Relocation has been rated as one of the most stressful experiences anyone can have. It’s up there with widowhood, job loss and serious illness. Your first question should be, “What are my trade-offs?”
You may think you have to move to a new city to be closer to your family, giving up a wonderful job in your current location. Sometimes a well-meaning relative will make this kind of move, only to realize that it’s extremely difficult to find a new job. Worse, the new job may take so much time that you rarely see your family — the reason you made the move in the first place.
When you start looking at trade-offs realistically, you may realize you will come out ahead when you stay in your current location and just budget more frequent trips to the family. For instance, let’s say you spend $400 on plane fare and incidentals each trip. If you visit once a month for a 3-day weekend, you spend about $5000 a year. That seems like a lot…until you realize that a move will cost about $10,000 and you may take a pay cut of another $5,000 a year or so.
For a guide on relocation as a life transition, visit http://www.RelocationStrategy.com and download my comprhensve guide.