If you're a high earner, you've probably run this comparison in your head already.

You've done everything right. The career, the investments, the savings. And somewhere along the way the math stopped adding up. You're earning like someone living a $10,000 a month life and somehow living a $3,000 a month one instead.

Here's what the actual numbers say when you compare staying in America to moving to BGC.

Watch the full breakdown here

The Baseline: $8,000 a Month, Three States

Take the same $8,000 monthly income across the three states most of our clients come from.

California runs about $6,000 a month in total spend once rent, transportation, insurance, groceries, and dining are added up, leaving $2,000 in savings. A 25 percent rate. Texas lands around $5,076 a month, leaving about $2,924, a 37 percent rate. Florida is nearly identical, about $5,036 a month spent, leaving $2,964, also 37 percent.

BGC: Same $8,000, Very Different Life

A luxury two bedroom condo in one of BGC's premier towers, floor to ceiling windows, skyline views, rooftop pool, 24 hour concierge, runs $2,000 a month. Todd from Seattle locked in exactly this, a penthouse in the heart of BGC for $2,000.

Add a full time personal driver at $700 to $800 a month, a full time live in housekeeper at $350, groceries and dining out at $800, healthcare at $200 a month including specialist consults for $18 to $50 at JCI accredited St. Luke's, and utilities at $300.

Total monthly spend comes to $4,350. That leaves $3,650 in savings. A 45.6 percent rate.

The Part That Actually Matters

California aside, BGC's savings rate isn't dramatically higher than Texas or Florida's. A few hundred dollars a month is the real gap.

But look at what that money buys. In Texas or Florida, $5,000 a month buys a standard two bedroom apartment and a car payment. In BGC, $4,350 buys a luxury high rise condo, a personal driver, a full time housekeeper, and healthcare with no monthly premium anxiety.

The savings rate is similar. The life on the other side of it is not.

Over 10 Years

California. $2,000 a month accumulates to $240,000.
Texas. $2,924 a month accumulates to $350,880.
Florida. $2,964 a month accumulates to $355,680.
BGC. $3,650 a month accumulates to $438,000.

That's a $198,000 gap between California and BGC over a decade, purely from choosing a different city to live the same income in. And that's before factoring in what that money could do if it were invested rather than simply saved.

It's not really a savings question. It's a quality of life question wearing a savings question's clothes.

This Isn't Theoretical

Joe, a Wall Street M&A attorney from Texas, relocated to Makati with a luxury condo, a driver on call, and full household staff, and his monthly spend went down. Walter, a lawyer from California who is mostly retired, runs $7,000 a month in Makati and says it makes him feel free in a way the same number never did back home. Bruce, a nurse anesthetist from Wisconsin, came in on $5,000 a month convinced he'd have to compromise. He didn't, and he wishes he'd come five years earlier.

Three different budgets. Three different backgrounds. The same result.

What Actually Changes

The clients we work with don't call us six months later talking about their savings rate. They talk about waking up without an alarm. Being driven somewhere without thinking about gas or parking. Seeing a doctor without checking their coverage first.

They talk about their income finally feeling proportionate to their life.

Start your move to the Philippines the right way.

Travel Well,
Evan Lorezca
The Savvy Expat