Why did you choose to take a 50% pay cut permanently? That seems pretty steep, especially now the pandemic is more-or-less over.
I see people all the time complaining about salaries being different based on location and how it’s wrong. I actually don’t mind it. I live in a LCOL area and work for a Bay Area company. I don’t get paid as much as my SF colleagues but I make so much more than anyone around here that it doesn’t matter.
At some level I wonder if people in SF are worried about people like me and the above poster because we’re stealing jobs by being cheap.
Anyways, I’ll always be remote. There is no other option. I’m damn sure not moving to California.
Too many people discuss salary without discussing buying power.
When I did freelance work I loved picking up work from the coasts (NYC, LA, etc). They thought of me as cheap, I thought of them as a gravy train. Both sides benefitted from it.
100k in a rural, LCOL area probably has the buying power of 150-200k in NYC. I don't know the exact numbers, it's the idea that I'm trying to express here.
In capitalism that is not important. If I have the negotiation capability to get a higher salary why should I accept a lower one just because I live cheaper?
The mistake "capitalists" make is thinking money is the only factor, or even the most important one.
But really, that wasn't even the point. The point is your salary isn't what grants you a good life, it's buying power. And having that buying power gives you a stronger negotiating stance anyway.