Do People Actually Move TO California?

I mentioned "commuting" before; anyone have any experience with working in one state and living in another?

I would talk with a CA tax person about that living and working in two states. I seem to remember paying taxes in CA & WI the year I moved (I moved from CA to WI to marry my husband).

It's been a while, but I've been to Jackson and it was a nice place back then. It was a town during the CA Gold Rush and there are plenty reminders of those days in the area. It is on Hwy 49 so gets a fair amount of tourist traffic passing through, but my guess is that once you get away from the touristy downtown, it is still a small town.

Here's a website about Hwy 49 and Jackson:

http://www.historichwy49.com/jack/jackhist.html

Jackson is still within easy driving distance of the Bay Area and the San Joaquin valley. You could take your kids to see a Major League baseball game, see the aquariums, art museums and the ocean, but be back at home in your little town that night. There are also major research hospitals in easy driving distance as well Stanford University, University of California at San Francisco and University of California at Davis.

You will hear plenty horror stories of Califonia, but please remember that California is a huge state and plenty of it is still rural. With your occupation, you can find a job in any county in the state. The real question is if that particular area suits you and your family. My gut feeling is that you would need to visit Jackson on vacation to really see if it is a good fit.

Good Luck
Deb
in wi

ya know...there is a reason that law enforcement has such great retirement benefits...and it is because few actually make it to retirement...they get hurt, they quit or that other option we will not mention...but great benefits don't mean anything if you are not around to collect them. Just my opinion...but geez...go VISIT California for a few weeks and then make a decision.

Good luck and god speed whatever you decide.

My only thought is that a lot of your pros have to do with making more money in California but it seems like your comparing apples and oranges. It isn't going to be much more money once you get to there. Better to live where you want to live and not where you think you can make more money.

My husband has family in Modesto and Riverbank. We visited last fall and couldn't wait to leave. We took a wrong turn and ended up in Sacramento (don't ask, DH and I are not city savy). Scared us to death driving through down town. Couldn't even begin to a imagine a homesteading family living down there.

Living in one state and commuting - you will have to pay CA state tax AND if the state your living in has state taxes you will have to pay those also, it's a CA loophole that will really get you.

Jackson is a beautiful area. I visted many times during my childhood and adult life there. But be warned. hwy 49 is a tourist highway ( read BAD drivers) and a windy 2 lane road that is last on the state's list to take care of during the winter. they get LOTS of snow. Getting to a big city during the winter may pose a problem. The people of that area are kinda clickish and the CA mountains are a haven for drug dens.

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Valerie
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Shhhhh......I'm hiding!

I am a CA native, also left. There are times I think about going back.

Do your math. Call utility companies, check with an insurance agent and call the DMV to see about getting your cars registered (major expense!). Find out the true figures, or as close as you can get and do the math.

Keep in mind that more money means a higher tax bracket and without owning a home...less write-offs. Keeping your home as a rental may very well pay for itself just in the tax savings.

State income taxes are higher so check into that. Gather as much accurate information as you can. That will help with the decision.

Then go visit your friend. Take the family and see what they think. Subscribe to the newspaper. You'll get it by mail a week late, but that can tell you a lot about the area.

These are all things I did before I moved to a different state. It helped alot.

Jena

I do have a couple friends in that area who have given me some ideas of the costs.

The biggest two are rent (or mortgage) and vehicle registration.

Both my friends' rent is $1200 a month for a decent, average house. One has seen houses on acreage for about $1500 a month.

One friend just bought a new Suburban and the registration was $400, which was far less than I thought it would be, so either I'm not thinking straight or she is not. I think there is an online calculator to figure it.

One friend's vehicle insurance is about double what I pay; $160 a month.

Gasoline is about $3.39 a gallon, and I can get it here for about $2.95.

I realize the cost of living is going to be higher, but the question is will the increase in pay actually cover it.

If I am struggling here or struggling there, I guess the big difference is WHERE I am struggling.

One thing to consider is overtime is almost guaranteed. In LE shifts MUST be covered at all times, so when you have small department with just enough personnel to cover the normal shifts, the minute someone gets sick or goes on vacation, someone works overtime.

With the holiday included that $14,500 increase in yearly salary is actually more like $16,500.

The monhtly take-home in CA would likely be $3900 a month give or take and my take-home now is barely $2200 a month.

Since I already pay just over $500 a month in mortgage, if I went with a $1200 rental house, the increase is $700 a month. That leaves the $600 plus for other cost of living increases.

But like I said, none of that takes into consideration the overtime I would inevitably get.

Although, I guess it's best to budget on what I KNOW I would make, so the overtime is all just icing on the cake.

Thanks for all the responses...please feel free to continue with pros and cons, because I honestly want to hear it all.

Well, if you add up 12 months of al least $1,400 per month on your mortgage, you are already over 16,00o more in living expenses...more than your raise would be. Even adding in the uniform allowance and the SS...not a GREAT deal to give up your lifestyle. Think of the property taxes...and all the other higher expense of the cost of living in California...

Plus, do you REALLY want to be working the holidays and doing THAT MUCH overtime on a very stressful, dangerous job? Wouldn't you rather spend that time with your four kids?

I agree with the poster who said: "Run away! Run Away!"

Skip the ego thing...I understand it, but let it go.

BTW, how do your wife and kids feel about it?

http://www.homefair.com/homefair/calc/salcalc.html

I found this link useful- It's a salary calculator.

Allows you to see how your current income would compare in a different state. E.g. What your salary would need to be in CA to support your current standard of living.

Can't vouch for it's accuracy but it might be helpful.


Good luck.

I guess do you really want to work that much? It sounds like you'd be couting on overtime and holiday pay. If you never see your family and you put yourself in much more danger every day with a chance of loosing you (California has got to be more dangerious than Idaho?)....how good of a deal can it be?

Since we have spent the past few months researching moving out of state I pulled up some numbers:


Auto registration fees.

DMV Fees

Example: A three year old vehicle that sold new for $25,000 is $174


California Sales tax (Jackson): 7.25 %

Property taxes Rent: 0
Own 1 ¼ % of the purchase price. It goes up very little after that.

State income tax Idaho 1.6 – 7.8 %

California 4.6%

Food: About 40-50% higher than Idaho

Gas: About 10% higher

Electric: This can get tricky. There is a baseline rate for the house. Summer peak power is now about .15 kwh. If you go over that it gets real pricey. For a family of four being pretty good you should figure an average of $200/mo. For summer cooling evaporative usually works fine. This past week nothing works. Find a better way to heat than electric in the winter.

Perhaps the question is, what do you WANT to do? Do you WANT to live in CA.?

Soaring mountains, thundering surf, silent redwood forest cathedrals, I love California with every fiber of my heart.

Rush hour gridlock, air that is polluted BEYOND belief, the world tiniest lots to garden on....Left years ago and I hope to NEVER live there again! The quality of life, for me, was HORRID!

As much as I love it, I hope to never live there again! It was WELL worth repeating!

But, if you have a TOLERANCE for cities, as I do not, you might love it!

I do hope you do homeschool your kids if you move there. Unless you want them to become raving lunatic liberals.....

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A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

I suspect you have not lived in a small country town in California. I lived in Los Angeles for 40 years and then moved to a town similar to Jackson. There is a world of difference. We don't have rush hours, gridlock, smog or gangs. Minimun lot sizes are usually 1/4 acre with the majority larger.

Many LE folks live in our neighborhood and they are pretty happy. They have a nice lifestyle and have built some good equity. We are in the oposite situation. Our income would not change if we moved away and our expenses will be cut in half. We want to farm and the costs here are just too high to start out and the regulations are oppresive.

IMO the biggest trap with a higher salary is buying too much stuff. An RV, then some jet skis, then dirt bikes etc. Then you have to store , maintain and insure the stuff. There is never enough stuff.

Everyone I know in CA tells me it's bad now and getting worse. My brother left CA, moved to Ark. but a few months later he went back to CA (LA area). I have some cousins who live there and love it, others hated it and left. I think it's about like everywhere else, some like it and some don't.

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If I still lived in CA, I would probably be telling him to stay away from CA too!

When I was in high school in a small CA coastal town, a popular t-shirt among my classmates said " Welcome to California, now GO HOME!"

My dad still lives in the little CA coastal town where I grew up. There is no crime, no homeless people, quiet safe streets with very little noise at night (when I am staying there I can hear the fog horn, the pounding waves & the seals barking at night). My dad is frail at 96 yrs old, but the weather is mild enough that he can go outside almost everyday of the year.

California might not be everyone's idea of paradise, but many people have found it to be their paradise and made it their home. You really have to go there to see if it fits your needs.

I have a very wonderful, but very different life living in rural WI. I miss California and if my life were to suddenly change in a drastic way...I might go back some day.

Deb
in WI

DMV:
When we left a year ago my 2003 Chevy Silverado p/u registration was $391
BUT if you are moving to the area you must pay TRANSFER FEES plus registration fees $$$$$ Auto insurance is based on area (zip code) and past driving record plus credit check. Ours ran about $1600 per year in a good area with good credit and good records.

Property Tax:
Don't forget all the extras that are added into your taxes for schools, sewer, trash all the lovely bonds and such comes out to a lot more than 1 1/4 %

Utilities:
The all mighty PG&E (Pacific Gas and Electric) Talk a controversy in the state! WOW.
Our <1400 sqft home utility bills ran $140-$350 with medical allowance that extended out baseline useage. You can't run a household on what they allow you for baseline useage and anything over that is expensive!

Don't forget that in Ca they won't let you burn in your fireplace except on approved days. They also encourage people to turn neighbors in for buring in their fireplace on unapproved days. They also use helicopters with heat sensors to catch people. Had a bit of trouble with that one though. Last year the only day that was approved, was a day that was 80 degrees.

OH! and don't for get your water bill! Ours almost quadrupled in 2 years and we ended up with worse water than we ever started with. We used to get well water but the California Water Service had 18 of their 26 wells shut down for contamination, so they built a hydro plant on the Kern River. The water smelt and tasted like dirty fish! EWWWW but our bill went from $22 to was over $75 per month on a FLAT RATE. Hate to think what those people with metered water were paying.

Just some more thought from someone whose been there and LEFT!

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Valerie
**********************************
Shhhhh......I'm hiding!

I'm not saying this is the greatest place or the worst. Qustions were asked and I'm trying to give accurate information. California cities are much different animal than the small rural areas. You do make a good point about Highway 49. The weekend traffic can be a bit much.

I live in the area you mentioned Amador county about 16 miles from Jackson. Houses and land is very expensive. Try googling: buy and sell amador county.
Lots of people move here from the SF bay area with lots of cash and buy houses. Prices are starting to drop - too many houses on the market. Gas is also very expensive (its been over $3 for a long time). There's almost no serious crime - mostly DUI and drug users.
Its a great area and if you can move you should.

Thanks for the continued responses. I think one person mentioned gathering as much info as possible and this what thie thread is all about.

The money side of it plays a big part, because I have the huge responsibility of financially supporting my family...period. I would never make a move that jeopardizes that.

Other considerations are work environment (the agency not the city). I've always felt it's the politics in LE and not the bad guys that wear cops down. I believe I am under-valued where I work and have sometimes received what I would consider verbal abuse.

I've also been passed over for promotion twice. A position came open and wasn't filled (I was senior officer at the time) and another came open later which I tested for and was rejected (again, I was the senior officer).

My pay will never go up substantially and even when it does, it's only enough to cover what inflation took away. My only hope is to pay down debt, but that is an agonizingly slow process when most of your income is already spent before the next check comes along. I know, all of the debt is my fault and much of it has to do with poor budgeting, but when you are in it, you are in it and there's no easy way out when your income is limited.

Two years ago we started having to pay for health insurance and that cost will continue to rise. Along with no increase in pay, that starts to hurt. My family does not have dental or vision, so if I when I get glasses it comes out of my pocket and most likely gets put on a credit card. My wife and possibly one of my children already needs dental work. Again, out of my pocket and most likely on a credit card (subtopic: why can I sign my name and drive a brand new vehicle off a lot, but not get a dentist to extend credit?). So the choices are go into more debt or deny my family treatment for their dental and vision problems. I have heard one former city father project the city may one day drop dependents altogether.

We could use a bigger house; ours is a 1000 sq. ft., 2 bd/1 ba. Of course with almost 2.5 acres there is room to expand, but that, AGAIN, takes money.

We have a 1999 Dodge Durango that is already showing signs of wear, i.e. a broken windshield, a broken mirror, a broken sunroof, ABS system problems. By the time it's paid for it will be 10-11 years old. I have purchased one brand new vehicle in my entire life when I was single, so I don't have to have a brand new vehicle, but I want one that fits our lifestyle (big enough for th family and preferably 4WD due to the winters we have) and is safe. The problems ours has are small, so far, but again they cost money to fix. I just put over $300 having a drive line problem fixed. It went on a credit card.

I'm not writing all this to whine about my problems, because they are small problems compared to what many have, but just showing how the money considerations are connected to other things in life. I'm not money hungry, I just wonder if my money problems are only going to get worse with no possibility of my pay increasing.

Thanks again for all the imput. I'm still monitering this thread daily, so keep it coming!