After you pay for housing, Los Angeles isn’t all that different than Toledo, Ohio — If you’re thinking about moving — and you’d love to live in a big city — this article might help and inspire you. If you live in a big city already, you might pump your fist in agreement or tell me I’m crazy. …

Of course you can, but it might suck — $40,000 a year. $3,333.33 a month before taxes. After taxes, in California, we’re talking $2,730.72 for a single person. In Texas, you’ll bring home $2,835.16 per month. Split the difference and we’ll say the typical person earning $40,000 a year in the United States of America takes home $2,783 a…

You’re probably better off staying put and chasing a different dream — Marry the house, date the rate. Sounds cute. But it’s outrageously irresponsible. Apparently, Realtors and mortgage lenders across the country are using this line on prospective home buyers freaked out by the record high cost to carry a mortgage amid still outrageously high housing prices. As of last week, Redfin…

“I am worried about people and what they’re doing to themselves…” — Every once in a while, I let Medium readers tell the story, while I intersperse my thoughts. Because I can’t help but intersperse my thoughts! And because, having done this articles on the internet thing for the better part of the last 15 years, I can confidently say there isn’t…

How to fit work into life, not let your life revolve around work — The guy in that truck was probably working. My girlfriend and I drove behind him for a good 15–20 minutes last month on a day trip from Naples to Italy’s Amalfi Coast. While people behind us got impatient — tailgating, honking and passing — we couldn’t get enough of this…

A practical look at real numbers and potentially more desirable options — The headlines scream housing prices have come down. Technically true. However, this doesn’t mean the American dream is alive and well. It’s dead. And, for most of us, it ain’t coming back. To be clear, I think this is a good thing. A blessing in disguise — To afford the…

If you’re of modest means, but make decent or better money, it might be time for some change — No, it’s not hyperbole. Things are about to crash. Not the market (it’ll be fine), but for individuals. For a whole slew of people who thought they were doing the right thing. Chasing the double whammy of saving for traditional retirement while saving for or servicing a lofty mortgage payment…

Set yourself up for (much) less work and a better, more sustainable life — A few years ago, I made the decision to live the semi-retired life — Instead of working 40-plus hours a week for the next 25 years, you work 20 hours a week — sometimes less — with plans to do so into and beyond relative old age. You commit to…

It all pretty much comes down to (a little more and a little less) spending, comfort and convenience — I chronicled the trip in my Never Retire newsletter. Go there for the series of February posts that tracked some of our spending and considered the trip within the lens of semi-retirement. But, before you go there, stay here. Because, by the end of this article, you’ll have a good…