by Craig Erwin, Ph.D.
Photo by Sound-On at Pexels.com
A woman who interviewed for a job I’m trying to fill, asked me about the cost of living in Connecticut, where I live. I said it was really high. She asked if that made it a bad place to live. I told her it was a good place to live while you’re working, with high salaries and good benefits, but a lousy place to retire. I cited examples of people who had worked in CT, saved for retirement, and retired somewhere with a lower cost of living, like a southern state.
I first became aware of differences in cost of living and salaries decades ago while I was living in Arkansas, but being paid by a company headquartered in the northeast. I was able to live better than a lot of Arkansans and save aggressively for retirement because my salary was relatively high compared to the cost of living.
I know of American expats, who live abroad in countries where the cost of living is lower than in the US. They can save much of their salary and some can afford servants. Nice!
I have friends who quit their Connecticut jobs and moved to South Carolina before they were ready to retire. They would have been better off waiting till retirement age. They are struggling to find and keep jobs with good benefits, and to save for retirement.
So, if you have a choice, work where you can make the most money and retire where it’s cheap to live. Life is hard. Don’t make it harder.
For more information on living and retiring well, click on the following links:
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