To be fair whether your house is worth $100k or $10MM doesn't mean much unless you sell it, especially in SF where your taxes don't change with the increased value. Yes, you can spend more of your earned income if you plan on leaving as soon as you retire. But it doesn't mean $60k is easy to live on.

Isn't the largest contributor of COL recurring living expenses. I imagine 60k is probably what someone making a 100k has left over after paying their rent. Not to mention the peace of mind that comes from knowing that you can always sell off your home and move somewhere cheaper to live like a king.

>> But it doesn't mean $60k is easy to live on.

It is much easier getting along on 60k when you're on a 1995 mortgage of $700/mo with frozen property taxes. Doesnt matter if you sell -- you are living in a million dollar house without paying for it. You get the space now. You get the easy commute now. You get it all for a tenth of current costs.

Well to be fair the largest expense with a house is without a doubt the mortgage, and that's not going to change even if property taxes are reassessed every year. Their mortgage would be $700/mo no matter what (as it should be). Is anyone here arguing that you should have $2,000/mo in property taxes for a $700/mo mortgage?

I could live on $60k very easily if I didn't have a mortgage.

oh boy, how I envy you.