Anonymous wrote:I disagree that 1M in NYC = 300K in DC. I think it’s more like 500-600K in NYC = 300K in DC.
You just need to wrap your head around the fact that you will pay more money for a fraction of the space and may never be a homeowner. And you can’t live in the most expensive areas or go to private school. But, having lived in the. DMV, it would be tough to swing private school on 300K in DC anyway. NYC is just a different lifestyle - you have no yard but do have all of NYC at your doorstep. So we don’t spend anything on home repairs or the yard (we call the super!), but we do spend more money on childcare, eating out and entertainment.
I think it’s startling that 2 adults are just feeling comfortable on right under 1 million/year. We have 2 kids, make about 500K and we don’t feel poor at all. That said, we don’t live large, and our kids go to public school (we are in District 2). Not sure why everyone trashes NYC public schools; my neighbor used to live in MoCo and says the UES schools are far more intense than the schools in Maryland. And our early elementary school kids had to get tutored to get them up to speed in public school math when we moved to NYC.
thanks! this is very helpful. I agree, 300k isnt going to get you private in DC either. What about high school? if we moved one of ours would be entering high school, so not already in the system which I think makes. big difference. Where would you recommend we start looking? We have property already so im fine with renting the space we need, there is a certain peace of mind and disposable income that comes from not having to maintain your own home.