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Ask HN: Europe to East Coast, does it make sense to move at 50?

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Re: Ask HN: Europe to East Coast, does it make sense to move at 50?

#101

Post by Markoff »

cromka wrote: post #34
binarymax wrote: post #21

Lots of anti American comments in this thread, so I’ll attempt to actually answer your question. Background - I’m an American who moved abroad for 12 years (UK) and returned after Brexit. Salaries are much higher than the EU. But in some cities cost of living is high. Coming from Berlin, you’ll have an easier time finding an apartment, but it will be expensive. I’d expect to pay $2000 to $2500 per month for a decent…

> Food is cheap and plentiful. The portion sizes are twice as large for the same equivalent price as the EU :). As someone who moved from EU to the US for 6 years and recently got back: the quality of the food is way lower there, though. As in: food standards imposed are significantly lower. I ended buying mostly organic food at Costco after my body significantly changed within first 6 months. EDIT: don't know why I…

washed refrigerated eggs are pretty standard also in many European countries, that's not exactly helping your argument though I agree US standards are lower than EU

Re: Ask HN: Europe to East Coast, does it make sense to move at 50?

#102

Post by koevet »

cameronperot wrote: post #93

I'm an American (Texan) who has been living in Germany for the past 6 years. I would suggest to consider the culture and lifestyle more than the work, as those will play a much larger role in your happiness and satisfaction. It sounds cliché, but money doesn't necessarily buy happiness. I enjoy living in German/European cities significantly more than I did living in big cities in Texas (I can't speak for the East Coa…

Hey thanks for your comment, I feel this thread is turning a bit into a US vs. EU pitfight.

We are going to be in NYC in a couple of weeks and we plan to spend one day in Princeton, as you suggest.

Regarding the long term relationship, if we move we are going to move as a family (2 kids included :))

Re: Ask HN: Europe to East Coast, does it make sense to move at 50?

#103

Post by Markoff »

pkb wrote: post #68

Do not go. Here's why: 1) You have no network in the US. You will have to start from scratch. Remember how you started. Multiply difficulty level by 2. And you're not going to be any younger. 2) Salaries for perm positions being "significantly lower" in the US than in EU. This nullifies gains from moving to the US. Add cost of moving everything over long range by plane/cargo ship. 3) Healthcare cost. My friend asked…

who would pay 13000$ for one tooth? that can cover air tickets, vacation, tooth job and extra money to save in most of the world including most EU countries, that's insane price

Re: Ask HN: Europe to East Coast, does it make sense to move at 50?

#104

Post by RalfWausE »

seibelj wrote: post #67
guerrilla wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> including runaway inflation The same as everywhere... due to a war and pandemic . > a government and social safety net that is rapidly becoming unaffordable Completely false. Do you even read our budgets? Your debt-to-GDB was literally 3x ours last year. European countries aren't even allowed to deficit spend more than a few percent (which is what got Greece in trouble, for example.) > they pretend don’t exist I'm…

I find lectures about American society from Europeans, as the parent comment did, exceedingly ironic and misinformed considering the same issues plague both sides. Even more so as American armed forces and weapons (and our tax dollars and political system) are what protect all of you from annihilation. The grass is always greener but I prefer it here.

My grandfather did stand not far away from moscow with his platoon... give germany a few years without you yankees and i am pretty sure we would do better this time ;-)

Re: Ask HN: Europe to East Coast, does it make sense to move at 50?

#105

Post by throw__away7391 »

wozer wrote: post #30
bshepard wrote: post #7

Hello there, I live in Berlin now and used to live in the United States. My family is there, and I go back to the east coast of the US often. The degenerating and dystopian quality of the United States is difficult to overstate, but almost impossible to capture verbally. Whatever one cause attributes to the systematic breakdown of the US, it is difficult to deny the realities of the decline -- massive alcohol and nar…

Is it really that bad in the US? Makes me wonder if I should continue to invest in the US stock market...

Oh, the US _economy_ is incredibly strong, opportunity abounds, and looking at the headwinds other economies around the world will face in decades to come I would guess it will only get better in comparison to the rest of the world...it just kind of sucks to live here in most places, and the ones that don't are crazy expensive. Think of the US as a farm for humans.

Re: Ask HN: Europe to East Coast, does it make sense to move at 50?

#106

Post by Markoff »

DeathArrow wrote: post #5

Can you make a test move for just a few months and see if you like it? Employment aside, there are other things that matters when you change countries / continents. As an European, I wouldn't like to move permanently to the US. If you are making enough money in Europe, I don't see much incentives to move to US.

few months will hardly cover honeymoon period, so it can help if he can realize things quickly but some things take at least 1-2 years to start coming to you

Re: Ask HN: Europe to East Coast, does it make sense to move at 50?

#107

Post by dustingetz »

zoom has let agile east coast firms work with international contractors which i expect to compress US freelance rates and inflate international rates towards the US mean. the only markets you gain access to by moving to Princeton is NYC and west coast timezones as remote worker. my main question is how you will source contracts which is the determinant of if you are competing with local or remote talent. My NYC contracts, as a freelancer living in Philadelphia, all came from NYC software meetups combined with a strong online presence in the relevant community. Cities in the US are not nearly as closely located as Europe where there are 10 cities within 3 hrs commute of any point so if you’re going to get contracts from IRL networking you have to focus on one city. if you don’t plan to benefit from NYC proximity i don’t know if you will gain advantage living here. Also you may experience ageism in NYC market as it is extremely competitive.

Re: Ask HN: Europe to East Coast, does it make sense to move at 50?

#108

Post by woodson »

sam_lowry_ wrote: post #77
pkb wrote: post #68

Do not go. Here's why: 1) You have no network in the US. You will have to start from scratch. Remember how you started. Multiply difficulty level by 2. And you're not going to be any younger. 2) Salaries for perm positions being "significantly lower" in the US than in EU. This nullifies gains from moving to the US. Add cost of moving everything over long range by plane/cargo ship. 3) Healthcare cost. My friend asked…

>Salaries for perm positions being "significantly lower" in the US than in EU On HN, we hear all the time that the inverse is true. Is it because high salaries are limited to Silicon Valley? In Western Europe, freelancers with good credentials and a large network can have yearly gross revenuу of 100..200k€. Is this comparable to US freelance revenue?

I guess one difference is how much of the gross income goes to taxes/social insurance contributions. This can differ a lot from country to country.

Re: Ask HN: Europe to East Coast, does it make sense to move at 50?

#109

Post by koevet »

dougmwne wrote: post #69

You have not provided enough context for anyone to give you useful advice. We would need to know your hourly or daily rate and to basically see your resume to have any chance of giving a rate range. There is also the issue of taxes which make comparisons less straightforward. That said, I think you can generally expect IT pay to be higher in US major cities than almost anywhere in the EU. The US also has the concept…

Fair point, I didn't want to turn the post into a vanity context.

My daily rate is around 1k euro + 19% vat. Note that I have multiple clients, so in some good months the above figure is higher.

My tax pressure is around 43%, including health insurance.

Re: Ask HN: Europe to East Coast, does it make sense to move at 50?

#110

Post by koevet »

jacquesm wrote: post #59
somewhereoutth wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would double check this - assuming your wife will be going over on an H1B or L1 visa (edit: correction: L1 can get you an L2 as a spouse), as a spouse you would not be allowed to work in the US.

And if that's 'at will' employment you may well end up finding out what it is like to be without a safety net if the spouse should get fired.

But in this event, we could move back to Europe, no?
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