“Crazy prices, terrible quality”: a Russian-speaking IT manager spoke about the cost of living in California

Interesting facts about the quality of communication in Silicon Valley, public transport and American healthcare offers to learn Lifehacker.

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The new guest of the podcast “Spent” - Ruslan Fazlyev, head of Ecwid and X ‑ Cart, one of the heroes of the sensational film about Silicon Valley by Yuri Dudy, has been living in Southern California for several years and knows how everything works there. Leading a podcast, Pavel Fedorov asked Ruslan about life on the West Coast: how much health insurance costs, what taxes you have to pay, and why you should not use public transport.

Recently, Yuri Dud released a podcast about Silicon Valley and everyone suddenly remembered that there is such a village of Palo Alto, where a real paradise for programmers and for startups. Everyone wondered sharply whether everything there was so beautiful and cloudless, how much it costs to move and live there.

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— How long have you lived in California and how did you get there?

I’ve been there on visits since 2011, and since 2015 I moved for good.

- Why did you decide to move?

Our company is so geographically distributed that some of our employees are in Russia and some in California. As we grew, it was necessary to properly coordinate the management part in California with Russia. In addition, we are a venture-backed company and work for capitalization, and capitalization is higher when you are an American company. In order for Americans to perceive you as an American company, you need to actually live in the US, simply accumulating tenure will not work. The top manager must live in the USA. So I moved, making the company American, which had a very positive impact on our valuation.

In fact, for the last 15 years of my life I have always lived between Russia and other countries - between Russia and Cyprus, between Russia and Britain. Now it’s Russia and California, but I spend most of my time in California.

— How much did it cost to move and do you need a financial cushion to start?

A pillow is definitely needed. Of course, refugees fleeing wars come with one suitcase - this can be done, but I didn’t flee from anywhere, it was important for me to maintain a certain standard of living. It was easier for me - I moved to a place where I already had a company, people were hired and a local salary was guaranteed in this company. I have people for whom it is important to make sure that I sort everything out on the spot. I have a circle of people to communicate with, I have a job. In this regard, my experience is not typical.

In general, I wouldn't advise people who are excited about moving to move at all - it's usually a very bad idea. Before this, I had left somewhere several times in my life, I was such a “serial migrant”, I went to Cyprus, to Britain. Actually, I left for Britain because I thought that leaving for Cyprus was a mistake. Already in Britain I realized that in fact, going anywhere is usually a mistake. And what happens in your life depends very little on the geography in which you are located, and a lot depends on you.

All my first moves were “cushionless” - I arrived in an open field, true, with a suitcase of money, but still in an open field, and there I was already setting up some kind of new life. And it was still hard, even with a suitcase of money. I think that many listeners don’t have a suitcase of money, but they still plan to go to an open field. And this idea is so-so.

— When you moved, what bureaucratic difficulties did you have to go through?

Moving to the USA was the easiest in this context. After Britain, I realized one thing for myself: I will definitely never move to a country that has a titular nation. Spain, Italy, France - it doesn’t matter. Where there are locals and non-locals. I am a Tatar and have never felt like an ethnic minority in Russia. I felt like an absolutely integrated person and part of the country. I said: “I am a Russian person” and did not feel anything different. When I lived in Cyprus and Britain, I felt that I was not part of society, although everything was fine and there were no problems. Just different. If Cyprus is always some kind of “Russian tourist”, a funny little animal. I think people living in Thailand feel the same way - where there is a clear divide between locals and non-locals. In Britain it was the same - you can do anything, but you still won’t be British. No, no racism, but you still won't feel like you belong.

And the USA is a country of immigrants from the very beginning. There are no locals there. I thought that if I ever go anywhere, it will only be to a country where there are no locals at all. The US is very well built to integrate people from other countries. No one cares about your accent, everyone forgets to check your papers. There is such a Russian habit of walking around with a passport - but in the USA no one gives a damn. Actually, that’s why there are so many illegal immigrants.

All procedures are quite simple and typical for all countries: if you live for more than 6 months, you need to get a local license, which, by the way, was a good topic - in the process of obtaining them, I became a much better driver.

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— What was the first thing you bought when you moved?

Phone and SIM card. I did this in all countries as soon as I moved. Without communication, I feel uncomfortable. By the way, it has been proven that in people anxiety rises in proportion to the discharge of the battery.

— What prices surprised you the most?

For medicine. Absolutely - ironclad! - a healthy person can spend 20-30 thousand dollars on a family a year, and this does not mean that anything is happening. This is fine. Some operation can cost 100-200-300 thousand dollars. Your insurance will cover it for 80% if you have it and there is an operation there. But you pay the rest of the amount yourself, and for insurance too. To give birth - 30 thousand dollars. Very important: what I’m saying now is not some level of service for Hollywood stars. This is a household level. Everyone pays, so it’s not like you come to a paid clinic, like in Russia, and they solve everything for you in one minute and have excellent service. No. Medicine here is very brutal, your time is regularly wasted. You wait an hour for the doctor, he spends 5 minutes with you and throws you out, because the doctor’s time is the most valuable. You don’t get deep attention like in Russia.

— How does health insurance work? Is it fixed or does everyone have their own? What does its cost depend on?

Each has its own. As a rule, companies pay insurance to their employees. I don’t know how others are, but our company gives a choice of different insurance plans. This creates an opportunity for Americans to become even more corporate and work in large companies. A large company due to volume is easier to negotiate with insurance and there insurance is likely to be better than in a small company. There are a lot of options, no matter how you structure, you’ll fly past something anyway.

Insurance is, for example, $10 a year (everything is more expensive in California), this is just for me, but there is also insurance for children, for my wife, in addition, the company covers part of it, and you pay the deductible yourself. For example, an insurance plan where everything is covered for you, and you pay, say, 000% (this is approximately equal to the price of premium medicine in Russia or a little more expensive, and the medicine is not premium). The problem with this plan is that you can only be served through your therapist, you come to him, and he guides you further. You cannot buy any medicine without going to the doctor. Almost all medications are regulated. For example, I run and my Achilles tendon is inflamed. You cannot go to an Achilles tendon specialist with your Achilles tendon. You must go to your therapist, who will take the money and send you to this very specialist. As a result, you spent half a day and 20 dollars to get the right to see a doctor who will finally take care of you. Oddly enough, US medicine has been the most Soviet experience for me in my entire life - it is the closest to USSR medicine, which I am not a supporter of.

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— In Russia, many people travel to small towns to have their teeth treated. How is this in the USA? Isn't it easier for you to fly home to get crowns?

I have a border with Mexico about 30 kilometers away and people go there to “catch up” when the bars are closed in California. Or if you are under 21 years old, they don’t pour it in the USA, but in Mexico you can. In Tijuana, among other things, you can go to the hospital. This is done so often that there is even a separate access corridor in which you will be admitted faster if you have a special patient pass. The point here is also that paid medicine in Mexico (and other countries that are not the USA) is similar to paid high-quality medicine in Russia. Companies compete for you as a client and treat you very humanely. In American medicine, everything is reminiscent of the military - they will fix you, indeed, but you, private Petrov, wait in line, the system is more important than you.

— In addition to medicine, the topic of concern to all immigrants is housing. Those same “fabulous”, in a negative sense, prices for rental housing in California, can you tell us about them?

I live in Southern California, practically by the ocean. To move towards cheaper prices, you need to move deeper into the continent. And if you go all the way there and in some simple area you can rent an apartment for $2000. By local standards it will be small, but here they estimate more living space per person than in Russia. You will have cardboard walls and doors, terrible neighbors. This one can probably be rented for $1500. My friends rented for $3500 the part of the house that faces the ocean, you can hear the ocean from it. A lot of people live with roommates - roommates. And then we go up - $5000-$10. If you rent near me, it will most likely be $000.

Renting a house in Britain and the USA was equally difficult. They check what kind of person you are, they study some background checks, your credit history. It's shocking: no matter what you do, they check your credit history. The newcomer does not have it. If you try to buy a car with cash, they still demand it from you. It would seem that I brought you a suitcase of money, give me the car. No - there is a process, you must stick to it.

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— Are utilities included in the rent or do I have to pay extra on top?

I do not exclude that my answer will be unique in my situation. I rented here a part of the house, which was not intended for the life of several families, so the owners did not have the opportunity to share the meters for all tenants. And my electricity was included in the bill, which completely suited me, because I refuel Tesla for free.

— What about the prices for Internet, television, mobile communications?

Mobile communications are of terrible quality and quite expensive. I get about $70 for one Internet line, but it’s also more expensive and worse. It’s especially unbearable in the Valley. When I call my team, I say the classic: “Sorry, the Internet will be bad, I’m calling from the Valley.” Why this is so is unclear. I have a version that, like banks, which in the USA are very stupid compared to Russian ones, the technology was built in the old days, it works and everyone is happy with it. Russia built all this anew, recently and to the highest standards.

— Tell us about public transport in the USA

This is a feature of the United States in general and the West Coast in particular - only homeless people use public transport. The exception may be San Francisco with its BART train system. When our colleagues arrive, I discourage them from taking the bus - I’m just disgusted. Only homeless people, often insane people, really go there. You can go to the airport by train, but out of the 7 or 8 times I took it, it was not late 1 time. In America it is compulsory to have a car; everyone drives a car. To some extent, personal cars have begun to replace Uber, but people still drive cars.

— How much does it cost to operate a Tesla and a car in general?

What I didn't know when I bought the car was that in California I would have to pay taxes on it as property. It's a percentage of the car's value, and it doesn't go down as quickly as the car itself loses value. For example, you buy a car for 100 thousand dollars, the tax will be very high, in a couple of years the car will cost 70 thousand, but the tax will remain the same. Tesla doesn't break down that much, but overall it costs zero to maintain. Until, however, the warranty expired and I ruined one of the fashionable pull-out handles while washing in quarantine. They cost $300, but that's not that expensive either. It will not be thousands of dollars in road tax if you buy the car that an immigrant would buy - and this is, as a rule, a used Japanese car for 5-6 thousand, the road tax will be invisible, some hundred dollars.

The United States is a country that has understood price discrimination, when the same product is sold to a richer person at a much higher price. And in the US, if you have money, you will regularly part with it. In this regard, it is easier for people with money to live in Russia, providing themselves with a luxury quality of consumption. For example, Mike Tyson had $600 million; today his net worth is $3 million. I don’t know yet how 597 million dollars can be spent.

— Is it true that all Americans eat at fast food and only there?

Americans eat fast food more often than residents of other countries. I have an employee whose food is a burger. For me, a burger is an on-the-go meal when I need to grab something quickly in 10 minutes. I can't understand how a burger can be such a homemade meal, like if mommy made borscht. But he likes it. And the guys who earn less, they eat fast food every day. This is another area of ​​price discrimination in the United States. You can have lunch for 2-3 dollars, it's possible. But I can't imagine having lunch for that amount. If I dine out, it would be, like, $18 a dish—and that's not some luxury level. Plus a drink, plus taxes, tip - and now it’s 25-27 dollars. I can’t get it lower, but the guys really eat for 3-5 dollars.

— If you cook at home, how much more expensive or cheaper is it compared to Russia?

My number one expense was restaurants. We barely ate at home at all. Although my wife cooks amazingly, she is a cooking genius. But we ate in cafes, it was easier. My wife argued that cooking at home would cost the same. Now in quarantine, I can say that we cook almost all our food at home and - it’s not true! - houses are much cheaper. It happened that my income fell by half, and more money began to accumulate because restaurants and flights disappeared.

— In Russia, in big cities you can order delivery of anything. How are things going with this in the technology capital of the world?

I never go to the store and no one in my family does. I find myself in the store maybe once every 3 months. And then, if it’s some kind of beautiful mall, it’s more of an impression than an attempt to buy something. I order absolutely everything, from food to firewood, online. What has changed: with corona, all people started ordering everything via the Internet, and the delivery people can’t cope, there are no slots and this has affected the consumer basket. I started cooking a lot of steaks. Regular delivery from the store, as a rule, is not available - you have to sit all night to find some kind of window. But there are suppliers who worked for restaurants and provided premium ingredients, the same steaks. Now these companies have refocused on delivery. I order a lot of farm food. The Russian restaurant reoriented itself interestingly - they simply started selling off their inventory.

Interestingly, when you buy something in Russian restaurants in the United States, it is extremely rare to be produced in Russia. This is something to think about. As a rule, all this is done on the territory of the former USSR. I think that from Russia, apparently, it is difficult to import something into the United States.

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— What did you try for leisure when you arrived in California?

The best things in life are free. Here it is nature and weather. I got up early in the morning, went surfing and was in time for the office by 8 am. My leisure time was surfing, running, and work. Also food, there are some really cool restaurants here. Besides this movie, I often went to cinemas. Drive-in movie theaters are now starting to come to life.

— Any picnics, campings, outings? How common?

It's made in America and it's really cool. In every recreation area and campsite, even if there are no houses, there will be a state shower and toilets. If there is a large flow of visitors, there will be a reservation system so that there is never a crowd. The infrastructure is very well done. It’s also not scary to go on long trips around the USA - predictable infrastructure and familiar cafes are everywhere. My friends and I traveled all over the country, it was easy and predictable, despite the fact that I didn’t live in America at that time and this trip seemed extreme to me.

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— What are the main advantages of moving to California?

Nature, weather. Very healthy food.

— What are the main disadvantages?

Everything else is negative. Everything is expensive. Gasoline is a third more expensive than in other states. Taxes are higher. You have less money, you need to spend more. California is a completely communist state that collects taxes from you and gives them to illegal immigrants.

— Would you advise people who watched the movie Dudya or just some TV series to move to California?

A terrible mistake by no means. You can think about the States in general - there are places that are cheaper and more hospitable. It's good to be homeless in California, it's the best place for homeless people. If you are a homeless person or a couch surfer, a person who wants little from life and is willing to take shelter on the edge of someone’s sofa, this is ideal. In California, it's good if you're so rich that you don't care about money. Otherwise, this is the worst state. Bad for the middle class, for hard working people. If you need the ocean, then it could be Florida, it is cheaper and closer to Russia. Miami is a Russian city and it’s comfortable there. There are places like Seattle, where the weather is changeable, but work options are more accessible. There are cowboy states like Texas, where prices are not so crazy, there are not so many rules.

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