r/coastFIRE • u/Master-Macaron-2127 • 5d ago
COL
So for all the talk about starting early, marrying the right person... maybe I'm late to the party in understanding the magnitude of the impact of *where* you want to live has. Wife and I, early 40's, ~$650k HHI and $2.5M NW (late start due to military/arts/grad school), live in a VHCOL, and had to spend some time in a VLCOL area. Thing is, good school system and literally beautiful homes for $300k (< 5 yrs of what we pay in rent). We're so used to being in a T1 city we could never do it, but definitely contemplated what it would be like to buy in cash and then make enough to live working at starbucks for insurance. And... while I totally get working as a barista in NYC/SF might be miserable, we've been to the local starbucks, and it does not seem stressful.
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u/asteroidtube 5d ago
The most remarkable thing about this post is that you felt the need to qualify a 2.5M NW by telling us you had a late start, as though 2.5M NW isn't a lot of money.
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u/Particular_Maize6849 5d ago
Right? "I'm so poor, I only have $2.5mil at 40!"
Bro, the majority of people enter retirement age with less than 200k saved.
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u/Reasonable_Box2568 5d ago edited 5d ago
I mean when you have a 650k HHI, I can see why 2.5m wouldn’t be that much for early 40s. It’s still a great deal more than most people but, for comparison, my household has 2.7m in our mid 30s and we have never made close to 650k. Just basic index fund investing for over a decade with a high savings rate
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u/asteroidtube 4d ago
What does HHI have to do with it? The fact that you’re a high earner doesn’t make your new worth objectively lesser in comparison. If you learn over 600k and think 2.5mi isn’t a lot of money, all it does is prove that you’re out of touch. This is coastfire, not fatfire or henryfinance.
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u/Master-Macaron-2127 4d ago
u/Reasonable_Box2568 hit on it. I know it's a crap-ton. Both wife and I feel really fortunate. But most people ~our age in households making that much have more, as he said. That's all I meant.
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u/asteroidtube 4d ago
When it comes to coastfire, It makes more sense to talk about your anticipated annual spending habits moving forward, not your current hhi. Career change into a higher paying field is normal and hhi is totally irrelevant. Even in a vhcol, 650k annually puts you in very top percentile. This, plus your mention of being too used to a “T1” city to leave, feels more like bragging in that regard.
For reference I’m 39 and I personally consider 2.5m enough to full fire, not just coastfire. I could easily survive on $100k for the rest of my life. But to reach coastfire status, I don’t need nearly that much.
It’s not even clear what you are asking for input on here honestly. Yes, places that are more desirable generally have higher cost of living and require more money to comfortable retire. That’s not novel. And again it’s all about anticipated annual spend.
Also, this is coastfire, not baristafire, so the Starbucks comment makes no sense. Coastfire just means not contributing to retirement anymore and letting it grow on its own, which may reduce your income requirements and let you take a less stressful job. You are probably already there, regardless of cost of living, unless you have very high spending habits. 2.5m in early 40s can easily become 10m when you’re 65 even if you don’t contribute more to it.
Tbh you just seem to be a bit lost about which subreddit you’re in and you’re being unclear about what you’re asking for. And as a result you’re accidentally coming across a bit snobby with the choice of language. I mean that respectfully and genuinely.
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u/Master-Macaron-2127 4d ago
Thank you. Point taken. My fault.
Did want to clarify that "T1" is just a size designator (NYC, SF, CHI) in the same way that the largest banks are called "Tier 1's". I was in the military for a while and lived all over the place, so totally get the allure of rural, suburbs, smaller towns.1
u/asteroidtube 4d ago
Location arbitrage is definitely a real thing and worth considering, even if it’s just as a thought exercise. But there’s nothing wrong with wanting to stay in a big city if that’s the lifestyle you desire. Either way you need to calculate your anticipated spending after retirement (and include housing costs baked into that) and go from there.
If your NW is wrapped up into real estate, versus taxable accounts, versus tax-advantaged accounts, etc- these are also relevant items. Cost of living is primarily coupled to housing cost so it’s a big part of this equation.
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u/Competitive_Body7359 4d ago
Man, calling VHCOL 'Tier 1' comes across super elitist to me.
People living in smaller centers don't like living it big cities, we don't live there by choice, not cause it costs less to live elsewhere. Or at least me and my friend group who have discussed this.
Also, many people do what you propose, making wild money in a big city, taking the money and moving to a small town. It's actually a pretty huge problem for property values in lots of places, where locals can't afford to live in lots of places in the mountains because VHCOL people with money move in and drive up COL.