[Fuele]

Originally Posted by JayCT

Yes, the media does take pot shots at our state. It’s pretty obvious. As I have said before, I have a friend in the media who has seen first hand this bias.

As to the median price of homes, remember that real estate prices are a product of free trade. No one sets real estate prices. They are a function of what people can and are willing to pay as well as the number of people in the market. If anything high real estate prices show the viability of the areas economy more than anything else. Jay

Real Estate Free Trade?

Well I could post another Wall Street Journal article addressing that, but since they are biased, i will leave it out of the conversation.

[J. Fiction]

Originally Posted by Fuele

You can fill in any town. Try a few and see how over priced CT can be , town to town.
15 % of West Hartford residents are on Medicaid. 11% in South Windsor.



7 % less to live in South Windsor overall.

Due to my line of work, I know first hand that there are plenty of elderly people on medicaid living in West Hartford who are in fact quite wealthy. West Hartford is an expensive, affluent town. No one will argue otherwise. It is also a highly desirable place to live. While an expensive place to live, a couple making $130,000 a year should be able to do just fine there. A point which you either aren't getting or simply refuse to address. Instead of addressing these questions you stretch to other tangents - comparing the COL of two incomparable towns, bringing up Medicaid, etc...

I've brought up my own circumstances in relation to the couple mentioned in the article. The situations are incredibly similar, yet my family is debt-free and their's is on the verge of financial collapse. How do you reconcile the difference in outcomes?

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by J. Fiction

Due to my line of work, I know first hand that there are plenty of elderly people on medicaid living in West Hartford who are in fact quite wealthy. West Hartford is an expensive, affluent town. No one will argue otherwise. It is also a highly desirable place to live. While an expensive place to live, a couple making $130,000 a year should be able to do just fine there. A point which you either aren't getting or simply refuse to address. Instead of addressing these questions you stretch to other tangents - comparing the COL of two incomparable towns, bringing up Medicaid, etc...

I've brought up my own circumstances in relation to the couple mentioned in the article. The situations are incredibly similar, yet my family is debt-free and their's is on the verge of financial collapse. How do you reconcile the difference in outcomes?

West Hartford, while overall upper middle class, is not incredibly and uniformly affluent. It has a median HH income of only 80k, meaning half of WH households make under 80k. That’s middle class.

[Fuele]

Originally Posted by J. Fiction

Due to my line of work, I know first hand that there are plenty of elderly people on medicaid living in West Hartford who are in fact quite wealthy. West Hartford is an expensive, affluent town. No one will argue otherwise. It is also a highly desirable place to live. While an expensive place to live, a couple making $130,000 a year should be able to do just fine there. A point which you either aren't getting or simply refuse to address. Instead of addressing these questions you stretch to other tangents - comparing the COL of two incomparable towns, bringing up Medicaid, etc...

I've brought up my own circumstances in relation to the couple mentioned in the article. The situations are incredibly similar, yet my family is debt-free and their's is on the verge of financial collapse. How do you reconcile the difference in outcomes?

What age are you compared to the to the young couple in the article?

" desirable place to live" is your opinion. I don't agree.

[Fuele]

Originally Posted by JayCT

As has been noted here before, Connecticut has the highest rate of disposable income, including cost of living and taxes, in the country. That says a lot. Jay

https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/DkNFP/1/

And yet, it is one of the top three states of people making an exodus. The economic climate can't be very good based on that fact.

[davwve]

The couple bought their house 18 months ago for $275k and the article states they owe approx. $270k in mortgage. $7.5k on TJ Maxx CC and $50k in overall CC debt. Plus auto loan(s). They were eating out several times per week....


They are more a poster case for financial illiteracy than the state of CT's economy.

[Fuele]

Originally Posted by davwve

The couple bought their house 18 months ago for $275k and the article states they owe approx. $270k in mortgage. $7.5k on TJ Maxx CC and $50k in overall CC debt. Plus auto loan(s). They were eating out several times per week....


They are more a poster case for financial illiteracy than the state of CT's economy.

The median sales price in West Hartford is over $ 315.000. They are well below that. They earn a middle class income. Could they have made a better decision, perhaps. But young people learn the hard way ,and that high mortgage, and the CC debt may have been for improvements. The point is that the cost of living in West Hartford , and so many towns in CT is becoming out of reach for the middle class. If you can't see that happening more and more, I can't help you. because it is. Besides all the data, I know all about it ,as I have several children, and I have helped them all through College. All of them purchased homes in their early twenties, without any loans from me to make those home purchases.

[davwve]

Originally Posted by Fuele

The median sales price in West Hartford is over $ 315.000. They are well below that. They earn a middle class income. Could they have made a better decision, perhaps. But young people learn the hard way ,and that high mortgage, and the CC debt may have been for improvements. The point is that the cost of living in West Hartford , and so many towns in CT is becoming out of reach for the middle class. If you can't see that happening more and more, I can't help you. because it is. Besides all the data, I know all about it ,as I have several children, and I have helped them all through College. All of them purchased homes in their early twenties, without any loans from me to make those home purchases.

The portrayed "real life" examples in these types of articles are typically nothing more than a cherry picked hit piece as they never disclose the individual(s) full expenses. Nothing in the linked article would lead one to conclude that W. Hartford is expensive (although it arguably is). The couple purchased a home that is approx. 2x's their gross income, which would be within most benchmark standards. Appears they put close to nothing down on it. Its their seemingly uncontrolled discretionary spending which has them dug deep upside down. If the $40k (ex TJ Maxx) CC debt was due to medical, previous divorce, etc, one would hope the article would call that out. Pending further information the article highlights this particular couples poor money management skills - nothing more nothing less.

[Fuele]

Originally Posted by davwve

The portrayed "real life" examples in these types of articles are typically nothing more than a cherry picked hit piece as they never disclose the individual(s) full expenses. Nothing in the linked article would lead one to conclude that W. Hartford is expensive (although it arguably is). The couple purchased a home that is approx. 2x's their gross income, which would be within most benchmark standards. Appears they put close to nothing down on it. Its their seemingly uncontrolled discretionary spending which has them dug deep upside down. If the $40k (ex TJ Maxx) CC debt was due to medical, previous divorce, etc, one would hope the article would call that out. Pending further information the article highlights this particular couples poor money management skills - nothing more nothing less.

Sorry I disagree. It isn't a " hit piece" when other data supports a lack of affordability for the middle class, an ever increasing tax burden, and a real estate ( recovery ) market which has trailed so many other areas of the country. Not to mention the latest figures which show CT with the lowest economic growth in NE and the lowest increases in actual income in New England.

Like I said, I have been around. CT is getting tougher and tougher for the young middle class , the 65 % without College Degrees, and even those with them. CT is one of the top three states to lose people, yet,nothings wrong...keep moving...nothing to see. Well, the bright side might be some of my retired NYPD relatives can move here and get the security jobs that they now have in the gated communities in Florida.

[J. Fiction]

Originally Posted by kidyankee764

West Hartford, while overall upper middle class, is not incredibly and uniformly affluent. It has a median HH income of only 80k, meaning half of WH households make under 80k. That’s middle class.

I never stated that it was "incredibly and uniformly affluent". Further there is a lot of wealth in town, which doesn't always manifest itself in income. We can go back and forth, but we probably have slightly different definitions of affluent, so I'll just leave it there.