One additional consideration to that - if you're working at a company with a 401k match, 4% of $120k is a lot more in the bank than 4% of $60k. Working (and li

One additional consideration to that - if you're working at a company with a 401k match, 4% of $120k is a lot more in the bank than 4% of $60k. Working (and living) in an expensive area will still make more financial sense than working in a less expensive area - from a retirement standpoint (that's if you move somewhere else in the end for retirement. If you stay where you are it won't balance out)