Are you stupid if you live in a high-cost area?

0:00

-31:03

Geo-arbitrage is the practice of moving from an area with a high cost of living to a place with a lower cost of living. It’s one of the bits of advice some FIRE enthusiasts suggest for those looking to reach financial freedom faster. But does using geo-arbitrage always make sense?

• What is geo-arbitrage?

• Is moving really just about the money?

• How to understand your lifestyle and how it fits into geo-arbitrage

• Reasons to move

• Realities of moving to a low-cost-of-living area and some of the challenges

• Understanding taxes—it’s not just about income taxes

• Living in a high-cost-of-living area can be the right choice to save your sanity

• Our rant episode that includes info from Eric Rosenberg about choosing a HCOL area

• Our episode on choosing whether to have kids

• Cost of moving information from HireAHelper and Nerd Wallet

• Find information on state and local taxes and property taxes from the Tax Foundation and Bankrate

• CNN Money’s cost of living calculator that can help you compare salary needs in different areas

• Cost of childcare by state according to World Population Review

• Home insurance cost by state from Insurance.com

If you want to learn more about geo-arbitrage and how to make it work, check out this article from Smart Asset.

• Sarah Li-Cain

• Miranda Marquit