X-ecutive

Moving On

Deciding that Montana was where we wanted to be as a family was the easy part. Coming to terms with what that means is another story entirely. Montana, the western part at least, is some of the most beautiful, unspoiled land in America. There is a reason it is unspoiled. It is difficult to get to by today's standards. Fights are generally not direct and are not cheap. Driving is a long way from anywhere. Then there is the winter. It is cold! Not unbearable for someone who grew up in the north but it is cold! These factors have kept the growth in the area lower. As such, business are fewer and smaller. Wages are generally lower and services more expensive.

We were lucky enough to live in Montana while working with my previous company and were able to experience the beauty, slower, more relaxed pace of life. I would not call life in Montana easy. But the simplicity brought about by the lack of a daily barrage of modern convenience being thrust from every angle makes Montana very desirable to those who have grown weary of the pace and pressure of the corporate ladder. The difficulty in trying to survive in Montana is that it is not free. There are taxes and costs of living like anywhere else. Depending on one's desired lifestyle, it can actually be more expensive to live in Montana than in many areas where conveniences are more readily available. One has to make the decision that some conveniences are not necessities and needs to be financially self sustainable at a level that will support a desired lifestyle. The are jobs in Montana, but high paying jobs are few and far between with great competition. When we moved away from Montana we knew that when/if we returned, we would have to bring our income with.

By fortunate circumstance we are not debt ridden. I feel that is fortunate for most of those I know and see that are around my age with families are in debt up to if not over their eyeballs. We were guided to clean up our life requirements and currently have no long term debt and only monthly bills of utilities and chosen conveniences (cell phones, high speed internet, and books from Eaton Press). Two years ago our monthly outflow was over $10k now we are happily existing on less than one tenth of that. True we don't run out and buy or do everything we have a whim for, but in reality we have more than we need. We are not living extremely thrifty either. We have just broken away from the rat race, and none to soon. We own our land in Montana and are building our home along with our future income stream out of pocket so when we reach Montana we will be able to live much the same as we do today without significantly more expense. Getting out of debt made this possible. We don't have enough investments to live off of till 67 and even then with my retirement and IRA I am not confident that we have enough even then to live the long life I plan on, so doing nothing, even if I wanted to is not an option.

So what can an X-ecutive do in Montana? If you were to look at my lifestyle and activities a couple of years ago, you would say there is no way he can make it. Living that life, I would agree. But, although very successful in that life mode, that was not really me. Not the person I am inside, who I used to want to be, and now am able to become. I am much more!

posted by Unknown @ 7:51 AM