No matter how hard I looked or negotiated, I couldn’t manage to get any remote offers or jobs in small towns in the USA that’d pay over about $140k. Meanwhile, with my experience it was EASY to get an offer for $300k in the Bay Area.
That means that even paying $3300/month to rent a run-down shithole and $6 per gallon for milk, I’m saving $120k a year vs the $40k I’d save in a small town.
The numbers get even more insane if you buy property in one of these hideously overpriced Bay Area cities. I haven’t done it yet, since a downturn could leave me holding the bag and trapped in this nightmarish place for 5 years, but the financial incentives are incredible
Exactly this. I hate the highly populated areas of the world but I'm working in one with hopes that I can buy a house with high speed internet within driving distance of a medium sized family-oriented town with a shopping + restaurant district. If cost of living is 1/3rd then your 120k savings just got you a whole bunch of slack.
The exit strategy is to sell the ridiculously overpriced house, fully paid off, which has doubled in price in the last 8 years, and sod off to a lower COL area. Since I’m a Brit, a small castle with grounds in Scotland ought to be on the cards, for less than my 1500 sq ft ranch-style house here.
Suppose you and I both save 30% of out net income. If I'm making far more in a city then my 30% savings will go very far in a not city location.
We can also assume if you spend 100/month on rent and I spend 500/month on rent it's the same "percentage" of the pay we make.