I'd like seek your help to offer perspectives on the pros and cons of choosing a location to settle down for our family.
Some financial information for our family:
- We are in our mid thirties with two kids (4 and 8)
- We will be renting a house, monthly rent around 4K in Seattle vs 3K in a midwest city.
- We have a portfolio around 3M, with 2M in stock index fund and 1M in cash/TIPS.
- Annual family expense has been hovering around 150K.
So we are debating between which of two locations to settle down for the next 15 or so years (before the kids leave for college):
1. Staying in Seattle, WA. Both of us will work in tech. Annual family pretax income will be around 900K.
2. Moving to a midwest city. I will stay in academia (currently on leave as a tenured professor at a State University) and spouse will work in non-tech with annual family pretax income around 400K.
I'd like to hear your thoughts on the pros and cons of both options. The ones we can think of are:
Pros for staying Seattle:
1. bigger city, larger asian community
2. better weather, and more outdoor activities for us and the kids
3. higher take-home pay after taxes and expenses, and perhaps more upside in the future.
Cons for staying Seattle:
1. Salary less stable (could get impacted by layoff in tech...)
2. With both working in tech, the work life balance for both of us could be much worse. So less time for family and kids.
We are fortunate enough to have already amassed a sizable portfolio. So my personal view is that the higher pay in Seattle is less important to us, and moving out of Seattle would allow us to focus more on the family and kids. Spouse on the other hand feels that her career would get a big hit if leaving tech, and worries that she will get bored at work and would miss the more interesting works in tech. And She also has more appetite for the higher pay in tech and potential upside in the future. I am the one who values stability and WLB more.
Would really appreciate if you could offer your thoughts on possible other pros and cons to think about. Many thanks in advance!
Some financial information for our family:
- We are in our mid thirties with two kids (4 and 8)
- We will be renting a house, monthly rent around 4K in Seattle vs 3K in a midwest city.
- We have a portfolio around 3M, with 2M in stock index fund and 1M in cash/TIPS.
- Annual family expense has been hovering around 150K.
So we are debating between which of two locations to settle down for the next 15 or so years (before the kids leave for college):
1. Staying in Seattle, WA. Both of us will work in tech. Annual family pretax income will be around 900K.
2. Moving to a midwest city. I will stay in academia (currently on leave as a tenured professor at a State University) and spouse will work in non-tech with annual family pretax income around 400K.
I'd like to hear your thoughts on the pros and cons of both options. The ones we can think of are:
Pros for staying Seattle:
1. bigger city, larger asian community
2. better weather, and more outdoor activities for us and the kids
3. higher take-home pay after taxes and expenses, and perhaps more upside in the future.
Cons for staying Seattle:
1. Salary less stable (could get impacted by layoff in tech...)
2. With both working in tech, the work life balance for both of us could be much worse. So less time for family and kids.
We are fortunate enough to have already amassed a sizable portfolio. So my personal view is that the higher pay in Seattle is less important to us, and moving out of Seattle would allow us to focus more on the family and kids. Spouse on the other hand feels that her career would get a big hit if leaving tech, and worries that she will get bored at work and would miss the more interesting works in tech. And She also has more appetite for the higher pay in tech and potential upside in the future. I am the one who values stability and WLB more.
Would really appreciate if you could offer your thoughts on possible other pros and cons to think about. Many thanks in advance!
Statistics: Posted by zhuyz05 — Sat Jan 06, 2024 12:54 pm — Replies 13 — Views 650