I moved out of CA after my networth had gone down by $2,500
That really is significant. I am glad you left but 2500? That does not seem like a lot to me in the big scheme of life.
My FRiend, In 3.5 years, I had not only not made any upwardly wealth building momentum, but had actually lossed value it my total net worth. Those were the BOOM DAYS of Silicon Valley. I was in the middle of it.
Here is the significance. I was just out of college (that I paid for with loans and hard work) and as poor as any college student could be. My total net worth when I moved out there was only about $10,000 (including student loans, my truck and investments).