Sun Diego - The Power & the Problem with Lifestyle Dollars
By Mitch Thrower
Ahhhh, San Diego – a virtual paradise with palm trees, warm weather -- not counting the recent anomaly caused by that big fan they built in Canada – we do live in a beautiful place.
And what a wonderful place it is to work. The quality of life is tremendous. You can run, swim, bike, hike, ski, surf, wear shorts, kayak and do things outdoors most of the year – and, more importantly - most of us don’t even own a snow shovel. But many San Diegans once did own a snow shovel, or blower, or that stuff you sprinkle on sidewalks that melts the ice. Snow or storm, surf or ski, many came to Southern California and took a pay cut for an increase in the quality of life. I have a term for this - Lifestyle Dollars. For example – in a grimy big city with a humid summer, rainy spring, bone-chilling winter, someone might make 55k as a blah, blah director.
When in San Diego, the same person might make 45k as the same blah, blah director – and at least 10k in lifestyle dollars. Which you can’t spend – because they are not real. Or are they? Having once commuted from Westport, Connecticut to Grand Central Station and then taken the subway downtown to the financial district (all in the sweltering sticky heat of the summer in a subway car with no air conditioning) I tend to think lifestyle dollars are real.
BLOG BACK: So how much of a pay cut did you or would you take to live in a beautiful place? Is it worth it to you to live in a place where you can barbecue outside in February – can you still afford the barbecue sauce – perhaps just not from Whole Foods? Do you think lifestyle dollars are real, and that employers in San Diego offer lower salaries as a result?
Mitch Thrower is an Author, Entrepreneur, Financier, and Philanthropist and Triathlete living in La Jolla, CA, he can be reached at mitchthrower@yahoo.com