Ask HN: How do you weigh off life satisfaction against income? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: How do you weigh off life satisfaction against income?

13 pointsmmmmmbop16 comments

I'm in my late twenties working in a European high cost of living (HCOL) city, and I'm considering a move to a medium cost of living (MCOL) city because I have a slight suspicion that I'd be happier there. I'm struggling to weigh off the potential increase in life satisfaction against the guaranteed decrease in compensation.

The reason for my suspicion that I'd be happier in the MCOL city is that I really liked the vibe in the city on the multiple occasions I visited it, and the fact that I have friends there who enjoy living there. In the HCOL city I'm living in, on the other hand, I don't have any good friends, and I'm not too enthusiastic about the vibe here either. However, the salary is great.

The company I'm working at would agree to a remote work arrangement in the MCOL city. However, the guaranteed decrease in compensation would result in a ~50% decrease in annual net savings post expenses. I don't particularly care about money at this stage of my life, but obviously higher savings allow for an earlier retirement and/or transition to a fulfilling low-paying job. There's also a possibility that being remote would negatively affect my career progression.

The obvious problem I'm facing is that the only quantifiable variable in this equation is the sum of annual net savings. I have no idea if I'd actually be happier in the MCOL city, and if so, by how much. It would be a real shame to move to the MCOL city only to find out that I don't really like living in that city as much as visiting it. That would be a very costly lesson. On the other hand, if I knew for a fact that I'd be a lot happier in the MCOL city, I think that would be worth the diff in savings to me.

That situation doesn't seem unique. It applies similarly to deciding between jobs with differences in compensation and suspected job satisfaction. I'm wondering, do any of you have experiences in approaching a problem like that? Do you just go with your gut?

Perhaps you’re still a youth, in some ways? If so, it’s a good time to take risks and explore.

If money isn’t that important to you (and money seems to be what fuels climate change), you stand to gain so much more in neural connections even if you end up not enjoying the MCOL city.

I’m in my 40s, became a father a few years ago, and I feel I grew up more in these past three years than between puberty and parenthood. All my travels, work, relationships, and other exploration through books and games (physical games great, but solo videogame-time is a mistake to learn from; healthier ways to meet my needs at the time, but I was more ignorant and suggestible) continues to bubble up as memories to learn from. I’m both grateful for all the resources I had access to and frustrated that more young people don’t have access to just a little bit more so they could expand their view of life on earth. I might have been better off with fewer inanimate resources and better guidance from other people (family, friends, and especially mentors). I got some guidance, but I’ve tended towards stubborn and know-it-all, and less likely to really listen.

All that to say keep risking, learning and growing. Your future self and others may thank you for your efforts.

If you don't like MCOL will the company increase your pay when you return to HCOL?

If yes, this is a no-brainer.

Be warned, visits to cool places don't show the same things as living there, and some of what you're feeling is classic FOMO and grass-is-greener. That said, I left London for a Brisbane lifestyle and never regretted it, and I've seen many many cities in my long working life and I know what living in a cool HCOL city (London, Edinburgh, Amsterdam, Melbourne) long-term is like because I have.

I just prefer more average city life.

I’m in a similar situation except I’m still in a HOCL city (Sydney) and it’s really starting to grind on me. What do you like about Brisbane?

Aside from its terrible public transport model, it's a reasonably rational, but not grid-based life. (Melbourne's Hoddle grid is great!) House prices are of course insane, but less so than the Southern states.

It has good food, a mixture of tin-and-timber, modern, suburban, apartment living, it has great weather. It doesn't have Coogee or Bondi or Manly and it has a lot of urban sprawl, but within 2h drive are rainforest, beaches, hills.

It has good schools and universities for that stage of life, the inner city is much less frenetic than Sydney's equivalent. We don't have paddy's markets but we do have good food markets, if smaller. Less of a night-life scene but not none.

How do you like the tech scene in there?

I've tried to move to Brisbane around 5 years ago and even had an episode working remotely for a company located in there which wanted to sponsor me, but ultimately the compensation vs COL ratio seemed very bad, even if you compare it to Europe, so I didn't pull the trigger.

At that time there were really only a few interesting jobs in web development (I specialize in Ruby on Rails). Is it better now?

Amazon do stuff here. I think Amazon 'fresh' was coded in Brissie. There's quite a lot of software and network engineering, but nothing like Sydney or Melbourne. CSIRO/Data61 are in town, there's film and animation industries, Web mgt and hosting.

I don't know much about the ruby scene here, sorry.

It is friends and family that are most important to life satisfaction and longevity. I think volunteering is associated with happiness as well. So if you stay, go make some friends etc... and if you go sounds like you have friends their already.

1/ Consider other options. Could you find a different job in the other city with better pay?

2/ I like the suggestions made by others about trying it out. Maybe take the lower compensation, move, see how you feel. Especially good option if you can come back. So basically it is a reversible decision.

3/ Could it be something else besides the city and its vibe? If you had the exact same job in the new city would your happiness level settle back to where it is in your current city?

If I was in your situation I would take some action to break out of the analysis loop. Either move with 50% pay or find a job in the other city or use my vacation to live in the other city for a bit to assess my true feelings.

Have you really trimmed all the expenses you can out of your current situation?

Other than money, what are the good and bad parts of your current situation? What parts of the city bring you joy, and pleasant surprises from time to time? What really makes you sad or angry?

Money is a tool, the tool shouldn't drive your decisions, it's what you can/can't do with the tools that really matter.

>> It would be a real shame to move to the MCOL city only to find out that I don't really like living in that city as much as visiting it.

Say you move to MCOL city and find out that you don't really like it. That would be a lesson there.

The problem is that high paying jobs in HCOL cities are highly, highly competitive. There is no guarantee that the OP will be able to come back to high-paying job in HCOL after moving out. In fact, it will be quite difficult, as the move will signify negative things to potential employers.

You're going to have to try it to really know. If you have got so far with it that you have already negotiated your new salary, do it! Write off the cost as the way of really knowing.

Can you try working remotely from the MCOL city for a while? That way you could find out what it's like to really live (not just visit) there.

How far away is MCOL from HCOL? Can you visit every weekend with your enhanced savings and reap both benefits?

About 800km. In theory I guess visiting every weekend by plane would be possible, but to me that doesn't sound like a good life.

Also note, It's not forever decision. It can change at any time in future. Trust your gut and have fun.

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