Shameless Plug for my 300th Thanks!! (1 Viewer)

Thanked 299 Times in 274
SO CLOSE - When I get 300, I can cash them in and retire?

If you hadn't been over 300 I would have been sorely tempted to give you that push

Have been enjoying my retirement. But, turned out that 300 thanks doesn't buy what it use to! With my coupon and 300 "Thanks" I got a cup of coffee at Starbucks.

I have been thanked 36 times. So does that mean I get a teaspoon of coffee at Starbucks

Sorry, no.
But, next time you are in Colorado, I promise to share a teaspoon of my retirement cup with you!

Times are tough but we can get through this!
Thanks for using the measurement of a teaspoon.
Denver is known as the Mile High City. We banned all references to the metric system here. What fun is the 1.4 Km High City?

Rx_ said:

What fun is the 1.4 Km High City?

Click to expand...

One mile = 1.609 kilometres

I would love to come to Colorado (to live). I have always enjoyed the Rocky Mountains. But alas I am stuck in California for now.

See! I told you it wasn't fun. So we will stick with our Mile High Stadium.
http://www.9news.com/news/local/deadline-approaches-to-name-mile-high-stadium/281081351

Mile High is taken very serious here. There is still much research to be done on how it changes our lifestyle.
In the USA, we have a full-time guy just to research Tape Measures.
http://nist-takingmeasure.blogs.govdelivery.com/going-distance-national-tape-measure-day/ What a great country!

Did that Mile to Km conversion factor apply to our altitude and gravity?
Here is a conversion article because Baseball players constantly set new records when they are a Mile High.
http://www.ebsinstitute.com/Baseball/EBS.crp1df2.html

This article above about less gravity didn't even account that during the daytime, we are a whole mile closer to the Sun. The Sun is really big and has a much higher gravity field than the Earth.
That is why when I am on a diet, I only weigh myself at noon. The Sun gravity being closer above than those of you at sea level effectively makes me a little lighter. It contributes slightly to the fact that residents of Denver are not as overweight as the rest of the country. Here is Proof:
http://www.denverpost.com/2011/07/07/report-colorado-has-smallest-percentage-of-obese-residents/

Possibly why our shoes don't wear out as fast.

When I am working downtown and go out for lunch at Noon and a bum ask me to give them some money, I can honestly say... I am a little light right now.

There are many people from California working here. Here is the trick:
https://www.rentjungle.com/average-rent-in-denver-rent-trends/
Average 1 Bedroom is $1,406 a Month USD. 2 Bed is $1,814.
The Golden Triangle, Cherry Creek, and Lodo are closer to most jobs.
They range from $2,940 mo down to 2,104 mo USD for 1 bedroom.
Utilities including water are expensive here.

With direct flights, companies like Comcast relocated technology here from places like California. California people take direct flights (1.6 Hr) to work here leaving families in California. Six workers will share a 2 bedroom apartment to keep cost down.

Colorado has about the same sales tax and tax rate as NYC.
So, people get offered $50,000 USD and think - wow, I can live in Colorado and be close to skiing and resorts. So, they move here. The Fed, State and sales tax rate is about (State & Sales tax $250 mo plus Excess Allowance $333) + Fed tax of 25% or around $1,000) (excluding Social Security and Obamacare)
So, that monthly $4,200 check drops to roughly $3,500.
Now pay rent of $1,500 leaving $2,000. this rent requires commuting in a car.
Add in car payments, and auto insurance.
Groceries here are basically trucked in. When I moved from California where I could buy 12 Avocado's on the roadside for $1.00 to Denver where one Avocado was $2.50, I kneeled and cried! The grocery stores have places to kneel but one must wait in line.
Bottom line - that salary is pretty subsistence lower end of surviving in Denver.
When one looks at the cost of skiing for the wealthy, people change to hiking as the primary sport.
Driving into Denver is $15 a day parking on a monthly basis. People spend over an hour to mass transit plus commute each way. My tiny home I bought 20+ years ago is in a sweet spot. Several on the neighborhood sold this summer for $435,000 to $610,000. My commute downtown is 8 blocks to the rail then 31 minutes of rail each way.
I am lucky that my job in California ended 3 decades ago. It would be difficult moving here at the moment.
However, the oil boom busted. Things could change very quickly.

If you get an offer for out here, run it by me first. I can help put some reality into your planning and expectations.
Two years before 911 I was offered a job at $150,000 a year in the World Trade Center. That sounded so exciting. Until I realized the cost of living in NYC and the kind of commute it would take to support a family. Had I been younger and single, it would have been a different story.

Not likely I will move very far before my retirement. Because of a quirk of our retirement system. If I can find a job (most California government jobs qualify) and work there for at least three years before my retirement, my benefits will be adjusted to my new salary (of course would only get a job at a higher salary). We have had a number of staff members get a job in the San Francisco area or along the coast where the pay is higher (and cost of living is higher) to retire with higher benefits, then move somewhere else where the cost of living is less.

Wow, Rx, that is an expensive place to live!!
I am paying about $1200 a month for an older 5 bedroom house in Western Washington! I had thought Colorado would be a great place to live as well, but maybe when I'm rich...