Ask HN: Should I move to Berlin?

No, I think the 42% tax-rate is kind of a differential: i.e. any additional EUR you get is taxed by 42%, but the euros below 52,882 € are taxed by less.

Running the tax calculator here:

http://www.brutto-netto-rechner.info/

it says you get 3.275,61 € after tax for 5000 € / month.

However, that already covers all the insurance costs, health insurance, insurance against loss of employment and pension insurance.

And health insurance in germany is a "real" insurance that won't try to get rid of you in case you get severely ill (cancer etc.). Even includes compensatory payments in case you're unfit for work (although your employer may have the right to terminate you if there is no chance of you recovering)

Some negative sides that a bit ruined Berlin for me:

don't speak German? -> you'll receive bad service almost everywhere -> you won't get in to a lot of good clubs etc.

don't look like German? -> you'll get stares -> you'll be second rate / tourist / something

like drugs? like to party from 01AM to the afternoon of the next day? -> you'll love it

like sightseeing / going to the "best" places? -> everything's spread around a pretty big area -> you'll take the train / taxi / bus pretty often

like pretty buildings? -> in general, Berlin is ugly and crude. Except for the rich people areas and some places in downtown.

Partying two days without sleeping in the same club with a wide variety of substances is normal. There are weird sex club party thingies. There are ug techno parties with all kinds of debauchery. There are parks with more drug dealers than other people. Definitely not conservative, but somewhat xenophobic.

I used to have a similar background (single, no GF, no night life), Indian based in UAE.

I came to London as a developer about 14 years ago! Now married (an Indian), children here, British Citizen, etc. Travel to UAE almost every year en route to India, etc.

My advice: - You are the right age and no responsibility to explore the world, so that is worth considering.

- Also, think long term, you can't make moves everyday. Will you be happy if one thing leads to another and you live in Germany for the rest of your life with children, etc?

- I miss my extended family in the UAE but meet frequently as its much more common for people to fly around these days.

I think you will make like minded friends in Berlin and be happier. I also like to be alone but really I'm just not interested in what most people I meet are interested in (and vice versa).

Moved to Berlin 4 years ago as a software developer under similar conditions like yours.

Things I like: - Berlin is nice city to live in, cheap to transport (bike, shared bikes/cars, nice public transport)

- very cheap and good quality basic groceries - meat, dairies, pastry is really cheap with great basic quality and you can always go for organic and more expensive variants, cheap restaurants and bars, relatively inexpensive housing

- Berlin has decent flight connections around Europe + easily reachable Amsterdam, Prague, Copenhagen by car

- No crazy workaholic culture (nothing compared to the US), lot of holidays and taking a sick leave is easy and covered by law, 8 hours of work per day

- Nice engineering meetups and community

Things I dislike: - getting a decent apartment might be really difficult now days, even more difficult than getting a job

- Berlin is not so visually pleasing

- sometimes it's difficult if you dont speak german well

- winter is not so cold but very dark and grey