Where could you live comfortably on 80k a year?

[Anonymous]

Cuenca Ecuador
Medellin Colombia
Mexico
Bangkok Thailand
Istanbul Turkey

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cuenca Ecuador
Medellin Colombia
Mexico
Bangkok Thailand
Istanbul Turkey

Yes, and high end

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pittsburg

Thanks this is a good recommendation. Any particular neighborhoods you'd recommend? In the city or close in suburb?

for the burbs, Sewickley, Franklin Park, places north of the city

Sewickley and Franklin Park are very nice but also very pricey.

In the South Hills, I’m thinking of Dormont or Bethel Park or maybe some of the city neighborhoods like Brookline. Further south in Washington County, there are a lot of towns with low costs of living - they can also look in Butler County but I do not know any specific towns.

One thing about the Pittsburgh area is that rents are pretty expensive - it may have changed with interest rates but it is typically less expensive to buy here

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I lived in Manhattan on a 45 salary a few years. Of course I had a tiny 200sf rent stabalized apt in a run down building that was a walkup.

I recall I was making 775 biweely and rent was 775 so rent was 50 percent But I had no cable, internet and only bill was phone and electricity which was tiny as no AC.

Work gave me free metro card and had no car. So took train everwhere. Work also had a subsidized lunch so ate there every day.

That was a long time ago but flash forward to 2025 my nephew has a $2,000 a month rent stabalized unit and his girlfriend moved in . Cost each 1k a month.

Manhattan can be cheap.

$80,000 per year after-tax with no debt should yield a very comfortable life in Manhattan.

https://bestplaces.net/cost_of_living/city/kansas/manhattan

Additionally,college towns, such as Manhattan, Kansas, typically offer a variety of social and cultural options for retirees.

[Anonymous]

Mississippi. By yourself. No kids.

[Anonymous]

That's a solid NET for the vast majority of the world. I can only speak authoritatively for India. They'd be able to live a really good life - maid, cook, chauffeur, the works in some very nice parts of the country.

My brother is planning to retire to Costa Rica at least in part due to the COL (he loves the place and the people).

[Anonymous]

We could live comfortably here with no kids but house is paid off. Who is this for? Older. Look for a sliding scale independent living.

[Anonymous]

Is this for an elderly couple?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:80k?! Is this a joke? That is not enough money to live comfortably anywhere that is not straight up third world. Like you will be living like a local with no ac and a squat toilet in Eastern Europe/Asia.

+100

Adding: a trailer park home in the Midwest/Tornado Ally is also an option

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pittsburg

Thanks this is a good recommendation. Any particular neighborhoods you'd recommend? In the city or close in suburb?

for the burbs, Sewickley, Franklin Park, places north of the city

Sewickley and Franklin Park are very nice but also very pricey.

In the South Hills, I’m thinking of Dormont or Bethel Park or maybe some of the city neighborhoods like Brookline. Further south in Washington County, there are a lot of towns with low costs of living - they can also look in Butler County but I do not know any specific towns.

One thing about the Pittsburgh area is that rents are pretty expensive - it may have changed with interest rates but it is typically less expensive to buy here

My friend lived near Dormont. It's not fancy but it was low cost. And there are hills where you have a view of the city from your yard. You probably will be driving everywhere though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our family of 4, including two teenagers and a small mortgage, lives on 120K per year in Bethesda. That's not counting college costs, which come out of a different pot.

When they were younger, we got by on 80K a year. But that was before the pandemic-and tariff-era inflation.

So it depends how many of you are on this income and what your needs are, but one or two people could live on that much in this very area. And indeed, many do!

Exactly. I cannot believe this entire thread. A childless couple with subsidized healthcare can easily afford to live in DC metro or any HCOLA if not insisting on the most premium neighborhoods. Even in nice suburbs of HCOL cities you can find a condo for rent for under 3K that would be comfortable for a couple. And in middle class suburbs you could rent an entire house for 3K.

If 80K is after tax (which is what it sounds like) I seriously don’t understand how people suggest you need to go overseas for greener pastures. It’s over 6600 a month take home money. Finding a rental for 2600 should not be hard for a childless couple not insisting on posh accommodations. Then you have 4K to live on because you aren’t paying $$$$ for private health insurance premiums/deductibles and have no house maintenance costs. If you cannot find a way to live on it comfortably (I assume there is no pressure to save and there is already retirement fund of some sort) then you don’t have your head screwed on right.

The key here is not having to save (it seems like this is the living income after tax) and not having to pay exorbitant rapacious health insurance costs. You can have fairly comfortable life anywhere in the USA.

Yes. The insane poster who said 80K wasn't enough in most parts of the world is living in a serious bubble.

[Anonymous]

Kuala Lumpur, but to get the foreigner visa you have to have a certain amount of cash savings. Not an ultra high bar though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I lived in Manhattan on a 45 salary a few years. Of course I had a tiny 200sf rent stabalized apt in a run down building that was a walkup.

I recall I was making 775 biweely and rent was 775 so rent was 50 percent But I had no cable, internet and only bill was phone and electricity which was tiny as no AC.

Work gave me free metro card and had no car. So took train everwhere. Work also had a subsidized lunch so ate there every day.

That was a long time ago but flash forward to 2025 my nephew has a $2,000 a month rent stabalized unit and his girlfriend moved in . Cost each 1k a month.

Manhattan can be cheap.

$80,000 per year after-tax with no debt should yield a very comfortable life in Manhattan.

You laugh but manhattan NY has coops you can buy below a certain income and rent stabalized units exist if you spend time. My building had plenty of lower income folks in it who were just there a long time. My uncle the Cop raised his family in Gramercy Park in a rent controlled unit. If you look at Seinfeld you see people in building not rich. My building way back in 1997 we had a few old women paying $420 a month rent. Mind you that includes heat, water and gas. That was pretty much their only bill. People used to say I would move out of Manhattan but I cant afford to.

You lock in rent for life pretty much. My unit I gave up in 1998 if I never got married and stayed single I would still be there. It was a joke. I could afford that rent on 45K a year easily.

https://bestplaces.net/cost_of_living/city/kansas/manhattan

Additionally,college towns, such as Manhattan, Kansas, typically offer a variety of social and cultural options for retirees.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:80k?! Is this a joke? That is not enough money to live comfortably anywhere that is not straight up third world. Like you will be living like a local with no ac and a squat toilet in Eastern Europe/Asia.

Have you never traveled?

Drive two hours from DC into West Virginia and you will find many people with indoor plumbing and a/c living on far less than $80k.

Or you could come up here to Rockville and find people with indoor plumbing and a/c.

[Anonymous]

All of Western Mass