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You have options – Why we left the U.S. and moved back to Europe

sam-the-man.com

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Re: You have options – Why we left the U.S. and moved back to Europe

#111

Post by toasterlovin »

pmoriarty wrote: post #38

I love to travel, meet other people, experience different cultures, and widen my horizons. For those reasons alone, I'd definitely advocate at least doing a lot of traveling to lots of different countries, and (if possible) trying to live in those countries you like best. That said, I've found that living in other countries does have its down sides. The one that's bothered me most is being treated like a second-class…

Interestingly, I see a lot of parallels between the feelings you have described and how people who are opposed to immigration describe their position. Basically, they want the place they call home to remain the way it is, because it’s comfortable and they’re worried that mass immigration will change that (or has already changed that).

Re: You have options – Why we left the U.S. and moved back to Europe

#112

Post by throwaway84742 »

Bombthecat wrote: post #79
ilovecars2 wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, he is making 3x now, but there are a lot of people in the U.S who do not have healthcare or fall into real debt financing it. On a side note, the NHS crisis worries me a lot, but I’m thinking it must be better than no public health care at all, right?

You make three times.. until you don't.a big accident,six months out of job? Never heard working out in America. In Germany no problem...

You make it sound like Germany doesn’t have poor people. That is most certainly not the case. In fact if you consider percentages, more Germans than Americans live below poverty level.

Re: You have options – Why we left the U.S. and moved back to Europe

#114

Post by toasterlovin »

innocentoldguy wrote: post #32
SirLJ wrote: post #15

The only problem with the US is that you have to report to IRS even if you live and work in some other place...

I'm currently in the process of moving out of the U.S. to Japan. I'm considering ditching my U.S. citizenship for this reason.

FWIW, I would much rather be in the US than Japan if China becomes aggressive. Keep your options open. History is long. Pax Americana may be coming to an end.

Re: You have options – Why we left the U.S. and moved back to Europe

#115

Post by toasterlovin »

knuththetruth wrote: post #7

I’ve thought this for a long time, but the insanity of the US healthcare system makes is such that it erases the wage differences between here and countries with national healthcare systems for a huge percentage of the population long term. You’re essentially gambling that you won’t be struck by a finance destroying health crisis for a long enough time that you’ll come out ahead overall. But when you think about the…

I dunno, whenever I see European or Canadian software engineering salaries mentioned, I do some quick math and it seems like I come out way ahead, even if I were to pay my family’s out of pocket maximum every year.

Re: You have options – Why we left the U.S. and moved back to Europe

#116

Post by jacquesm »

hollerith wrote: post #106
jacquesm wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some countries are worse in this respect than others. I've lived in lots of different places, I've never really felt much of an outsider because (1) I try hard to learn as much of the local language that I can, (2) I try to connect to the locals rather than to my fellow country men and (3) I try really hard to be nice to people and help where I can. Having some skills will make this much quicker. Even so, there are d…

>And moving back here was a mixed bag "here" meaning the Netherlands; is that not so?

Yep.

Re: You have options – Why we left the U.S. and moved back to Europe

#117

Post by toasterlovin »

I know we’re not anywhere near this being a pressing concern, but Pax Americana is coming to an end and I think there’s something to be said for America’s physical location on the globe and relationship with it’s two neighbors. There have been lots of conflagrations in Europe in the time since the American civil war 150 years ago, but there have been essentially none in America. Meanwhile, the raw ingredients of the terrors of the 20th century still exist in Europe.

Re: You have options – Why we left the U.S. and moved back to Europe

#118

Post by njwi332 »

Sir_Substance wrote: post #11

I move from Australia to Iceland. Icelanders always go "what the hell man? why would you do that?" when they find out. It's complicated. Broadly speaking, it's an even split between: 1. Icelands software industry being considerably more vibrant than Australias, which is really sad for Aus. 2. Australias government increasingly intervening directly in it's citizens lives whether they like it or not. The Icelandic gove…

I can't offer any direct comparison with Iceland, but the software scene in Australia has been improving rapidly the last couple of years - particularly with US visa laws making it worse for immigrants wanting to move there.

To offer some data for Sydney, Google has of course been around a while, Google Maps is based out of Australia. Atlassian is hiring as much as ever. Amazon has been growing at a rapid clip here in Sydney (I wish I could disclose numbers publicly!) and we have offices in Melbourne and Brisbane, and Microsoft is in the process of opening a dev centre in Sydney right now as well. Still a long ways to go but it's much better than even a few years ago.

Re: You have options – Why we left the U.S. and moved back to Europe

#119

Post by ThrustVectoring »

fwdpropaganda wrote: post #48
throwaway84742 wrote: post #40

People tend to be irrational about things and this is a good illustration. As broken and expensive as US healthcare is, you’re making 3x the money here, and out of pocket maximums do kick in eventually. And the US is not the top country by far, even among developed ones, in number of mass murder victims per 100000 population. You’re vastly more likely to drown in your backyard pool than be a victim of a mass shooting…

> As broken and expensive as US healthcare is, you’re making 3x the money here It's not a matter of the expected values, it's a matter of their distribution. The fact that you're making 3x as much doesn't change the fact that if you're unlucky for whatever reason you'll be in debt for the rest of your life.

No you won't. Bankruptcy is a thing. You have a put option to pay for medical care at the price of "all your non-creditor-protected assets". If you're in a reasonable place like Texas and you're maxing out IRA/401k and paying down your mortgage on your primary residence, you're going to be fine financially as long as you can either work or have good disability insurance.

Re: You have options – Why we left the U.S. and moved back to Europe

#120

Post by anothergoogler »

toasterlovin wrote: post #117

I know we’re not anywhere near this being a pressing concern, but Pax Americana is coming to an end and I think there’s something to be said for America’s physical location on the globe and relationship with it’s two neighbors. There have been lots of conflagrations in Europe in the time since the American civil war 150 years ago, but there have been essentially none in America. Meanwhile, the raw ingredients of the…

Pax Romana lasted 200 years. It's been 70 so far for Pax Americana. You seem certain that it's on the brink. Why is that?
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