Can’t decide, Jackson or Rapid City (Gillette, Afton: lease, health insurance)

[kamoto]

I’ll be 54 soon, and tiring of Silicon Valley life. I have a degree in business administration and will either work for health insurance benefits or not work at all. Been in Silicon Valley since 2000, so financially I have all I need. Before CA, I spent five years in Arizona, so I’m used to the heat extreme, and I grew up in Boston so I’m used to the cold extreme. No taxes on my 401k distributions will be great, and no state employment tax is perfect. In either state I plan to fish, learn to pheasant hunt, snowmobile, ski, camp, and venture far off road. I have a 2012 Ford F-150 so I can get around in either city. I’m a bit of an introvert and can be quite happy in my own company. I’d prefer acreage, thus rapid city, but I love the Jackson area. Plus the gun laws are basically non existent in WY so that’s a plus. I like a more forested green area, so other parts of Wyoming seem barren to me. I’ve comtemplated Whitefish MT but they tax the 401k. At 55 I can use my companies health insurance until 65 and pay like 1500 per month. If I live in star valley ranch, and work in Jackson, is that a terribly congested route in a snowstorm? I’d basically pay cash for any house and live off the rest of my cash. If I never find a 2nd wife I’m fine. Friends, sure I’d like to find a few, but I’m find alone with my cat. I’m ready for a move. Been working since I was 14. Thanks in advance.

[sunsprit]

There's two entirely different paradigms of living between these two community areas although both most certainly offer ready access to the outdoor recreations you seek.

So, is there really a question here?

If you have the resources to buy in Jackson and like the area, what would be keeping you from moving there?

[ScottStielow]

Originally Posted by sunsprit

There's two entirely different paradigms of living between these two community areas although both most certainly offer ready access to the outdoor recreations you seek.

So, is there really a question here?

If you have the resources to buy in Jackson and like the area, what would be keeping you from moving there?

Go with your Gut feeling. If you rent a while in Jackson and it does not work out. You have the resources to move on the Rapid City. You will have time to really look into the area of Jackson and check out Rapid City also, at your own pace and not rush.

[rya700]

$1500/mo for health insurance??

[jody_wy]

There a lot of People living in Star Valley and work in Jackson just because Jackson was way too expensive to live. we called it the Jackson 500 up and down the canyon...

[Wyoprairie]

sunsprit said it...."There's two entirely different paradigms of living between these two community areas..."

Jackson about 10k permanent residents but swells during ski and summer seasons. Rapid City about 65k residents.
Acreage around Jackson-ouch! a million dollars plus, if you want Teton County. Less for Sublette or Lincoln County.
Acreage around Rapid is more expensive in the mountains to the west, less if you go east to Box Elder, New Underwood,
or south to Fairburn and Hermosa. Prop taxes are higher in SD, but overall costs similar. Car insurance somewhat less.
Car/truck registration quite a bit less. Also no income/retirement taxes in SD and mostly similar on guns-not quite as
"free" as WY, but also a very conservative controlled state. My sister and her hubs moved over there a few years ago
(built a new house above Deadwood) and they like it fine. Rapid City has a more urban type of feel to it-good and bad.

Unfortunately I'm quite familiar with Jackson. It's a real cosmic hotspot. If you live outside of town or just commute in
to work, you may do just fine, but I find under the surface with the local townies you may discover a kind of irritable,
"paradise isn't working out like I thought it would" type of attitude. Many are just breaking even to make it living there. Different mix of people than anywhere else in Wyoming: eco-warriors, hipsters, trustafarians, etc. Meet up for a beer after work, "Hey, guys Harrison Ford was talking to me today." Wow! Doesn't mention that what Harrison said was "Hey boy, you missed a spot over there." If you moved there, you might eventually find other places in WY that you liked.

There is a fair amount of traffic by Wyoming standards commuting from Star Valley Ranch or elsewhere (Thayne, Afton, Alpine, etc.) into Jackson each day whether snow or not. But it is nothing compared to California. I just got back from
So Cal-with another Ford truck. I collect Ford pickups. Found a 94 F350-one owner-34k original miles. Truck wanted to stop at a few gas stations on the way-but that's OK, I also made him stop at every In-N-Out Burger we passed.

[Ltdumbear]

Gillette. Just go. Trust me.

[kamoto]

Nothing prevents me from heading to Wyoming, just the quantity of housing stock available to purchase around Star Valley Ranch.

[kamoto]

Yes, $1500 for health insurance. Now, that means I'm on my corporations health insurance, which is a PPO (Preferred Provider Organization) where I don't need any sort of referral to a specialist. I'd be getting the best health care possible between 55 to 65. It is a benefit of the corp I work at. Retire at 55 with 10 years at the company, and you get the corporate rate for health insurance until Medicare kicks in. My mom died of cancer at 65, so I've resigned myself to the fact that it is coming at some point. I had read that the Obamacare cost in Wyoming is a bit high.

[kamoto]

Wyo

I pay about 540 per year for registering my 2012 Ford F-150 in CA. I have the Raptor with only 28,000 miles on it. I drive a Chevy Volt to work every day to take advantage of driving solo in the car pool lane. That is a lease, so when I leave CA I just give it back. I forgot to mention one other enjoyment. Golf. That is a benefit or Rapid City in that I could join a club for a low rate. Golf is a decent way to make friends. But I'd probably want to join a hunting/fishing club around Jackson somewhere. In/Out is a delight. I was so happy we finally got a Chik Fill A as well. My daughter goes to the U of Alabama and she complains when she returns to CA that the workers at Chik Fill A don't call her mam. I had toyed with the idea of moving around Birmingham AL, but I'm not a fan of roaches. Last fall when we got to her storage unit, moving her boxes sent the dozens of roaches in the unit into a tizzy.