
So yes, while I agree that the LI forum is quite negative, it should be noted that those who moan the most are the ones, who no longer have any reason to do so.
On the other hand, have you visited the Hawai and Los Angeles forum?
It is not exactly rosy there either!
As far as moving here, it is like every expensive area. There are those who cope and thrive with the cost and those who obviously are looking for alternatives. This group happens to be very vocal and incredibly negative.
Just ignore them and enjoy the positive aspects of living here. There are many.
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Fact is, people complain everywhere, myself included - but it's all relative.
