Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: Should I move to Berlin?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 80 posts

Re: Ask HN: Should I move to Berlin?

#21

Post by leaveyou »

It's very hard to see a reason for you to move to Berlin. You will gain a net ("in hand") salary much lower than your actual salary because in Europe there's not only the taxes that are deducted from your salary, but also contributions for health assurance, for retirement and for social security (and sometimes many other "small" things). All these things can add up to ~50% of your salary. And see this: " People earning more than EUR 52,882 per year are subject to a tax rate of 42%." and "In addition to Lohnsteuer, you have to pay the so-called solidarity surcharge (5.5% of your income tax)".

from here: https://www.internations.org/germany-expats/guide/15984-soci...

If I were you, I wouldn't move.

Re: Ask HN: Should I move to Berlin?

#22

Post by kowdermeister »

I lived in Berlin for 9 months and it was an awesome place to be. I quite enjoyed the nightlife there too :)

For apartment, prepare to spend around €800 peek around here:

http://www.wg-gesucht.de/wg-zimmer-in-Berlin.8.0.1.0.html

Monthly expenses for food, drinks, socializing would be anywhere between €300 - €600

Try to calculate your net salary:

http://www.parmentier.de/steuer/steuer.htm?wagetax.htmt

On 2900 net, I'm not sure if I moved there although I lived on significantly less money :)

Re: Ask HN: Should I move to Berlin?

#23

Post by sddfd »

If they pay 5000€ (brutto), you will likely have ~3.200€ (netto) left after tax and social security, retirement payments, and health insurance. Feel free to play around with http://www.brutto-netto-rechner.info which is of course not 100% accurate but pretty good for estimation.

That being said, 3.2k is a good salary in Germany, and housing in Berlin is not as expensive as in Hamburg or Munich, 1000€ will get you a spacious flat for 1 person, utilities included. Food is cheap in Germany, if you can cook a few hounded € per month are enough.

My guess would be that if you have a decent lifestyle, find a not too pricey flat, you can save between around 1000€ per month.

Re: Ask HN: Should I move to Berlin?

#24

Post by dmitrij »

- after tax, social security and mandatory health insurance, you will keep around 50% of your gross income

- apartment will be around € 600-700 now (1-2 rooms in a "hip", central location like Kreuzberg, Friedrichshain, Neukölln)

- it's a quite multicultural city, with lot's interesting live styles and culture

- it's a democratic, stable country with a generally functioning law and state

- the weather is cold and rainy especially from November to May

- it's way up north, so less light in winter, more in summer

I would prefer Berlin to Dubai, but I am a Berliner, so ...

Re: Ask HN: Should I move to Berlin?

#25

Post by nik736 »

narmak wrote: post #13
darklajid wrote: post #7

German here, living abroad. - 5k/month -> 60k/year sounds reasonable in general. You might be able to get more, but honestly I don't think that's a bad salary for programming position. Tax sounds about right. - 24 days of leave seems on the low side of things. I'd expect 28-30 OR more pay. I had 30 in Germany. - 1500 for the relocation seems low as well. What are you supposed to pay for with that? Flight is covered b…

- Permanent residency in Germany after 3 years (what I have heard, if I learn German or 5 if not) - The tech scene, lots of meetups and exposure - Lots of big companies and startups to name a few.

Have you actually been to Berlin or Germany in general before? Do you like it? Or is it because Merkel welcomes every foreigner currently... There are other cities in Europe that have a better tech scene compared to Berlin.

Re: Ask HN: Should I move to Berlin?

#26

Post by viraptor »

Two things to consider is that: if you're planning to move for to Germany long-term, you could aim for citizenship in a few years giving you easy EU access (+ many other countries). On the other hand, Germany is one of the annoying countries which don't do dual citizenships - you could be forced to drop the Pakistani one. (not the case for the UK, for example)

> - 24 holidays per year

This is the minimum you have to get for full-time employment in Germany. In many companies you can negotiate more. (worth noting for the future)

I don't know much about Dubai, but from what I understand you'd also have much more to do in Germany. Easier travel to interesting places as well, since you can't throw a rock around there without hitting something historic.

Re: Ask HN: Should I move to Berlin?

#27

Post by kamyarg »

narmak wrote: post #13
darklajid wrote: post #7

German here, living abroad. - 5k/month -> 60k/year sounds reasonable in general. You might be able to get more, but honestly I don't think that's a bad salary for programming position. Tax sounds about right. - 24 days of leave seems on the low side of things. I'd expect 28-30 OR more pay. I had 30 in Germany. - 1500 for the relocation seems low as well. What are you supposed to pay for with that? Flight is covered b…

- Permanent residency in Germany after 3 years (what I have heard, if I learn German or 5 if not) - The tech scene, lots of meetups and exposure - Lots of big companies and startups to name a few.

it is know as blue card(Skilled Worker).

21 months + good german -> PR

33 months + a bit of german -> PR

Re: Ask HN: Should I move to Berlin?

#29

Post by haidrali »

I was exactly in the same situation 2 years back and instead of Dubai I was in Lahore, Pakistan. I got offer from Berlin and I was offered I believe 4500 Euros/month and I posted on Hacker News too look at that thread https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10602867 ( Ask HN: Full Stack developer offer from Berlin )

I didn't move to Berlin and my reasons were little different. If I were to suggest you I would say move to Berlin and the strongest point is you can get National there with in 3 to 4 years. second strong point is Berlin is turning into European Tech Hub exposure you can get while living Berlin you can't get in Dubai.

Go to Berlin ;)

Re: Ask HN: Should I move to Berlin?

#30

Post by beberlei »

janprill wrote: post #18
madhur_ahuja wrote: post #12

Does Berlin give you permanent residency ?

As a well earning IT professional you should be able to apply for the so called blue card. http://www.bluecard-eu.de/

bluecard is a very easy way to permanent residency in 1-2 years, but only if you studied in Germany or Europe.
Post reply on HN