I moved to Indianapolis for the money!
I’m very excited that I have been asked to be a contributing member of Queercents. I’ve never been a writer, so I ask that you excuse any mild grammar errors. My interests are in real estate, debt reduction, and tax reform (including FairTax). The vast majority of my posts will tend to fall in these categories’¦.and I hope to learn a lot, from my readers, along the way.
I moved to Indianapolis for the money!
Indianapolis? Why did you move to Indianapolis?
I hear this all the time. I hear it from my friends and family back in Boston and I hear it from those I left, back in Chicago. Fortunately, I absolutely LOVE Indianapolis! I didn’t, however, know this before we made the decision to pack up and move. If you had told me 5 years ago that I would be living in Indianapolis, I would have thought you were nuts. But thankfully I am here!
My partner and I met each other a few years ago. I was living in a fantastic and fun condo in Boystown(Chicago) and he was living in a great 3 Bedroom house in trendy Oak Park, IL. We immediately hit it off and realized that we had a lot of things in common.
1. We had a similar sense of money and finances, which I believe is one of the most important aspects of a strong relationship.
2. We both had very large mortgage payments.
3. We both had a copy of ‘œRich Dad, Poor Dad’ by Robert T. Kiyosaki
He was living parts of the book; he had renovated an ugly house to give him the great 3 Bedroom he was now living in. He had rental properties that were cash flow positive, and he had no debt at all. He was an inspiration, not only was I in love, but I also was so impressed with his knowledge and practice of how cash flow worked.
We continued to fall in love. I moved in with him and rented my condo to someone to help pay my mortgage. We dreamed of someday being able to leave our jobs and to travel without a care. I started joking with him that I was going to retire in 2 years, but there was no way we were going to retire living the life we had.
I started working hard on my debt. I had been working casually on it for years but finally took my debt by the horns and reined it in. I decided against buying anything new and worked hard to cut my spending. We also started looking at rental real estate to purchase. How could we ever get to the goal of retiring without a plan? This was going to be our plan.
One day we went to Indianapolis to look at some properties and it dawned on us. Indy was a lot less expensive than Chicago. Could we live here? It seemed like a nice city. It was much smaller than Chicago but there was a lot less traffic than Chicago. Very quickly we decided that if we wanted to accelerate our goals and improve our quality of life, we would need to move, and Indy seemed like the perfect place. Fortunately our employers allowed us to move to Indy without any hassle. I have since moved to a new job, but that hasn’t changed anything. Did you realize that the median income in Indianapolis is $48,755 and Chicago is $42,724?
Indianapolis also has very affordable real estate. Actually, Forbes magazine rated us number 1 for affordable real estate. The median home price in Indianapolis is $112,500. $112,500/$48,755 = 2.30. Meaning, in 2.3 years the median income could pay for the median home’¦Interesting!
Not to mention that Indy has a trendy and growing downtown, great restaurants, and a decent sized gay community. Forbes also labeled Indianapolis as the second best place in the country to live well.
Finally, Indianapolis is also one of the fastest growing cities in the Midwest!
Not too shabby for this place that we, almost randomly, chose to live.
We decided to move to Indy to make our life more affordable. I’ll be writing more about our adventures, in the meantime, how do you plan to retire in 2 years?
I am so glad you like the Circle City! I was born there, but only lived in the city for the first few months of my life. I grew up in South Bend, West Lafayette, and Bloomington.
If you haven’t yet visited Bloomington, you absolutely should. It’s about an hour south of Indy, and it’s so beautiful, especially in the spring and fall. It’s a super gay-friendly community, and has amazing restaurants.
Go anywhere downtown on the square, on Kirkwood, or on 4th Street and you won’t be disappointed.
By now, I’m sure you can tell I went to school at Indiana University. Love the city, and hope to return someday soon!
Ironically, we are heading to Bloomington this weekend to tailgate for the game. We aren’t actually going to the game, but it should still be fun.
I have made a good friend who went to IU. She is planning to show us a good time.
I’ve been there a couple of times for work, but it will be a nice change to go there for fun.
Congrats on getting the debt under control. The “Circle City” has been really building up over the years – yet, there’s country all around, and even through, it. Did work there years ago, and had a sis that became a hoosier for quite a few years, hob-nobbing with the Who’s Who, as she was in the employment field.
I, too, am a strong proponent of the FairTax. We have a wonderful window of opportunity now through 2008 to get the word out about the Plan, and those two most ardent supporters running for President, Mike Gravel and Mike Huckabee – two really decent, “high road” candidates!
To those readers who’ve been “on the fence,” or just haven’t “gotten around to it,” please become a member! Then spread the word to family, friends and associates. It’s way past time we paid the government the way you and I are paid – when, and because, something is sold!
Phil: We’re glad you’re hear and I love that you’re a Robert T. Kiyosaki fan! I am too!
“Becoming wealthy is like playing Monopoly… the person who can accumulate the most assets wins the game.†– Noel Whittaker
Hi Phil! I’m so glad you’ve joined Queercents. I really look forward to learning from your tax reform expertise! My partner and I are into real estate too and have considered moving for the affordability. The Bay Area is so wonderful yet so ridiculous! Perhaps your experiences will encourage us to decide our next step. Again, welcome fellow writer!
Cheers!
Hi Phil! I met my lover when we both lived in NYC – paying WAY too much to live a basic life. Two years ago we moved to Pittsburgh – and love it. Simpler life, more time to do what we enjoy, live the way we want to – season tickets to the theatre and dance council – and amazing dinners out. We were also able to pay down our debt and live a good life within our means. Now we are ready to buy a house (we wanted to make sure that we liked living here first) – and the prices are just incredible – we found 6 bedroom restored Victorians for under $300k! And there are more gays and lesbians than I ever thought possible here – gay picnics, cruises on the rivers, social networking clubs, community center. I’m glad that others are discovering a world outside of the major cities – good luck with everything. I look forward to reading your thoughts and advice.
Welcome on board Phil! Can’t wait to hear more about how the cost of living in Indianapolis factors in to your financial and life plan. I often wonder what the best trade-offs are and what’s next for me (although I am a coastal person so the midwest is probably out 😉