Reader case study: The value of skills (and a damn good axe)

[Lanerdros]

Life Situation: Low 20's Student in the medical field. Employed in a job in healthcare while I finish my studies, casual work that works around school well.

Gross Salary/Wages: About $20-30k (all numbers CAD)

No deductions- saving RRSP room for when I am done, as my salary will spike huge and it will defer more tax

Other Ordinary Income: 2k from parents per year for the next 2 years of remaining school.

Adjusted Gross Income: 22-32k

Taxes: The above is after tax

Current expenses:
$250/mo rent. $10/mo phone plan. $5 spotify subscription, aka my lifeblood. $100/mo bus pass. $8,000/year tuition. Abusing the hotel of mom and dad.


Assets: Amount & description - 25k cash, 10k in index funds in my TFSA

Liabilities: 15k student loan. zero interest until 6 months post graduation (in 2 years). Definitely not paying this off, for free interest on savings accounts plus reasons I will get into later.

Alright ladies and gentlemen. So I have two options.
Option 1: Live in the city upon graduation. Work 58 hour weeks, roughly, enabled by my proximity to work and city-style maximum efficiency. Retirement in aprox. 7.5 years
Option 2: Live in the country with my grandparents. Work 48 hour weeks, plus a 30 minute commute one way, by car, which I now have to pay for. Retirement in aprox 10 years

The eventual retirement plan is homesteading, as I love the country far more than towns/cities and have quite the green thumb. Here's some more pros/cons.:

Pros of city:
-Will likely move in with my S/O post graduation- strengthening this relationship and adding picnic nights and hot chocolate blanket nights more often.
-Maximum efficiency, shorten retirement time by a whole 2.5 years.
-Bike to work, maximum cardio
-Some cultural opportunities like slam poetry and inner-city things that are free
-15 minute or less commute. Heavenly
-Possibly more variety in work, I'd see patients who are more critical. High acuity patients in rural areas are likely to just be transferred in to the city.

Cons of city:
-Pollution
-I am an introvert and dislike crowded areas
-No real ability to garden (I'd be renting an apartment) minus small containers
-No car skills built, will need these for the future
-Miss out on 10 years of building a relationship with my outstanding grandparents
-Miss out on 10 years of gardening skills
-Miss out on 10 years of other nice homestead skills
-Gotta pay the student loan off. RIP to 15k, but I can avoid all interest by shooting it between the eyes right after I graduate with a $15k gold bullet.

Pros of country:
-Grass and trees. Wood for my woodworking is free and builds muscle. Yes, I'm familiar with drying it.
-Plenty of room to garden. Essentially limitless, and the experience of my grandmother who has been doing it for 60 years to guide me
-Room to build and mess around with carpentry
-Will be well-versed in car maintaining by the time I retire- as skill I'd need. Taught by my borderline-mechanic grandfather
-Quiet. More personal relationships in the nearby small town.
-Spend quality time with my grandparents and really get to know them before they eventually leave us behind.
-Might be able to convince my grandfather to hand me the outstanding, countless year old axe I love so much. Gotta earn it, though- I could never buy it off him
-Learn to cook like grandma makes it (God help me on this one, though)
-Learn other homestead skills, like raising chickens and canning
-Student loan gets erased. This is an incentive to get healthcare workers into rural areas. Instant +15k net worth.
-Camping trips are much cheaper, as I already own the car. Hello backwoods fishing.

Cons of country:
-Extend work life by 2.5 years. Fairly significant amount of time.
-Farther from S/O- would likely do frequent weekend visits and the like. This relationship wouldn't develop as far, but it would still develop. They are absolutely amazing and down with FIRE and also love the country. They are 3 years behind me in school ATM, as they enter late. We have been dating for two. They'd be in the city for that 3 years post my graduation to finish their schooling, and I'd be an hour drive away. Definitely doable, though.
-Gotta sit in the artery draining, hypertension-inducing, wallet-siphoning car for an hour every day I work.
-5k to buy a decent used car. RIP.

Thoughts? Opinions? The work will be much the same in either setting, I'd enjoy it. It is also quite available in both in my line of work, they practically throw jobs at people. That said, I need to plan now and get connections.

[marty998]

I vote for nurturing the relationship with the S/O.

Qualify that however, depending how on board they are with your plans.

Life is going to throw more than a few opportunities at you. Advice would be not to fixate on one end goal and miss the roses that pop up from time to time.

Good luck, seems like you know what you’re doing.

[zolotiyeruki]

If you choose the in-city option, is there any reason you couldn't spend your weekends out in the country, exercising your green thumb and spending time with your grandparents?

[Lanerdros]

If you choose the in-city option, is there any reason you couldn't spend your weekends out in the country, exercising your green thumb and spending time with your grandparents?

I Wouldn't own a car at all, because I'd be biking to work. Well, I'd own a car, as I currently do. It's just parked out at said acreage with fire/theft coverage to maintain a continuous insurance record.

[chagan]

OP - impressive fact that you are thinking of RE so early in your life, I wish I was that smart and informed when I was that age.

You are still very young, City life is great while you are single...but its also overrated. You have done a decent job of detailing the pros and cons of both life styles, you will be in the best position to make that call.

You might very likely second guess your decision no matter maybe after a decade, but make the best call on your instincts, your likes/dislikes and what is most important for you at the moment (I love the fact that you are close to your Grand parents that you feel like living with them)

Good luck... BTW love the Canadian outdoors. I have a friend of mine who moved further west of Hamilton,ON last year in the country on a home with acreage and poultry...

[ericrugiero]

It sounds to me like you would prefer to live in the country with your grandparents.  If I'm reading that right, you should do that.  Both options sound good, you just need to do what you think is best for you.  There isn't a right and wrong answer here.  There also isn't anything saying you are locked into one choice or the other.  The biggest difference is the $15K being forgiven but even if you don't optimize that your income will be so good that you can make it up in no time.  Is there a minimum time you must live in a rural area for the student loans to be forgiven?  You could start with your grandparents and see how things go with your work, grandparents, and SO.  If your relationship progresses you could move back to the big city with them.  Are they on board with country living in the future?  If not, you might need to make a choice between them and the country lifestyle you like. 

[Watchmaker]

It sure sounds like you'd prefer the country, so I'd go with that. You can always change your mind in the future if you want to.

Where does SO fit into this plan? Are they also interested in the country? Not saying you have to have perfect alignment in long term plans to be together now, but best to keep that dialogue going.

[BlueHouse]

It really sounds as if you'd be miserable living in the city.  Maybe you could just stay over at your S/O 's place for a few nights per week.  But if you know you love something, then go that route and it sure sounds as if you love country life. 

one thing about city life that I think you've got wrong.  I'm an introvert, and I find city life allows me to be much more "apart" from people.  You can be in a "crowd" and be completely anonymous.  No one even notices you unless you want them to.  In suburban or rural areas, people tend to want to "know their neighbors" and I find that they're completely in my shit all the time until they figure out that I don't want to be besties with them. 

[Imma]

You sound much more excited about living with your grandparents. And honestly, having recently lost my last grandparent, you'll never know how much time you'll have left with them. I was partially raised by my grandparents and we were very close. As an adult I've always lived fairly close and visited every week. I got a few opportunities to move to a different place and I didn't. I don't regret it at all. My grandparent passed suddenly from Covid while I thought they had at least 5-10 years ahead of them. I am so grateful I got to spend all that time with them. I'm 30 now, I still have a large part of my life ahead of me and I'll cherish the time I spent with my grandparent forever. And is there any reason why your s/o would not be able to live with you on your grandparents' property? Sounds like your grandparents own a fairly large property if it allows for limitless gardening.

[Lanerdros]

It sure sounds like you'd prefer the country, so I'd go with that. You can always change your mind in the future if you want to.

Where does SO fit into this plan? Are they also interested in the country? Not saying you have to have perfect alignment in long term plans to be together now, but best to keep that dialogue going.

They are just as happy about the country as I am. However, they have to stay in the city for 3 more years than I will to finish their schooling in the same profession. So I'd spend that 3 years not living with them. However, this is something we are used to, as we have been living separately for 2 years. This would just make it 7. However, once I'm not tied to school, weekend visits are easily possible very frequently.

[SunnyDays]

Can you do both?  A few years in the city until your SO finishes school, then decide where you both want to live?  If jobs are that plentiful, this should be no problem.  But if you want to live with your grandparents then, are they open to having your SO also live there?

[former player]

What are the chances of your first job out of school lasting for 7 or 10 years?  Is there the possibility of taking a "training wheels on" job in the city for a couple of years and then moving to the country for a "training wheels off" job when you have that confidence and knowledge behind you?

Otherwise I would just say that you have fairly obviously got things sorted and are going to be fine whichever route you choose.

[Fresh Bread]

2.5 years is only a long time if you hate your job. Also, over a period of 7-10 years you will both continue to learn and grow and you may decide you want to keep working to reach some goal like a career milestone or buying or building something.

I'd focus on the SO and plan to live in the city for 3-5 years. Where are they hoping to work after graduation? Agree with the comment above that it's easy to be an introvert in the city!

In my city there are opportunities to have a community garden vegetable plot & volunteer on an urban garden. I can also join a maker space and learn woodworking, electronics etc. There are lots of opportunities like this that have grown from people not being able to afford a house with a garden and garage. Is this something you can do?

I don't know what the annual leave arrangements are for you but if it's anything like AUS, you'll have a few weeks and can buy more, and can spend at least one with the grandparents. Hire a car or get a bus to visit them one weekend a month maybe?

[BicycleB]

Earn the axe!

***

All posters have made very good points. I second the notion that you sound like you prefer the country. My first answer was based on a gut reading of your desires as expressed in your writing. A better answer might require more digging. See below. :)

Do you think you'll be disliking your work, or just liking it less than other possible other activities?

I calculate that if you count car commute hours as work but don't count bike hours ("heaven"), the country option only means about 22% more work in exchange for far more country hours.

You discuss time with your SO, but I didn't see their opinion. Is that 'cause I missed it, or they haven't said it? Do they care which option you pick?

If the relationship was primary, I'd lean towards that. But it sounds from your tone like the relationship is secondary though with what you view as potential. Your taste for the country sounds primary, and great grandparents don't last forever. So another question arises. If SO is on limited contact due to your family and your decision to live in the country, what happens if their family leads them to a decision where maintaining the SO relationship would require some sacrifice by you? Would you envision reciprocating? More importantly, why (and more broadly, what thoughts does that raise)?

[Ricochet]

City life for me. It just offers up more opporunity, fun, culture, social gatherings with more educated folks (no offense to the country bumpkins out there). Certainly the jobs are more plentiful in the city and you'd likely be offered something better once you get some industry contacts and hear about them directly from those who are looking. . . that alone could speed up your plans. Do you like piggly wiggly coffee or local roasted organic city-slicker java?

[former player]

Do you like piggly wiggly coffee or local roasted organic city-slicker java?

As mustachians none of us would dream of paying money for either.

[Lanerdros]

City life for me. It just offers up more opporunity, fun, culture, social gatherings with more educated folks (no offense to the country bumpkins out there). Certainly the jobs are more plentiful in the city and you'd likely be offered something better once you get some industry contacts and hear about them directly from those who are looking. . . that alone could speed up your plans. Do you like piggly wiggly coffee or local roasted organic city-slicker java?

I actually find there is much more culture in the country. Perhaps we are just looking for different types of "culture". Social gatherings aren't much my thing. Everyone is paid the same here, we are unionized, so promotions are of no concern. I like the coffee that is cheapest ;).

As for the educated bit, that depends on your definition of "education". Sure, there are more people with PHDs in the cities, but a good many of them couldn't change a tire, fix a leak, hunt, or balance a checkbook. People can do that in the country,