DW has a small biz that can be run from anywhere. We make equal comp, current TC for household is $500K and projected to rise for both of us. Wife is paying CA/Bay Area premium because of my tech job (taxes, sky high rent so I can be close to work and come home on a dime, etc). Does it make sense for me to put my career on the back burner and move somewhere else without income taxes/sky high rents? Progressive taxation and Bay Area CoL makes me wonder if there’s a better way... I’m also a recent father that’s loving every moment with his child. I don’t mind being a stay at home dad, especially if we can net even or even come out ahead by saving on taxes. I can wfh to help my wife on her Biz and increase potential. Happy to spend 24/7 being a dad/husband/business partner Recommendations? Should I stay or should I go? If so, where should we move? Any alternate strategies / suggestions?
Wfh sounds like a good option
Do take healthcare into consideration. Not sure if you and DW are on your healthcare or hers or some combo. If you have kids, that can easily add an extra $3k to your monthly expenses. Depending on the she of the kids, maybe the option is to take a less taxiing role that still parts health insurance and has 401k matching. This way you and fam can have best of all worlds. Just a thought.
Yeah health insurance and 401k are important. Currently the fam is on my plan. I forgot how expensive private health insurance coverage is
It's God awful. 1 person is roughly $1k. Kids pricing vary across the board. Also, life insurance. If you've got a family, the larger companies usually provide something. Dropping out is always tempting but most folks underestimate on medical, kids education, and emergencies. Also, not sure what age you're in but as you move towards your 50s, parents on both sides may need help (financial and otherwise). Having an emergency $100k goes a long way.
That should have read' the age of your kids'. Autocorrect.
Do it!
If you’re not tied to CA then yeah you should strongly consider getting a big house in some uncool part of the country. When we had our kid we moved from Bay area to Phoenix and it was the best decision. Way cheaper housing/COL, also less time spent in traffic, and generally everything is just easier and less crowded
When I’ve looked at this, here is what I’ve found - Marginal rate in CA at $400K+ is around 50% (33% + 10% + payroll taxes + phaseout of child tax credit) - Childcare in CA per kid is around $30K. Really comes down to the value you place on the incremental $5-10K of monthly disposable income you enjoy. If you don’t care about the extra security, vacations, etc, stay at home and move to a low tax state like TX, WA, FL, TN, etc, especially if you plan on having multiple kids.
Op did you move?
What is DW? Dear Wife?
Da wife lol
Lol