CA to FL - thoughts?
I’ve lived in Cali (SoCal, LA & OC) for 15 years. I’ve absolutely loved it, and have been kind of a CA zealot, but I’m actually born and raised East Coast. I own a nice remodeled McMansion in OC that is now worth more than 2x what I bought it for. My husband and I make almost a million annually. I guess according to this sub we are the exact profile of person that should stay in Cali. But we are now in our 40s and have a young family (babies) and starting to see things differently. Cali life comes with a lot of opportunity cost. First of all, for us to maintain that level of income we have to work a lot (we own our own business). We are tired and want an easier life where we can spend time with our kids. Second, we would save over $100k in income taxes just by switching coasts, which alone could be our retirement. Third, selling our house and swapping it for another in Florida buys us a really nice place that we wouldn’t want to upgrade from. It’ll give us peace of mind. We don’t have many friends in Cali but know none in Florida. Our work is remote. I love the heat (kinda prefer Fl heat to Ca chilly). Politically we are independents that lean liberal. We’re thinking north of Miami but don’t know FL that well. This sub is making me feel crazy to want to leave CA for FL. In my case, would you do it? Anyone in similar situation and what was your experience? I have a lot of anxiety about such a big decision especially because we’d be giving up a lot that we love.