Move from Southern CA to AZ (credit, tech jobs, transfer)

[LagunaMom]

Don't mean to offend, but as a grandmother I can say that you're making an enormous assumption that your kids will stick around wherever you are when they grow up. Not true.

For the 12-year-old, work opportunities are way down the road. For the 16-year-old, unless s/he needs to work his/her way through college and will have to find part-time employment now and/or in a couple of years, I wouldn't be too concerned about it, either. The best you can do is to find the best schools you can. They'll learn to deal with the rest. Good luck.

[Marv1985]

Their quality of life will soar when they leave CA and their cost of living will sink; start with much lower gasoline prices ($1.10/gallon less in AZ right now), as well as lower prices for groceries, auto insurance, health insurance and other necessities and go for there.

CA is not a middle-class friendly state as opposed to AZ.

[slowdude222]

Helicopter parent?

[FatboyM]

We moved from Mission Viejo two years ago & I only waited so long because My Wife was very hesitant. As many here have stated the cost of living & quality of living makes up for the lower pay (14-26%) depending on where you get your info or job you have. I personally took a 14% pay cut but quickly decreased the impact to 9% in two years. As for the children, they will find their way & the opportunities to minimize travel to school/jobs allow them to save gas money vs SoCal.
I choose North PHX & love it!

[patrick85395]

As one who transplanted from SoCal's insanity to Goodyear's Palm Valley and Buckeye's Verrado and havind lived in Estrella, I can tell you that moving here is not only a financial home run, but also a major stress reduce. Everything from housing to gas, to bread, milk, car registration, and everything else costs less here. You will be happier and womder what took you so long to make the move.

My CA mortgage was choked my wallet every month. San Diego's traffic was exhausting....everything about that go-forsaken place will send you to an early grave where you will arrive broke.

If your children get the right skills, then they will do fine financially. ( I'm gainfully employed and make more here than I did in CA)

If you're interested in living on the west side, (you mentioned Estrella) also consider verrado, vistsncia, and palm valley as top options. Get out of Cali sooner than later.

[Schwartzmann]

Originally Posted by slowdude222

Helicopter parent?

There is a trend about doing two years at a community college and then two years at a reputable in-state public university. It helps keep the costs down. Parents can still retire at some (earlier) point and young people can start careers with less debt.

[Lexethan]

Originally Posted by Schwartzmann

There is a trend about doing two years at a community college and then two years at a reputable in-state public university. It helps keep the costs down. Parents can still retire at some (earlier) point and young people can start careers with less debt.

Exactly. Some people are too quick to criticize.

[KurtAZ]

Originally Posted by Schwartzmann

There is a trend about doing two years at a community college and then two years at a reputable in-state public university. It helps keep the costs down. Parents can still retire at some (earlier) point and young people can start careers with less debt.

Not sure that is a "trend"...it is exactly what I and a number of my friends did 20+ years ago. Are people really only starting to realize this? 400+ students in an Auditorium for Eng101 at ASU or 30 students at MCCC (your choice which one) at a fraction of the cost. All in-state Universities (ASU, NAU, UofA) have transfer programs to make sure your credits transfer over correctly as well.

Or...pay through the nose for that "college experience"?

As far as the OP's question of employment...it really depends on what the kids decide to get their degrees in. There was a report last week that AZ surpassed CA and TX as the fastest growing economy due to Financial and BioTech jobs. I can't find it right now but I think I heard that on KTAR...

[jnojr]

Originally Posted by MuscleCar

IMO, the vaunted "CA pay premium" is fading rapidly.

"Pay premium"? In San Diego, that premium is paid in "sunshine dollars". No creditor accepts them.

[fluffythewondercat]

Anyone notice the original post was a month ago and the OP never returned?

If she was serious about making the move, I'd say "Don't put it off." I looked at the model houses in the last phase of Anthem, the part west of I-17. This might have been around 2012. Prices have gone up quite a bit since then.