You should consult your tax accountant. Not only are property tax and mortgage interest (up to $1 millions) deductible but up to $500,000 of your gain in home appreciation is tax free and you can do that every 5 years. What is there not to like?
1. (You're marginal rate might be 50% but your average is 41% if you quoted accurately "about 7.5K") 2. If you live in NYC and close to work cannot you use the subway and walk? $500/mo parking = $6000/yr Car insurance $1,500? gas $50/wk *52 = $2,600/yr depreciation ($40,000-$10,000 trade-in)/8yrs =$3,750 repairs, tires, maintenance =$1,500? Car costs: $9,350 Parking : $6,000 Total after tax cost $15350 Before tax cost at marginal 50% = $30,700 (percentage of base 150K= 30700/150000=20.4%)
Wait, some of you guys didn't know mortgage interest is tax deductible in Anglo countries? And I'm with @Turveyd fuck it all, let's have a good time.
I'm happy to not think like most, but I consider this a good thing, you consider it bad, but there is no real way to tell which is better. Mine
People either love my free thinking or hate me cause of it. I find the womanizing is a great distraction for what people think lol
I lived on the Peninsula back when I was on a military salary, so I'm pretty up on both prices and how to save money. Your point in no way changes the fact that to have the same quality of life where you live costs 4X what it does where I now live, and no-where on the Peninsula could you get a stand alone house in any condition for less than twice what I paid for my current waterfront home. If you live in an older, smaller, crappier house (more likely condo) in either a crappier place (sure East Palo Alto is cheap!) or a place with a longer commute and don't eat out and buy your clothes at Goodwill....You can have the "same quality of life" as someone living in Atlanta in a far nicer, newer, larger house in a much nicer part of town who gets to eat out on weekends and enjoy life without scrimping who makes half what you do. Price you pay to live in the Bay area, but as you know since you live there it's something out of towner's just can't seem to wrap their brains around.
The thing I was referring to as false was simply the cost of housing in the peninsula vs SF itself. Not the Bayarea vs the rest of the country. It's well known that the general CoL and real estate out here is over the top.
Yeah, not having a car would be convenient except that I also have a weekend house in Upstate New York, so I need a vehicle to get there. My 2009 Honda that I bought for 4K a year ago doesn't depreciate much though
Still though that's a ton of annual money just to pay for the convenience. Why not just park the car at the weekend house and take alternate transportation to it when needed?