The cost of living in 2024....

[Astro14]

I live in central MA and I love it! My wife loves it! My kids love it! I have lived in IL, OH, PA, NY, CT, and traveled to most states in this country. I love sports and I have season tickets to the Bruins, I just went to a Celtics game last week with the family, I've been in a box several times for Patriots games. I see 5-8 concerts per year within an hour of where I live. Worcester has a decent restaurant scene and we have season tickets to The Woo Sox. I have Boston/NYC/Providence anywhere from 45 mins to 3 hours from me. I have a decent ski mountain 13 mins away from me. I make a great living and to be honest, compared to where I used to live in SW CT, central MA is reasonably affordable and taxes aren't that bad either. My friends in town range from blue-collar workers to MDs, PhD, and lawyers and everything in between - we all check our egos at the town line. I have very few gripes with MA - the weather can suck and we have buffalo gnats this time of year which makes going outside almost impossible until the end of May.

Your part of MA is pretty nice. The Pioneer Valley has a lot of universities, a lot of shops, activities, and nice areas to live. Berkshire East isn't bad, and you can get to great skiing (I'm thinking Mad River, Stowe, and a few others) in about 2 hours.

 

[Thermo1223]

Well and I am sure I am an outlier, but I owe almost $3,000 this year to the Fed, not happy and I need to seriously do more additional withholding to avoid this next year.

I should know better that as soon as I get a raise, I pay more.

 

[JeffKeryk]

Well and I am sure I am an outlier, but I owe almost $3,000 this year to the Fed, not happy and I need to seriously do more additional withholding to avoid this next year.

I should know better that as soon as I get a raise, I pay more.

That's a great problem to have. I want to be in the highest tax bracket in the universe.

 

[supton]

Well and I am sure I am an outlier, but I owe almost $3,000 this year to the Fed, not happy and I need to seriously do more additional withholding to avoid this next year.

I should know better that as soon as I get a raise, I pay more.

Bummer. I usually have it just about right, but had a good year and sold off some RSU’s that vested, so I have to write a check this year (err, wife does, she seems to like this stuff).

I keep a spreadsheet for my budget. I have in it the tax brackets and thus can estimate my tax load. But stocks aren’t in it, thus I got bit. Not a bad problem to have.

 

[JeffKeryk]

I live in central MA and I love it! My wife loves it! My kids love it! I have lived in IL, OH, PA, NY, CT, and traveled to most states in this country. I love sports and I have season tickets to the Bruins, I just went to a Celtics game last week with the family, I've been in a box several times for Patriots games. I see 5-8 concerts per year within an hour of where I live. Worcester has a decent restaurant scene and we have season tickets to The Woo Sox. I have Boston/NYC/Providence anywhere from 45 mins to 3 hours from me. I have a decent ski mountain 13 mins away from me. I make a great living and to be honest, compared to where I used to live in SW CT, central MA is reasonably affordable and taxes aren't that bad either. My friends in town range from blue-collar workers to MDs, PhD, and lawyers and everything in between - we all check our egos at the town line. I have very few gripes with MA - the weather can suck and we have buffalo gnats this time of year which makes going outside almost impossible until the end of May.

Good for you; I admire your positive attitude.
I live in a smaller town in southwest Silicon Valley. My education was paid for by the companies I worked for as part of my compensation. I worked grave for years and headed off to DeAnza Community College and San Jose State in the morning. Turned in my grades at the end of quarter/semester; my company moved me to the engineering department to write code. Later they had me leave work early 2 days a week to attend SJS. After I graduated at 40, my company offered to send me to Santa Clara or even Stanford for an advanced degree. Let's just say I was done at that point; I needed to focus on my career. Silicon Valley is a very rewarding place; opportunity abounds. I love it here.

 

[SeaJay]

Maybe true but the big issue as I see it - there is absoluletly no skill required to get a high school diploma. If you show up, you pass. Even if you don't show up and mommy and daddy complain, you pass. You think the kids these days are worthless - give it another year or two - where your new grads only went to high school post pandemic. Your in for a real treat.

I have a friend in his 60's with bad enough learning disabilities and has been able to collect SSI disability since turning 18. He attended public high school and kept attending class until they finally gave him a diploma even though he is completely illiterate and can not even tell time from a clock with hands.

 

[Thermo1223]

Bummer. I usually have it just about right, but had a good year and sold off some RSU’s that vested, so I have to write a check this year (err, wife does, she seems to like this stuff).

I keep a spreadsheet for my budget. I have in it the tax brackets and thus can estimate my tax load. But stocks aren’t in it, thus I got bit. Not a bad problem to have.

I actually sold off some bad investments that didn't pay out as I thought. Hopefully on 2024's that will pay off a bit.

 

[supton]

As an aside, it took a bit of time to get back into writing by hand because my hand would cramp and I'm still significantly slower than typing and sometimes even have to stop and think about how to connect the letters in cursive...lol.

Been wondering where you were!

In college I wound up with my own font… I tend to alternate between block and cursive, whatever is faster. As long as I can read it, I don’t care what others think of it.

 

[Owen Lucas]

He attended public high school and kept attending class until they finally gave him a diploma even though he is completely illiterate and can not even tell time from a clock with hands.

It's policy in Washington now and possibly coming to other states:

State Required Testing

Beginning in 2020, Washington high school students will no longer be required to pass English/language arts, math and science tests to graduate. Inste

www.washingtonea.org

"Beginning in 2020, Washington high school students will no longer be required to pass English/language arts, math and science tests to graduate. Instead, they will have other pathways to graduation.

Under a new law passed in 2019, students will have at least 10 pathways to earning a diploma (passing the existing state tests will be one of the options). Until this year, state law required most students to take and fail the standardized tests before being provided alternatives."

Washington Supreme Court: Bar exam will no longer be required to become attorney in state

The bar exam will no longer be required to become a lawyer in Washington, the state Supreme Court ruled in a pair of orders Friday. The court approved alternative ways to show competency and earn a la

www.columbian.com

" The Bar Licensure Task Force found that the traditional exam “disproportionally and unnecessarily blocks” marginalized groups from becoming practicing attorneys and is “at best minimally effective” for ensuring competency, according to a news release from the Washington Administrative Office of the Courts.

Washington is the second state to not require the bar exam, following Oregon, which implemented the change at the start of this year. Other states — including Minnesota, Nevada, South Dakota and Utah — are examining alternative pathways to licensure."

 

[nickaluch]

I don't disagree on the part about college being too much, but I am the first to graduate college in my family. My father and both BIL's (much older than me) were tradesman. So I learned their trades as a young man.

First issue - you need an apprenticeship. There aren't enough to go around. Usually there given to children or current employees children. They don't want to give them to others because they figure they will invest a bunch into them and they will leave as soon as they can - so you can't blame them.

Second issue - when your 55 and your knees are shot and your back is shot - good luck making a living then.

Third issue - the only way to make consistent good money is get on with a Union (very limited) or open your own business. Being a good tradesman and a good businessman are very different skills.

Its really easy for someone who has no direct connection to the trades, to tell other people to send their kids to trade school.

I agree . Union trade jobs in NY pay great but if you don't know someone you got no chance of getting in. Non union you will survive make ok money but the body breaks down most don't make it to 65 end up out on permanent social security disability.

 

[nickaluch]

I live in central MA and I love it! My wife loves it! My kids love it! I have lived in IL, OH, PA, NY, CT, and traveled to most states in this country. I love sports and I have season tickets to the Bruins, I just went to a Celtics game last week with the family, I've been in a box several times for Patriots games. I see 5-8 concerts per year within an hour of where I live. Worcester has a decent restaurant scene and we have season tickets to The Woo Sox. I have Boston/NYC/Providence anywhere from 45 mins to 3 hours from me. I have a decent ski mountain 13 mins away from me. I make a great living and to be honest, compared to where I used to live in SW CT, central MA is reasonably affordable and taxes aren't that bad either. My friends in town range from blue-collar workers to MDs, PhD, and lawyers and everything in between - we all check our egos at the town line. I have very few gripes with MA - the weather can suck and we have buffalo gnats this time of year which makes going outside almost impossible until the end of May.

My nephew went to Tufts I visited him often love it up there. My middle daughter went to Providence Capt of the kick line loved going to the basketball games also enjoyed there run to win the frozen 4. The Italian restaurant's in Providence was excellent rivaled NYCs.

 

[slo town]

I didn't read all the replies but one of the biggest issues I see with your daughter is where she's living. The pay she's receiving is not very good.

My wife made big bucks as an RN in one of the cities in the greater San Francisco Bay Area region. She retired 4 years ago and was making $97/hr plus benefits. Wages have increased significantly since then. Our daugher-in-law, also an RN just took a new full-time RN position that pays her $217k per year.

Have your daughter find a nice boyfriend with a good education and high income earning potential and move with her to a big city somewhere so they can get themselves started.

Scott

 

[Trav]

I live in central MA and I love it! My wife loves it! My kids love it! I have lived in IL, OH, PA, NY, CT, and traveled to most states in this country. I love sports and I have season tickets to the Bruins, I just went to a Celtics game last week with the family, I've been in a box several times for Patriots games. I see 5-8 concerts per year within an hour of where I live. Worcester has a decent restaurant scene and we have season tickets to The Woo Sox. I have Boston/NYC/Providence anywhere from 45 mins to 3 hours from me. I have a decent ski mountain 13 mins away from me. I make a great living and to be honest, compared to where I used to live in SW CT, central MA is reasonably affordable and taxes aren't that bad either. My friends in town range from blue-collar workers to MDs, PhD, and lawyers and everything in between - we all check our egos at the town line. I have very few gripes with MA - the weather can suck and we have buffalo gnats this time of year which makes going outside almost impossible until the end of May.

I get the sports and ski thing but the checking the ego at the town line thing?

 

[doitmyself]

I get the sports and ski thing but the checking the ego at the town line thing?

He has the impression that people in his neck of the woods are not as egotistical as city/suburbia folks.

" Someone who is egotistic or egotistical behaves selfishly and thinks they are more important than other people."
" characterized by egotism : having, showing, or arising from an exaggerated sense of self-importance."

I lived in Michigan's Upper Peninsula for quite a while (never long enough to shed the "south of the bridge troll label") and it is probably similar to rural Maine. People's priorities and standards are different there. They value uncrowded, relaxed commuting. A large wood pile is a status symbol. Life generally moves slower. They tend to be better connected to real life. His impression is that people are less self absorbed in these very rural areas - thus, they check their egos at the town line, insinuating that the garbage man, doctor, and businessman treat each other as equals.

These areas are not automatically Shangri la. They have their cons also. Everyone knows your business. Locals can be clannish. Income tends to be low, so lawn decorations around tar papered homes can often be snowmobiles, junk vehicles, etc.. ATV's tearing up everything. Vandalism. Gunshots late into the evening. Yee haw!

I've navigated life in both rural and semi-rural areas, but never the big city. My experience is that you can find decent people just about anywhere. Whew -sorry!

 

[GON]

That would set me off, too, if I were a doctor. That’s a flat out insult.

About 17 years ago Dum Dum GON took a course that took nine months to complete. The military allowed one medical doctor per course to attend- hard to give up docs for nine months.

The medical doctor ended up sitting next to me. We were told to meet the person next to us and introduce them. I knew nothing about medical. This doc was a native of Baton Rouge, LA. He went to BYU for undergrad, U of Miami for medical school. Had three daughters, Sarah, Shelly, and Susan. Wife's name was Jennifer. He owned a home that used to be a church in Lumberton, NC. This doc was an orthopedic surgeon- and has multiple patents on tools he designed for orthopedic surgeons that he receives royalties on every time the medical tools are used in surgery.

When I introduced this doc, I nailed. Remembered every fact verbatim. But I made a critical mistake. I said this orthopedic surgeon was a podiatrist. He about punched me out that very second. I was simply a DUM DUM- I didn't know the difference between the two- and it is a massive difference.

This DOC got even with months later. We are still friends today- but boy oh boy I will never forget the mistake I made......

 

[andrew_j]

I don't remember there ever being a skill requirement to graduate HS. The only difference is that schools in the past had trades classes and there were trades schools. I have a bunch of older cousins who graduated HS went to work and college via night school.

That exists at our school (public high school top 10 in NH) and they partner with local community college/tech and have job entry with local high tech manufacturing, naval shipyard (sub) and other specialities. They also have specific tech schools for area with trades in HS. Especially MA nearby which has a regional trade HS however MA is tops in education across entire US. Upside of left leaning wealthy state….

 

[PWMDMD]

I get the sports and ski thing but the checking the ego at the town line thing?

Some of my friends have a lot of money and some don't. Some have a lot of education and some don't. Some fall ideologically on the right and some on the left. It's a really great mix of friends who leave all of that stuff out of it and we just have a good time together. This is the first place I've lived like this and CT and NY certainly were a whole lot more clicky, especially concerning socio-economics. Not sure it would be the same if I lived in Weymouth.

 

[Hillbilly Deluxe]

Here's my best advice for your daughter:

TELL HER TO FIND AN MD / DO / RESIDENT AND MARRY THEM, THE MRS. DEGREE IS HER WAY OUT.

You know this is what the nurses are all about. She'll be working mostly with ICU doctors and general surgery, both are very lucrative.

Aim high, look for a nice anesthesiologist, radiologist, orthopedic / plastic surgeon, any surgeon really. Bonus points for hepatopancreaticobiliary surgeon (liver transplants), radiation oncologist, or a brain surgeon.

I kid you not, she jokingly says this a good bit. I've asked her to hurry up and find a boyfriend to help me around the house. We were looking at an apartment building that backs up to a local minor league stadium in the city she will be working in. I told her she could go to the games and find an underpaid baseball player to support.

Her response - "Dad, no way, I'm looking for a surgeon or anesthesiologist."

 

[drtyler]

I kid you not, she jokingly says this a good bit. I've asked her to hurry up and find a boyfriend to help me around the house. We were looking at an apartment building that backs up to a local minor league stadium in the city she will be working in. I told her she could go to the games and find an underpaid baseball player to support.

Her response - "Dad, no way, I'm looking for a surgeon or anesthesiologist."

At least she's not looking for one of the Hollywood wannabe's or starving artists that have relocated from up north!

 

[PWMDMD]

He has the impression that people in his neck of the woods are not as egotistical as city/suburbia folks.

" Someone who is egotistic or egotistical behaves selfishly and thinks they are more important than other people."
" characterized by egotism : having, showing, or arising from an exaggerated sense of self-importance."

I lived in Michigan's Upper Peninsula for quite a while (never long enough to shed the "south of the bridge troll label") and it is probably similar to rural Maine. People's priorities and standards are different there. They value uncrowded, relaxed commuting. A large wood pile is a status symbol. Life generally moves slower. They tend to be better connected to real life. His impression is that people are less self absorbed in these very rural areas - thus, they check their egos at the town line, insinuating that the garbage man, doctor, and businessman treat each other as equals.

These areas are not automatically Shangri la. They have their cons also. Everyone knows your business. Locals can be clannish. Income tends to be low, so lawn decorations around tar papered homes can often be snowmobiles, junk vehicles, etc.. ATV's tearing up everything. Vandalism. Gunshots late into the evening. Yee haw!

I've navigated life in both rural and semi-rural areas, but never the big city. My experience is that you can find decent people just about anywhere. Whew -sorry!

Yup, now I'm more rural than Newton but still only about 50 miles outside of Boston. I can drive 2.5 miles and actually see Boston from the top of a hill leading up to one of the mountains in the area. I do really like where I live...