Relocation Plan
Most of my friends, including myself and my family, have relocated from California to Las Vegas in recent years. We have a common experience and conclusion: “Moving to Vegas is the right decision for us.” I agree with all my heart and that is why I introduce to you here our “Las Vegas Relocation Plan”.
Las Vegas is a multi-faceted city with a variety of business opportunities. The metropolitan area has easy access to modern conveniences and also countryside leisure scenes, making it one of the most popular places for relocation. Being the fastest growing city in the U.S., Las Vegas boasts a population of over 2 million residents, compared to 764,000 residents in 1990. And the rapid growth of the Chinese community is also a contribution to its population boost. There are a handful of large Chinese supermarkets, authentic Chinese restaurants and business services around town with the affordability and availability that can compete with Southern California.
As for housing prices, with $300k to $400k you could easily purchase a 3,000 sq. water front home (2015 market estimate) in a beautiful neighborhood or in a newly built golf community at your choice. While in Los Angeles or the bay area, you can only afford an older or smaller house with 1 to 1.5 million dollars.
Some of you may ask:
“Las Vegas is built around the gambling business, wouldn’t it affect the environment of the town?” My response is: whether or not you catch the “gambling bug” is really up to you. Those who choose not to gamble could work in a casino all day but still do not gamble, but those who like to gamble will fly in just for that purpose even if they live overseas! Personally, I have no interest in gambling and 90 percent of the people I know do not gamble either. Besides, Vegas may start out as a gambling town, but it has transformed into a flourishing metropolitan area over the years.
Here is some more information for your consideration. According to the statistics in 2003, the convention business accounted for more than 30% of its profit gains. The second was shopping centers, which made up 27% and gaming came in third with 23%. Las Vegas today carries the label of the “fun for all ages” entertainment capital. Also, its average high school SAT scores have improved significantly in recent years, placing the city at 25th in the country, which may be attributed to the boost of Chinese population. The state college UNLV has several departments that are among the best in the nation and its MBA degree and Legal Studies are also very popular.
One often asks, “Is the weather too hot in Las Vegas?” In my opinion, it is a matter of adaptability. We observe the change of four seasons here in Las Vegas. There are averagely 80 days in the summer when we see extreme high temperature. The rest of the year is quite enjoyable. Low humidity and the air-conditioning make the heat a lot more bearable as well. Besides, the air quality is fairly good all year round. And usually our senior friends prefer this type of dry hot weather so they may enjoy an active lifestyle. Las Vegas is also home to the U.S. largest retirement community Sun City Anthem.
No wonder we have some friends who moved from the east coast or the northeast say to us, ”After years of those long winter days frozen in the snowy condition, it is like paradise living here in the sunny Las Vegas.”
And when you compare to living in Los Angeles, Las Vegas is truly the land of the free — free from air pollution, traffic, over-crowding or even threat of natural hazards such as earthquakes or brush fires—only clear blue skies, beautiful lakes to boast of. Not to mention housing affordability–you can get a nice house in a high scale neighborhood with only one third or one fourth of the cost in Los Angeles.
When I, Jack Liu, first immigrated to the United States, I lived in the Bay Area. Many of my associates back then were engineers in the high tech fields. I noticed that many of them were faced with competition with the younger generation in the workplace, who were not only highly skilled at the cutting edge but also willing to accept a lower salary as new hires. So when the seniors hit their fifties, they would find themselves under pressure to accept early retirement offered by their employers. But at the same time, a lot of them became empty-nesters, which means they don’t need to stick in the same neighborhood just for the school’s sake. Most of their finances were accumulated during their career years and spent on the house they lived in. Once retired, the 401k or company pensions would become their sole income source. Even if they may have savings on the side, they still felt constrained by their income and had to live under their means, which was far from having financial freedom and living a wealthy lifestyle.
In our culture, we sometimes see our home as a golden bowl. But these people “hold the golden bowl in their hands yet still have to keep a tight budget”. Why not turn this golden bowl into multiple houses—you pick the best one to move in and rent out the others for investment income? This way, you release your golden bowl to your financial advantage!
I moved to Las Vegas in 2009 and founded 3JM/NVWM Realty. This city had made such a good impression on me over the years that I started to recommend this way of life to my friends. To my surprise, many of them did take my advice and made the same move. So far, they all agreed they made the right choice and achieved financial freedom like I did. We are able to improve our quality of life and enjoy more at a low cost.
These examples make me realize that what we are doing—to recommend Las Vegas to friends for relocation is a valuable thing. We believe in “sharing good things with good friends”, therefore we launched the “Las Vegas Relocation Plan”. Oh what a great pleasure to invite everyone to relocate here and enjoy an abundant life!
As an immigrant, my family and I followed the American Dream to come to this country for a better life. We took the opportunity to step up to a higher level after we moved from California to Las Vegas. Now we finally have past the stage of making ends meet to the stage of enjoying life and creating an affluent lifestyle.
Additional Notes:
- There is no state income tax in Nevada. So your 401K or IRA income will not be taxed if you move here.
- Las Vegas is one of the most popular cities for retirement in America for its well-established medical and leisure facilities.