I fled the '10 plagues of California' for Hallmark town in red state... now I'm flush with cash and happy
Brenda Duncan Cusick, 61, left Moorpark, California, a town an hour northwest of Los Angeles after nearly two decades.
After moving to Prescott, Arizona, her mortgage payment plunged from a staggering $3,309 to just $1,672 monthly.
Her community was dangerously close to where the devastating Woolsey Fire destroyed more than 1,000 homes in 2018.
She's watched helplessly as the blazes grew more difficult to control year after year and decided it was time to flee the wrath of disasters often referred to as the '10 plagues of California'.
The wildfire threat didn't just endanger her family's safety but also destroyed her livelihood.
Cusick was an insurance agent selling homeowners, commercial and auto policies between 2015 and 2023.
She struggled to keep clients as rates tripled due to increasing fire risks, soaring reinsurance costs, and California's strict regulations.
'I lost a lot of sales because people wanted to save on their insurance, but I would advise they carry more coverage,' Cusick told Business Insider. 'They'd own a $1million home and a small business, and I'd tell them they could lose everything they've worked for for being underinsured.'
She said the combination of wildfire threats, astronomical insurance premiums, eye-watering utility bills, steep gas prices and excessive car registration fees made retiring in California impossible for her.
And Cusick isn't alone in her California exodus.
Hundreds of thousands have abandoned the Golden State in recent years, driven out by the crushing cost of living and growing natural disaster risks.
California residents endure some of the nation's highest energy bills, partly because utility companies have spent billions on wildfire mitigation that gets passed straight to customers.
The state's climate policies also drive oil and gas prices through the roof.
When COVID-19 unleashed remote work possibilities in 2020, Cusick and her husband took a chance on a new life.
They sold their California home and joined the wave of retirees flocking to more affordable Arizona.
After downsizing from their 4-bedroom, 3-bathroom Moorpark home to a 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom property in Prescott, their mortgage payment plunged from a staggering $3,309 to just $1,672 monthly
At first, Cusick told Business Insider it was daunting to consider leaving her home state.
'But once we did, we realized that there are so many lovely places to live all over the US,' she told the outlet.
And the major financial relief was immediate.
After downsizing from their 4-bedroom, 3-bathroom Moorpark home to a 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom property in Prescott, their mortgage payment plunged from a staggering $3,309 to just $1,672 monthly.
Their utility and HOA bills in Arizona now average a mere $373 monthly, compared to the $400-$1,200 they routinely paid in California.
The sale of their California property also provided enough cash for a substantial down payment on their Arizona dream home.
Prescott, surrounded by national forest, has also completely transformed their quality of life.
'It's a very western town in the mountains of Arizona,' she said.
She added that the downtown area reminds her of a Hallmark movie.
The historic former territorial capital hosts a major rodeo every Fourth of July and attracts thousands of tourists with its cooler summer temperatures and convenient location between Phoenix and the Grand Canyon.
Since retiring from the insurance industry, Cusick has embraced her new community by getting involved with a local charity and launching the Prescott Food Tour.
'It's completely the opposite of selling boring, impossible insurance,' she told the outlet.
'I by no means make anywhere near what I did before, but when you're retired, you get to do things like this.'
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