Has your income kept up with inflation

[dreiwhit]

For those who say just move, unfortunately it isn't that simple.

I agree. I got that a lot when I was trying to find a new job. People could never understand why I couldn't move, but the reasons were valid.

 

[DawnM]

I agree. I got that a lot when I was trying to find a new job. People could never understand why I couldn't move, but the reasons were valid.

And some of the same reasons we are looking at moving back to a HCOL area.

My parents are getting older, their health is not good.
My retirement is tied to that system, and I have to go back to finish my years there in order to get it.
My kids want to move back for college (currently have one in CC and one a Jr. so we will try to wait one more year for them to finish)

People think we are nuts (people here) to move to an area where we will get a house half the size for twice the price.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

These boards have really opened my eyes to how much teacher salaries vary across the nation. And it is amazing how the cost of living varies across the nation. You'd be making $83,000 a year in the district I live in with a Masters Degree, and that is a very very good income here.

I teach at a Catholic school, and our pay scale is about $7000 lower than the public school pay scale. That said, to get to $80,000 a public school teacher in my county would need an MA and to have 42 years of experience! I cut and pasted this from my county website:
Maximum salary (salary, degree, years of experience): $80,151; MA; 42

 

[tvguy]

I teach at a Catholic school, and our pay scale is about $7000 lower than the public school pay scale. That said, to get to $80,000 a public school teacher in my county would need an MA and to have 42 years of experience! I cut and pasted this from my county website:
Maximum salary (salary, degree, years of experience): $80,151; MA; 42

Like I said, I am amazed at how wide a gap there is nationwide in teacher salaries.

 

[DawnM]

I teach at a Catholic school, and our pay scale is about $7000 lower than the public school pay scale. That said, to get to $80,000 a public school teacher in my county would need an MA and to have 42 years of experience! I cut and pasted this from my county website:
Maximum salary (salary, degree, years of experience): $80,151; MA; 42

Are your health and retirement benefits comparable to the PS system?

I have been offered a job, twice, with a local private school. I have turned them down, twice. They tout that their salary is only 10% less than the local PS, but the truth is in the details, and their healthcare is not as good, and their retirement is abysmal.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

Are your health and retirement benefits comparable to the PS system?

I have been offered a job, twice, with a local private school. I have turned them down, twice. They tout that their salary is only 10% less than the local PS, but the truth is in the details, and their healthcare is not as good, and their retirement is abysmal.

The healthcare is pretty good, but the retirement stinks. There used to be a regular retirement pension plan, but they changed it a few years ago. Some folks are grandfathered in to the old one. The new one is not nearly as good, so they added a 403B plan. So we basically have to fund the bulk of our own retirement. They do match a small portion - 50% for the first 4% contributed. I contribute 12% of my salary.

Edited to correct my info.

 

[TheGecko]

Overall my income has kept up but to keep above inflation I had to over the last decade plus, change companies twice, changed jobs internally twice at two of the companies, and am now on my third employer where I plan to stay as long as they want me.

It has helped that I work in Engineering in the energy sector and there is pretty high demand for our skill set. If I had stayed in one position and not varied my experience and took on more responsibility with each change it would have been more of a struggle especially with the rising cost of benefits.

Don't get me wrong I experienced a year with salary freeze where the company raised insurance payments essentially cutting everyone's pay. I have had bonuses that have bounced all over the board, and also had to work a bunch of overtime some of which was unpaid.

Whenever this current gig runs out, I will be looking to go lower responsibility and lower stress which will probably mean less pay. I will be ok with it since it will be on my terms.

 

[xlxo]

Thoughts....

• I remember what the local eatery was charging me for lunch 25 years when I started my job. Meal prices have quadrupled..... my income has not.
• Home prices have more than quadrupled too living on the West Coast. Not sure a part-time second job is going to help.

 

[dreiwhit]

Thoughts....

• I remember what the local eatery was charging me for lunch 25 years when I started my job. Meal prices have quadrupled..... my income has not.

I was out of work for two months back in 2001, so I remember quite vividly what our bills were. All our bills are either double or triple now what they were then. My salary has gone up by 30% in that time, definitely not keeping up with costs!!

 

[xlxo]

Similar thoughts about taxes, especially property taxes in the last quarter century. Politicians are taking on causes (local? international?) when they can't afford it.

 

[DLgal]

And some of the same reasons we are looking at moving back to a HCOL area.

My parents are getting older, their health is not good.
My retirement is tied to that system, and I have to go back to finish my years there in order to get it.
My kids want to move back for college (currently have one in CC and one a Jr. so we will try to wait one more year for them to finish)

People think we are nuts (people here) to move to an area where we will get a house half the size for twice the price.

There are a lot of valid reasons to move to a higher cost of living area. It's crazy how people fixate on house size and cost. The rental market in CA is huge. Many areas are an even split 50/50 homeowners/renters. Our area is like that. We rent because we could never afford to buy here but we want to take advantage of all the benefits this city has to offer (namely the high quality schools). We are here on military orders but we could have lived closer to a base but the schools down that way are terrible Renting is okay. We've been doing it for 16 years and love the stress free lifestyle. No expensive repairs, we can up and move when we need to, etc. At end of the day, you just need a roof over your head. And people think they need much larger houses than they actually need. For many years in this country, the average house for a family of 4 was WELL under 2,000 square feet. We are in an 1800 ft house with two pre teen boys and we fit just fine. We lived in a 1200 square foot apartment for 7 years! We lived in a 3,500 square foot three level house for four and hated how big it was. I'm sold on smaller houses...Less cleaning and forces us not to keep too much "stuff."

 

[DawnM]

There are a lot of valid reasons to move to a higher cost of living area. It's crazy how people fixate on house size and cost. The rental market in CA is huge. Many areas are an even split 50/50 homeowners/renters. Our area is like that. We rent because we could never afford to buy here but we want to take advantage of all the benefits this city has to offer (namely the high quality schools). We are here on military orders but we could have lived closer to a base but the schools down that way are terrible Renting is okay. We've been doing it for 16 years and love the stress free lifestyle. No expensive repairs, we can up and move when we need to, etc. At end of the day, you just need a roof over your head. And people think they need much larger houses than they actually need. For many years in this country, the average house for a family of 4 was WELL under 2,000 square feet. We are in an 1800 ft house with two pre teen boys and we fit just fine. We lived in a 1200 square foot apartment for 7 years! We lived in a 3,500 square foot three level house for four and hated how big it was. I'm sold on smaller houses...Less cleaning and forces us not to keep too much "stuff."

I agree. We moved from a 1500 sq. ft. house. Honestly, I dont' think that house had the size issue as much as it was just not well laid out. I want to get a house that has a better floor plan this go around. I am hoping for 2000 sq. ft. but if we go a bit smaller, that is ok with me.

I have a wish list, but honestly, just to be back *home* will be great.

 

[DLgal]

I agree. We moved from a 1500 sq. ft. house. Honestly, I dont' think that house had the size issue as much as it was just not well laid out. I want to get a house that has a better floor plan this go around. I am hoping for 2000 sq. ft. but if we go a bit smaller, that is ok with me.

I have a wish list, but honestly, just to be back *home* will be great.

Not sure where in CA you might be headed, but we are in northern Orange County and they are building a ton of new houses around here and they have really efficient floorplans that make great use of smaller footprints. Our house seems larger than it is because it has a very open plan downstairs and uses space upstairs very efficiently. We are renting a new construction home that is full of builder upgrades for less than the cost of most 3 bedroom apartments around here.

 

[DawnM]

Not sure where in CA you might be headed, but we are in northern Orange County and they are building a ton of new houses around here and they have really efficient floorplans that make great use of smaller footprints. Our house seems larger than it is because it has a very open plan downstairs and uses space upstairs very efficiently. We are renting a new construction home that is full of builder upgrades for less than the cost of most 3 bedroom apartments around here.

We aren't exactly sure yet, but most likely back to the Pasadena/La Canada/Burbank area.

Where are they getting the land for new homes?

 

[AquaDame]

There are a lot of valid reasons to move to a higher cost of living area. It's crazy how people fixate on house size and cost. The rental market in CA is huge. Many areas are an even split 50/50 homeowners/renters. Our area is like that. We rent because we could never afford to buy here but we want to take advantage of all the benefits this city has to offer (namely the high quality schools). We are here on military orders but we could have lived closer to a base but the schools down that way are terrible Renting is okay. We've been doing it for 16 years and love the stress free lifestyle. No expensive repairs, we can up and move when we need to, etc. At end of the day, you just need a roof over your head. And people think they need much larger houses than they actually need. For many years in this country, the average house for a family of 4 was WELL under 2,000 square feet. We are in an 1800 ft house with two pre teen boys and we fit just fine. We lived in a 1200 square foot apartment for 7 years! We lived in a 3,500 square foot three level house for four and hated how big it was. I'm sold on smaller houses...Less cleaning and forces us not to keep too much "stuff."

The reason we bought where we are is because rents were skyrocketing. We bought when it was around $1200 for a two bedroom - now on average it is more than our mortgage. That's if you are willing to live on the outskirts of the city - closer in its more like $2400 for a small place with a dedicated parking space. My work regularly sends around 'deals' from a friend looking to rent out their "chic house" for a mere 3-4K for a two bedroom. We bought in 2012 and its just getting worse every year.

 

[DLgal]

We aren't exactly sure yet, but most likely back to the Pasadena/La Canada/Burbank area.

Where are they getting the land for new homes?

I'm in Irvine. Where we live was previously farmland. Just off I-5. They keep moving further inland towards the hills. There is a lot of available land in OC, at least. That is part of the reason the housing prices are so high in CA...There is a LOT of available land and they COULD build a lot more houses but not doing so keeps housing markets artificially high which puts a lot of money in influential people's pockets..

 

[DLgal]

The reason we bought where we are is because rents were skyrocketing. We bought when it was around $1200 for a two bedroom - now on average it is more than our mortgage. That's if you are willing to live on the outskirts of the city - closer in its more like $2400 for a small place with a dedicated parking space. My work regularly sends around 'deals' from a friend looking to rent out their "chic house" for a mere 3-4K for a two bedroom. We bought in 2012 and its just getting worse every year.

Yeah, we are still way under what a mortgage would be on the house we rent. Like, the rent is about 40% lower than a mortgage+property tax+HOA fee+homeowner's insurance payment would be. It has always been this way for us so renting has always been a better option than owning. The house we rent for $3250/month is valued at $925000 right now...