Well said sir.

 

We left 3 years ago after 40+ years of living in the state. Californians don't realize how much they're getting squeezed. I didn't till I left. It's not just the state taxes. In CA, gas is a dollar more a gallon, Home and Auto Insurance is double, car registration is off the chart, food costs more, housing is double the cost for comparable homes in other states, electricity is 5 times more expensive than most states (In CA, I was paying an average of 30 cents / KWHour; in PA, I'm paying 7 cents KWHour). Now add bone crushing traffic that starts 120 miles outside of the bay area at 4 am and continues till 11 am. Net savings from the move is about $3000 / month take home. To put that in perspective, that's a new Maserati every 3 years .

It's a lovely state; we loved skiing and backpacking in the Sierras, but I can buy a lot of airline tickets for $3000 / month and come visit when I choose.

 

I wholeheartedly agree. California is horrible: politically, economically, and it is wildy overpopulated with unbearable traffic.

No one should ever move here, and anyone from another state or those with the slightest problem with the quality of life here should immediately move away.

 

I understand that some people love it and some people don't like it. We don't need to go back and forth, but I'll just leave a few parting comments on why CA is an amazing place that i've chosen to live in. There is a reason that 40+ million people live here and it is the world's 5th largest economy (Spoiler, It's not because of how awful it is).


Happy wife = happy life. If your wife wants to live here, just do it. Keeping her happy will have a far greater impact on your life than any of the downsides.

You only live once. Life is too short and you don't get a do-over. Don't waste your time living somewhere you don't want to live. I refuse to regret on my death bed that I chose to live in a not as great area to save a little money.

Yes housing and rentals are more expensive here. But housing is an investment, and if you've invested in CA real estate, then you've made a lot of money. Look at the issue from a different perspective. If housing is expensive, don't go complaining about it, but rather ask, how can I benefit from this? I also own a rental house in CA and I make far more money than if I owned that rental anywhere else.

SFO and LAX are so junior compared to midwest domiciles that the bump in seniority, pay, QOL is well worth the extra couple thousand a year it will cost you to live in CA.

Time is the most valuable resource on earth. It's the one thing that is a fixed amount and you cannot create or buy any more of it. I refuse to waste my time commuting. I live within 20 minutes of the airport I'm based at, and it's amazing. What is traffic?


California is not for everyone. I get it. But you really should evaluate your values. If your values are living where you want to live, higher seniority, higher pay, higher job QOL, higher home QOL, saving time not commuting or driving far to work, etc..., then you may want to reconsider.

 

Interesting....most of my CA neighbors/friends said there wasn't a snowball's chance in He!! that Hillary wasn't going to be the president in 2016 as well. Sometimes the echo chamber on the west coast severely discounts the rest of the country.

 

Sounds like you live in Petaluma. Interesting what you say about the traffic. I live in Marin and see very little traffic, especially when compared to my flying partners that come in from the east bay. I know that going thru Novato can be a drag, but unless you go to work during prime commute hours our traffic in the north bay is not near as bad as Seattle, or la.

 

Too much MSLSD. I watch MSLSD often; now THAT's fake news. maddow, odonnell, and the rest of them make up such ridiculous stories that I can't believe anyone would call other channels fake news.

 

I lived in California for 60 years. I watched the state deteriorate during the last 20yrs I lived there. Weather is awesome, Beaches, Skiing is great. So what happened? The generous welfare, unemployment and State Disability crushed the finances. The State workers receive the best retirement program - gold-plated medical, State employees do not pay Social Security Taxes. Law enforcement retirees retire at 97% of the pay by spiking their final earnings through all kinds of schemes. My last year in California I began to notice all the retired state workers with lots of "toys" and in essence living well. All these gold-plated state pensions come at a big price. So, where does all the money come from to pay for all that? Taxes. The state taxes everything. Property taxes while high, are low compared to other states because of Prop 13. The political class has been trying to end Prop 13 in order to pay for the exploding pension obligations. Why aren't the streets being fixed? Why are the bridge fares in the Bay Area rising? To pay for all the welfare and pension obligations. There does not seem to be an end to it.

 

You might take a look at the recent IRS statements on the prepay. Looks like they have ruled it illegal accept in some very limited circumstances. I was going to do the same thing but did not qualify.

 

In addition, that state 'charity' deduction isn't going to fly.

Californians and other high tax states are going to start paying their fair share of federal taxes. If they want a bloated, expensive state government, that's their choice. Going forward, their federal tax deduction for that bloat will be limited.

Why should someone who lives in CA pay lower federal taxes on the same amount of wages than someone lives in NV and doesn't have a bunch of state tax writeoffs? Californians aren't paying their fair share of federal taxes.