Originally Posted by sling

You could start by looking at a cost of living index. Since you have an executive job, it might give you a fairly accurate idea of what you would need. They are constructed on the assumption that a family of four would require a four-bedroom house with two baths, and two cars, for instance.

They don't work so well for non-executive people, becaue we usually have to adjust somewhat to the local standard of living. We do this even within the same country. I know that if I work in Columbus, Ohio, at the same job, with a market-level salary, I can get a much nicer place to live than if I took the same job, at a market-level salary, in Silicon Valley.