On 2022-12-12 18:25, Steve Litt via PLUG-discuss wrote:
Keith Smith via PLUG-discuss said on Mon, 12 Dec 2022 17:55:05 -0700
I agree, with one addition. In the 70's and 80's my pay lagged 20% to
30% behind inflation. What might have been decent pay was mediocre...
I think that's because you were a kid in the 1970's, probably with less
professional jobs because of your age.
I joined the USMC in 1975 and the pay was very low. With a few years
and a few promotions and the pay got better. If I stayed in I would have
done better. While it took the legislature to get going they did give
the military a few really good pay raises.
My memory is I kept up with
inflation both as a corrosion engineer and as an audio technician,
although of course the move to audio technician came with a serious pay
cut (and a much better life and career path).
One thing though: Throughout most of the 1970's I had no car, hence no
gasoline and no purchasing of a car. Gas, oil, maintenance, repairs,
insurance, traffic tickets, and amortized purchase price add up to a
heck of a lot.
If you move to a city with great public transportation like Chicago,
give up your car, and use an old, beat up bicycle for shopping trips, I
think you can save $20K of post-tax income yearly, and do a lot to
shield yourself from the worst of inflation.
I was a muscle car guy and did most of my own work....
Chicago has pretty high rents (and a good job market), so you might
want to move to a less expensive city. In Urbana Illinois you can buy a
decent house for $100-$150K, it's small and flat so you can easily
ride your bicycle all over the place. You're near University of
Illinois, so healthcare is plentiful. Don't pay more than $150K for a
house because Illinois has obscenely high property taxes.
It's funny how some people talk about the no payroll tax states and then
you find out they make it up with property tax.
SteveT
Steve Litt
Autumn 2022 featured book: Thriving in Tough Times
http://www.troubleshooters.com/bookstore/thrive.htm
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