The Most Expensive American Cities

Imagine living on the warm, sunny beaches of Hawaii--or maybe you would prefer the majestic setting and ski slopes of Aspen, Colo. While these idyllic locations are great places to put down roots, living there doesn't come cheap. Let's take a look at some of the most popular (and costly) places to live.

New York City, N.Y. New York City is the most expensive place to live in the U.S., and the eighth most expensive place to live in the world--a six-figure income will still only give you middle-class status. Just to put that into perspective, making $123,000 a year would buy you the same standard of living.

As someone who makes $50,000 in Houston, Texas, according to the New York Daily News.The average monthly rent for an apartment in the city is $2,800. Think that you can afford a place on $60,000 a year? Think again! Tenants have to make 40 times the monthly apartment rent to qualify without a guarantor. That means you need to make $112,000 just to qualify for a regular apartment.

Monthly day care fees run over $2,000 a month, practically double other parts of the country, and an average cup of coffee costs nearly $4.50.

Los Angeles, Calif.
So your cup of tea is the sunny weather and beaches of Los Angeles? If you want to soak up the L.A. sunshine and hob knob with celebrities, prepare to pay. Los Angeles is the second most expensive U.S. city and 23rd most expensive place in the world to live.

L.A. is often considered the most overpriced city because of the high unemployment rate and high housing prices. Home prices in Los Angeles come in second only to New York, and many L.A. residents work six days a week just to stay afloat. Gas prices are higher in L.A. than in any other city in the mainland, and the high prices can be blamed on the citizens' daily commute.Add in the pollution, smog and earthquakes, and it doesn't seem like such a great deal.

Honolulu, Hawaii
It must be paradise to live on the island and sip Mai Tais all day. Hawaii is paradise, but paradise doesn't come cheap. Honolulu is the fifth most expensive place to live in the U.S. and the 41st most expensive city in the world. That's because Hawaii imports everything, including automobiles, building materials, metals, gas, household products, meat, dairy and food products. Due to all of these factors, living in Honolulu costs 55% more than living in the average U.S. city.

Hawaii has the highest gas prices in the nation, average monthly apartment rental costs of $1,800 and a low-level of worker satisfaction, since most available jobs offer part-time hours.It turns out that the most expensive zip code is not 90210, but 81611. In 2009 Aspen topped the list of the most expensive home prices. Four Aspen properties have sold recently for over $30 million. The average house in the Aspen area was valued at $2.6 million in 2010, and Aspen is known as the home of the rich and famous and boasts some of the world's most luxurious ski resorts.

The city is littered with Gucci, Prada and other high-end retailers, and is a great place to visit for a ski vacation--but buying a home there could bury you under a financial avalanche.Juneau, Alaska
For such a small city, Juneau has really big prices. Alaska faces the same problem as Hawaii, in that the state must import most of its consumer products. Alaskan cities are generally more expensive than other U.S. cities. The costs associated with housing, utilities and health care are 40-100% higher than the national average, and transportation and grocery items are 25% higher than in other major cities.

Rural Alaskan communities have to import fuel by air, causing some cities to charge as much as $9 per gallon for gasoline. The average cost for a home in Juneau was $304,000 in 2009.

Miami, Fla.
"The Magic City" is well known globally for its culture, fashion and entertainment. With stars like Shakira, Enrique Iglesias and Lenny Kravitz calling Miami home, the city has become the "it" place to live. Miami has not only increased in popularity over the past decade, but in price as well.

As the sixth most expensive city in the U.S., you will definitely pay for the beautiful waterfront property and the vibrant nightlife. Miami housing prices have dropped recently, but prices for groceries and public services are still sky high.Conclusion
As you can clearly see, happiness does not come cheap. While these places may be great to visit, living there on a full time basis could leave you flat broke

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Most Expensive MacBook Pro: AGolden Macbook Pro with Diamond Apple Logo

Apple Macbooks are stylish and attractive. But how come if your Apple Macbook is golden fully! It would be very beautiful, wouldn’t be? A company called Computer Choppers has tried to make this idea practical. It has coated a MacBook Pro in golden color.

Even the keyboard and touchpad’s color match to chassis means it is golden too. But the most expensive part of this design is the Apple Logo. It has been filled by diamond.Well the company has not talked about the price but it is clear that this beautiful and odd MacBook Pro is among the most expensive laptops.

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'WORLD'S MOST EXPENSIVE TV SET'

An incredible solid gold and gem-encrusted television has been named as the world's most expensive television set, which will cost its buyer £1.5 million, experts said. British designer Stuart Hughes, 38, will only make a total of three PrestigeHD Supreme Rose televisions from 28kg of solid 18-carat rose gold. Each set will have a 55-inch screen and an outer frame adorned with 72 round cut one-carat flawless diamonds.

Hundreds of tiny sunstones and amethysts are mixed into the gold frame, while inner frame will be made from hand-sewn alligator skin. Hughes, who creates dozens of electronic items and gadgets in his workshop in Liverpool, started work on his first TV prototype after months of design preparation. He started designing in his teens and now makes elaborate bespoke iPhones and iPods for wealthy customers that sell in Harrods, London, as well as glitzy Monaco and Marbella.

The father of two was first spotted as a talent by German sports marketing executives after building a gold-plated BMX bike. He now runs in own workshop with four craftsmen and said he is constantly trying to ''push the boundaries'' with his designs. ''My designs are pretty ferocious things and are really aimed at the top end of the market - the uber-rich and the those who have a lot of disposable income," he said. ''Many of them are sold ex

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Inside The Five Most Expensive ETFs

The rise of the ETF industry is often attributed (in large part at least) to a shift in investor preference from pricey active management to low-cost indexing strategies. ETFs burst on to the investment scene by offering fees equivalent to only a fraction of those charged by traditional actively-managed mutual funds, and have continued to attract assets as investors frustrated with the inability of active management to consistently generate alpha seek out more cost-efficient alternatives.

But not all ETFs offer bargain basement expense ratios. As the product offerings have become increasingly specialized and targeted in recent years, average fees have been on the rise. This trend isn’t necessarily attributable to issuer greed (the low end of the expense ratio range has expanded as well), but rather to increasing complexity and granularity of exposure available through ETFs.

Replicating the S&P 500 is a relatively simple task, but tracking the performance of more complex strategies or far-flung markets often incurs additional costs. There are now a handful of ETFs that have seen expense ratios climb above the 1% mark, venturing into mutual fund territory. Below, we highlight five ETFs that charge an expense ratio of at least 1.0%.

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Survey ranks Dubai most expensive city for VPN link

Many international businesses use VPNs as a lower-cost alternative to traditional private lines, allowing them to securely connect offices in different locations to a firm's network.

Telegeography surveyed carrier prices in 102 cities, and it found that the fees vary significantly. In London.

The average cost of a 2Mbps E-1 port was US$532 per month, while in Hong Kong, the average port charge for.

An E-1 was $753. In contrast, the median cost in Dubai of an E-1 connection was an "astonishing" US$14,683.

"The high cost of VPN service in Dubai is a reflection of the other key driver of costs: local competition," said Telegeography analyst Gregory Bryan "The local telecom market in the UAE is uncompetitive, and, despite adequate submarine cable supply, enterprise providers must pay high local access charges to connect customers in Dubai to their network."

The research team found that prices tend to be higher outside North America and western Europe, and that the main factors determining international IP-VPN prices are the underlying cost of international network capacity and the competitiveness of the local communications market.

"We are conditioned to think of global IP networks as ubiquitous and uniform, yet local access regulations and regional transport costs remain critical factors that drive the cost of connecting businesses in a city," added Bryan.

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What is a Vertu Phone One Of The World Most Expensive Luxury Phone

If you are looking this particular article, then you may be curious as to the nature and benefits to using a Vertu phone.

While there are undoubtedly many aspects that are worth mentioning, I will instead point out some of the most distinguishing features and benefits of this device in the coming paragraphs.

The first thing that you should likely be aware of is what a phone like this actually is, as you might not be fully aware. While this is in fact a mobile phone, it is among an elite group that are known as luxury mobile phones. You may not know this, but Vertu is a subsidiary company owned by Nokia, which is a well known company and 800 pound gorilla in the mobile phones arena.

Well, for what reasons should these phones be considered luxurious? Well, for one they are made of valuable materials that really all depends on the model that you have chosen. These excellent displays of mobile devices can be made of genuine leather, rubies, gold, sapphire, and even diamonds.. So it is no wonder that possessing one means you have really made a mark for yourself.

Not to mention that in buying one of these phones, you are enlisted for a free year of concierge service through the company itself. What this basically spells for you the buyer is, that a team of highly skilled people will be waiting for your call to make an appointment for any number of different things for you, to free you from the hassle of doing it yourself. Dinner reservations, flights, lodging all at the simple press of a hot key that will connect you to the team.

However, before you rush yourself to go and buy one of these gadget jewelries, you might want to know the price first. The reason that these are status symbols is that even the lowest model phones will still set you back five thousand dollars. While that is still an impressive number, they have cost as much as over sixty times that amount.

So if you were ever curious about a Vertu phone, I hope that this article has helped you understand more about these awesome phones and what it will mean for you to own one. If you are still curious about learning more, you might look online, as there are a lot of available resources that will talk in great lengths about these mobile phones.

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