It doesn't cost me any more money to by shares in an index fund from Seattle than it does from Kansas City, or Minneapolis where I graduated. My job offers in

It doesn't cost me any more money to by shares in an index fund from Seattle than it does from Kansas City, or Minneapolis where I graduated. My job offers in Minneapolis and Seattle were similar from a COL adjusted perspective (70k/yr in Minneapolis vs. 130k/yr in Seattle). However, after two years in Seattle my cost of living has stayed flat while my income has grown by about 20%. Every single penny of that 20% is going into investments, and that makes a massive difference to my expected net worth in 10 years. And I can take that net worth and move back to Minnesota if I want (there are certainly universes in which that's an attractive option). edit: I do acknowledge that life situations in which COL adjustments eat up or exceed 100% of the income difference between Seattle/Minneapolis could exist, but they are an edge case and certainly not the rule.