OT: Retire in CA?

[Anonymous]

[quote=CA renter]You can’t tell me that with the taxes our govt collects, they don’t have enough resources for emergency services. Then where is that money going?[/quote]

Didn’t we already have a long thread that explained this?

The taxes are going to unfunded pensions.

In other words, today’s taxes are paying for the emergency call that happened many years ago.

Back to the OP’s original question: The funds will never last, even in Temeucula, so the success of the plan will come down to the meaning of “semi” retired.

[ice9]

[quote=temeculaguy]If you want to live in So cal, then Temecula is about as close as you can get to what you are looking for. 300k will get you a nice house here but I think 75k a year would be the minimum to get by, 100k and you are comfortable.[/quote]

Are you talking after-tax dollars? At $100K, you are talking 100/12 = 8.3K per month. That is a lot more than I would need, I think. Perhaps I lack the same tastes/interests? 🙂

I live comfortably now, and my costs are roughly:

* $2K per month credit card (which is almost all spending, including most monthly bills)

* mortgage and property tax

Occasionally there is a bump if I want to buy something like a new computer, tv, etc.

I’m not factoring in health insurance. I don’t know how much that will cost per month.

I would like to think $5K per month (after tax) would be plenty. There is always that investment cushion that can be dipped into if necessary.

[ice9]

[quote=temeculaguy]If you want to live in So cal, then Temecula is about as close as you can get to what you are looking for. 300k will get you a nice house here but I think 75k a year would be the minimum to get by, 100k and you are comfortable.[/quote]

Are you talking after-tax dollars? At $100K, you are talking 100/12 = 8.3K per month. That is a lot more than I would need, I think. Perhaps I lack the same tastes/interests? 🙂

I live comfortably now, and my costs are roughly:

* $2K per month credit card (which is almost all spending, including most monthly bills)

* mortgage and property tax

Occasionally there is a bump if I want to buy something like a new computer, tv, etc.

I’m not factoring in health insurance. I don’t know how much that will cost per month.

I would like to think $5K per month (after tax) would be plenty. There is always that investment cushion that can be dipped into if necessary.

[ice9]

[quote=temeculaguy]If you want to live in So cal, then Temecula is about as close as you can get to what you are looking for. 300k will get you a nice house here but I think 75k a year would be the minimum to get by, 100k and you are comfortable.[/quote]

Are you talking after-tax dollars? At $100K, you are talking 100/12 = 8.3K per month. That is a lot more than I would need, I think. Perhaps I lack the same tastes/interests? 🙂

I live comfortably now, and my costs are roughly:

* $2K per month credit card (which is almost all spending, including most monthly bills)

* mortgage and property tax

Occasionally there is a bump if I want to buy something like a new computer, tv, etc.

I’m not factoring in health insurance. I don’t know how much that will cost per month.

I would like to think $5K per month (after tax) would be plenty. There is always that investment cushion that can be dipped into if necessary.

[ice9]

[quote=temeculaguy]If you want to live in So cal, then Temecula is about as close as you can get to what you are looking for. 300k will get you a nice house here but I think 75k a year would be the minimum to get by, 100k and you are comfortable.[/quote]

Are you talking after-tax dollars? At $100K, you are talking 100/12 = 8.3K per month. That is a lot more than I would need, I think. Perhaps I lack the same tastes/interests? 🙂

I live comfortably now, and my costs are roughly:

* $2K per month credit card (which is almost all spending, including most monthly bills)

* mortgage and property tax

Occasionally there is a bump if I want to buy something like a new computer, tv, etc.

I’m not factoring in health insurance. I don’t know how much that will cost per month.

I would like to think $5K per month (after tax) would be plenty. There is always that investment cushion that can be dipped into if necessary.

[ice9]

[quote=temeculaguy]If you want to live in So cal, then Temecula is about as close as you can get to what you are looking for. 300k will get you a nice house here but I think 75k a year would be the minimum to get by, 100k and you are comfortable.[/quote]

Are you talking after-tax dollars? At $100K, you are talking 100/12 = 8.3K per month. That is a lot more than I would need, I think. Perhaps I lack the same tastes/interests? 🙂

I live comfortably now, and my costs are roughly:

* $2K per month credit card (which is almost all spending, including most monthly bills)

* mortgage and property tax

Occasionally there is a bump if I want to buy something like a new computer, tv, etc.

I’m not factoring in health insurance. I don’t know how much that will cost per month.

I would like to think $5K per month (after tax) would be plenty. There is always that investment cushion that can be dipped into if necessary.

[NotCranky]

Ice9, I think TG is in the ballpark with 75K with a very modest mortgage. 50K could do it but I don’t buy expensive cigars and porn or bet on the chargers. The obvious consensus is that you have to work some, or the rate of bleeding is going to get you.Then there are the other fairly normal expectations like saving for college etc.

If you are mortgage free with a not so inexpensive home property tax base, 30k in net income might do it with super smooth sailing and on a very strict lifestyle, but that would be lots of work too, just different, like doing all your own car repairs, one car family would be good, growing some food perhaps and managing the kitchen a super low budget, very little going out. You can get pretty frugal,and work hard and stress being “semi-retired” trust me. There are good reasons not many are interested without a lot more savings and passive income.

We have our mortgage and property taxes paid from rental cash flow and could do with annual subsistence outflow numbers of 50k – 35K , depending on choices we would make. There is mandatory child care, which is necessary when my wife and I work on the same day. We also wanted some preschool for socialization. In reality there has always been part time child care,averaged about 8k per year for us with 3 kids juggling various care circumstances, but in theory it could be omitted in some scenario. The most we ever spent on one kid in a year for childcare is about 4K. Figure at least two birthday party invitations per child per month(or some equivalent social expense for them) . I think at least $500 per year,per kid, for sport,hobbies (could easily be a lot more or could be ommitted).

Annual consumer consumption doesn’t vary much with us regardless of what we make. But you have to worry about inflation and confiscation, as well as growing appetites, ramping up the bleed rate. Bleeding savings as a back up plan is not reassuring. Again, I am not the poster boy for semi-retirement but we have managed. We are very healthy and have medical and dental coverage from my wife’s fairly established half time employment. We both carry term life insurance which is pretty cheap.

[NotCranky]

Ice9, I think TG is in the ballpark with 75K with a very modest mortgage. 50K could do it but I don’t buy expensive cigars and porn or bet on the chargers. The obvious consensus is that you have to work some, or the rate of bleeding is going to get you.Then there are the other fairly normal expectations like saving for college etc.

If you are mortgage free with a not so inexpensive home property tax base, 30k in net income might do it with super smooth sailing and on a very strict lifestyle, but that would be lots of work too, just different, like doing all your own car repairs, one car family would be good, growing some food perhaps and managing the kitchen a super low budget, very little going out. You can get pretty frugal,and work hard and stress being “semi-retired” trust me. There are good reasons not many are interested without a lot more savings and passive income.

We have our mortgage and property taxes paid from rental cash flow and could do with annual subsistence outflow numbers of 50k – 35K , depending on choices we would make. There is mandatory child care, which is necessary when my wife and I work on the same day. We also wanted some preschool for socialization. In reality there has always been part time child care,averaged about 8k per year for us with 3 kids juggling various care circumstances, but in theory it could be omitted in some scenario. The most we ever spent on one kid in a year for childcare is about 4K. Figure at least two birthday party invitations per child per month(or some equivalent social expense for them) . I think at least $500 per year,per kid, for sport,hobbies (could easily be a lot more or could be ommitted).

Annual consumer consumption doesn’t vary much with us regardless of what we make. But you have to worry about inflation and confiscation, as well as growing appetites, ramping up the bleed rate. Bleeding savings as a back up plan is not reassuring. Again, I am not the poster boy for semi-retirement but we have managed. We are very healthy and have medical and dental coverage from my wife’s fairly established half time employment. We both carry term life insurance which is pretty cheap.

[NotCranky]

Ice9, I think TG is in the ballpark with 75K with a very modest mortgage. 50K could do it but I don’t buy expensive cigars and porn or bet on the chargers. The obvious consensus is that you have to work some, or the rate of bleeding is going to get you.Then there are the other fairly normal expectations like saving for college etc.

If you are mortgage free with a not so inexpensive home property tax base, 30k in net income might do it with super smooth sailing and on a very strict lifestyle, but that would be lots of work too, just different, like doing all your own car repairs, one car family would be good, growing some food perhaps and managing the kitchen a super low budget, very little going out. You can get pretty frugal,and work hard and stress being “semi-retired” trust me. There are good reasons not many are interested without a lot more savings and passive income.

We have our mortgage and property taxes paid from rental cash flow and could do with annual subsistence outflow numbers of 50k – 35K , depending on choices we would make. There is mandatory child care, which is necessary when my wife and I work on the same day. We also wanted some preschool for socialization. In reality there has always been part time child care,averaged about 8k per year for us with 3 kids juggling various care circumstances, but in theory it could be omitted in some scenario. The most we ever spent on one kid in a year for childcare is about 4K. Figure at least two birthday party invitations per child per month(or some equivalent social expense for them) . I think at least $500 per year,per kid, for sport,hobbies (could easily be a lot more or could be ommitted).

Annual consumer consumption doesn’t vary much with us regardless of what we make. But you have to worry about inflation and confiscation, as well as growing appetites, ramping up the bleed rate. Bleeding savings as a back up plan is not reassuring. Again, I am not the poster boy for semi-retirement but we have managed. We are very healthy and have medical and dental coverage from my wife’s fairly established half time employment. We both carry term life insurance which is pretty cheap.

[NotCranky]

Ice9, I think TG is in the ballpark with 75K with a very modest mortgage. 50K could do it but I don’t buy expensive cigars and porn or bet on the chargers. The obvious consensus is that you have to work some, or the rate of bleeding is going to get you.Then there are the other fairly normal expectations like saving for college etc.

If you are mortgage free with a not so inexpensive home property tax base, 30k in net income might do it with super smooth sailing and on a very strict lifestyle, but that would be lots of work too, just different, like doing all your own car repairs, one car family would be good, growing some food perhaps and managing the kitchen a super low budget, very little going out. You can get pretty frugal,and work hard and stress being “semi-retired” trust me. There are good reasons not many are interested without a lot more savings and passive income.

We have our mortgage and property taxes paid from rental cash flow and could do with annual subsistence outflow numbers of 50k – 35K , depending on choices we would make. There is mandatory child care, which is necessary when my wife and I work on the same day. We also wanted some preschool for socialization. In reality there has always been part time child care,averaged about 8k per year for us with 3 kids juggling various care circumstances, but in theory it could be omitted in some scenario. The most we ever spent on one kid in a year for childcare is about 4K. Figure at least two birthday party invitations per child per month(or some equivalent social expense for them) . I think at least $500 per year,per kid, for sport,hobbies (could easily be a lot more or could be ommitted).

Annual consumer consumption doesn’t vary much with us regardless of what we make. But you have to worry about inflation and confiscation, as well as growing appetites, ramping up the bleed rate. Bleeding savings as a back up plan is not reassuring. Again, I am not the poster boy for semi-retirement but we have managed. We are very healthy and have medical and dental coverage from my wife’s fairly established half time employment. We both carry term life insurance which is pretty cheap.

[NotCranky]

Ice9, I think TG is in the ballpark with 75K with a very modest mortgage. 50K could do it but I don’t buy expensive cigars and porn or bet on the chargers. The obvious consensus is that you have to work some, or the rate of bleeding is going to get you.Then there are the other fairly normal expectations like saving for college etc.

If you are mortgage free with a not so inexpensive home property tax base, 30k in net income might do it with super smooth sailing and on a very strict lifestyle, but that would be lots of work too, just different, like doing all your own car repairs, one car family would be good, growing some food perhaps and managing the kitchen a super low budget, very little going out. You can get pretty frugal,and work hard and stress being “semi-retired” trust me. There are good reasons not many are interested without a lot more savings and passive income.

We have our mortgage and property taxes paid from rental cash flow and could do with annual subsistence outflow numbers of 50k – 35K , depending on choices we would make. There is mandatory child care, which is necessary when my wife and I work on the same day. We also wanted some preschool for socialization. In reality there has always been part time child care,averaged about 8k per year for us with 3 kids juggling various care circumstances, but in theory it could be omitted in some scenario. The most we ever spent on one kid in a year for childcare is about 4K. Figure at least two birthday party invitations per child per month(or some equivalent social expense for them) . I think at least $500 per year,per kid, for sport,hobbies (could easily be a lot more or could be ommitted).

Annual consumer consumption doesn’t vary much with us regardless of what we make. But you have to worry about inflation and confiscation, as well as growing appetites, ramping up the bleed rate. Bleeding savings as a back up plan is not reassuring. Again, I am not the poster boy for semi-retirement but we have managed. We are very healthy and have medical and dental coverage from my wife’s fairly established half time employment. We both carry term life insurance which is pretty cheap.

[bearishgurl]

Great post, Rustico.

Good point made about kitchen-expense cutbacks. THIS IS A DOABLE DEAL but will require 4-6 hrs per month of attention paid to weekly specials, coupons and careful meal planning/lists. I used to do this while on lunch break at work, but now with only a 1.5 member household, I don’t need to anymore as it wouldn’t help me much, if at all. Also, you must have a running car as you may need to frequent several (usually nearby) places in order to score your monthly allotment of $500 worth of groceries for <$200. This can still be done as I know several people still doing it. Also, the Mello-Roos bonds (attached to the property tax) in Temecula (and the vast majority of newer tracts in the central valley that TG brought up) have not been addressed here. In the OP, Ice9 believes his property tax basis will be low in CA. Not so with Mello Roos. His property taxes will likely be 2-3% of assessed value. You can often wear sweaters/sweatshirts in your home (when you are not sleeping) during the two cold months per year (Dec/Jan) to avoid paying the =>$75 extra to run the furnace. I am ONLY familiar with living 0-5 miles from SD Bay, however. I don’t know if this is actually feasible further inland.

Ice9, if you can work out of your home (and just appear in your employer’s face occasionally) doing what you presumably like to do, why do you want to “retire?” You have a long life ahead of you yet.

Edit: I forgot to mention that you can get a high-deductible policy (catastrophic health coverage) on the cheap, IF you are all healthy. For your age, a male is about $140, a female about $170-$200, and your child about $90-110 per month. You will likely get preventative care 100% paid and will likely have a $5K deductible and $8K co-insurance. Routine dr visits and prescriptions are discounted.

[bearishgurl]

Great post, Rustico.

Good point made about kitchen-expense cutbacks. THIS IS A DOABLE DEAL but will require 4-6 hrs per month of attention paid to weekly specials, coupons and careful meal planning/lists. I used to do this while on lunch break at work, but now with only a 1.5 member household, I don’t need to anymore as it wouldn’t help me much, if at all. Also, you must have a running car as you may need to frequent several (usually nearby) places in order to score your monthly allotment of $500 worth of groceries for <$200. This can still be done as I know several people still doing it. Also, the Mello-Roos bonds (attached to the property tax) in Temecula (and the vast majority of newer tracts in the central valley that TG brought up) have not been addressed here. In the OP, Ice9 believes his property tax basis will be low in CA. Not so with Mello Roos. His property taxes will likely be 2-3% of assessed value. You can often wear sweaters/sweatshirts in your home (when you are not sleeping) during the two cold months per year (Dec/Jan) to avoid paying the =>$75 extra to run the furnace. I am ONLY familiar with living 0-5 miles from SD Bay, however. I don’t know if this is actually feasible further inland.

Ice9, if you can work out of your home (and just appear in your employer’s face occasionally) doing what you presumably like to do, why do you want to “retire?” You have a long life ahead of you yet.

Edit: I forgot to mention that you can get a high-deductible policy (catastrophic health coverage) on the cheap, IF you are all healthy. For your age, a male is about $140, a female about $170-$200, and your child about $90-110 per month. You will likely get preventative care 100% paid and will likely have a $5K deductible and $8K co-insurance. Routine dr visits and prescriptions are discounted.

[bearishgurl]

Great post, Rustico.

Good point made about kitchen-expense cutbacks. THIS IS A DOABLE DEAL but will require 4-6 hrs per month of attention paid to weekly specials, coupons and careful meal planning/lists. I used to do this while on lunch break at work, but now with only a 1.5 member household, I don’t need to anymore as it wouldn’t help me much, if at all. Also, you must have a running car as you may need to frequent several (usually nearby) places in order to score your monthly allotment of $500 worth of groceries for <$200. This can still be done as I know several people still doing it. Also, the Mello-Roos bonds (attached to the property tax) in Temecula (and the vast majority of newer tracts in the central valley that TG brought up) have not been addressed here. In the OP, Ice9 believes his property tax basis will be low in CA. Not so with Mello Roos. His property taxes will likely be 2-3% of assessed value. You can often wear sweaters/sweatshirts in your home (when you are not sleeping) during the two cold months per year (Dec/Jan) to avoid paying the =>$75 extra to run the furnace. I am ONLY familiar with living 0-5 miles from SD Bay, however. I don’t know if this is actually feasible further inland.

Ice9, if you can work out of your home (and just appear in your employer’s face occasionally) doing what you presumably like to do, why do you want to “retire?” You have a long life ahead of you yet.

Edit: I forgot to mention that you can get a high-deductible policy (catastrophic health coverage) on the cheap, IF you are all healthy. For your age, a male is about $140, a female about $170-$200, and your child about $90-110 per month. You will likely get preventative care 100% paid and will likely have a $5K deductible and $8K co-insurance. Routine dr visits and prescriptions are discounted.

[bearishgurl]

Great post, Rustico.

Good point made about kitchen-expense cutbacks. THIS IS A DOABLE DEAL but will require 4-6 hrs per month of attention paid to weekly specials, coupons and careful meal planning/lists. I used to do this while on lunch break at work, but now with only a 1.5 member household, I don’t need to anymore as it wouldn’t help me much, if at all. Also, you must have a running car as you may need to frequent several (usually nearby) places in order to score your monthly allotment of $500 worth of groceries for <$200. This can still be done as I know several people still doing it. Also, the Mello-Roos bonds (attached to the property tax) in Temecula (and the vast majority of newer tracts in the central valley that TG brought up) have not been addressed here. In the OP, Ice9 believes his property tax basis will be low in CA. Not so with Mello Roos. His property taxes will likely be 2-3% of assessed value. You can often wear sweaters/sweatshirts in your home (when you are not sleeping) during the two cold months per year (Dec/Jan) to avoid paying the =>$75 extra to run the furnace. I am ONLY familiar with living 0-5 miles from SD Bay, however. I don’t know if this is actually feasible further inland.

Ice9, if you can work out of your home (and just appear in your employer’s face occasionally) doing what you presumably like to do, why do you want to “retire?” You have a long life ahead of you yet.

Edit: I forgot to mention that you can get a high-deductible policy (catastrophic health coverage) on the cheap, IF you are all healthy. For your age, a male is about $140, a female about $170-$200, and your child about $90-110 per month. You will likely get preventative care 100% paid and will likely have a $5K deductible and $8K co-insurance. Routine dr visits and prescriptions are discounted.

[Author]

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