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Europe is great. I have several friends who've made this move. I'd say that they have a higher and more relaxed quality of life at a much lower salary than I kn
by bane 10y ago
Europe is great. I have several friends who've made this move. I'd say that they have a higher and more relaxed quality of life at a much lower salary than I know of in the U.S. Salaries are lower, taxes are higher, but I think it balances out well.
One thing I've noticed is that if you're willing to live a bit outside of a major city and along a commuter rail line (a commute not extraordinary by U.S. standards but seemingly insane by European), housing costs can be much much lower.
With a few exceptions, the kind of tech work will likely be more prosaic in nature. The kind of big startup scene you might find in SV or other places in the U.S. does exist in Europe, but not at anywhere near the scale or with the kind of capital availability that's present in the U.S. On the upside, the work tends to be very stable.
Long-term, you'll have to think about retirement and either make a decision to stay or return and start saving up. If you come back to the U.S., the system is designed to offer you a reasonable retirement, but only after decades of saving. You may not think that's important at 26, but you'll likely start to feel it at 36. If you stay in Europe, you'll need to figure out the local retirement system and how that work.
If you pull that trigger and stay in Europe, you'll probably want to look at giving up your U.S. citizenship because you'll be obligated to pay taxes the entire time you're in Europe (there's some deductions, but you'll still have to do all the paperwork).
- kbouck 10y ago> pension If you move to Europe, build up a pension, and then move back to the U.S., you should be able extract the money from that pension (according to the conditions), regardless of where you reside in there future. > taxes You are obliged to report all of your foreign earnings to the IRS as well as all of your foreign bank account status each year. You are taxed on your income both in the local country and in the US :-/, but the US amount is only on income above a certain threshold. Maybe someone can correct me but I think the current amount is somewhere around $90k USD. Like my parent poster said, there are deductions, so find a good tax adviser that is familiar with both local and US tax laws.
- afarrell 10y agoYou can ether use the foreign earned income exclusion (which I think has risen to closer to 100k) or the foreign tax credit. You also want to take extensions so that you can qualify as a nonresident, or you will pay the ACA penalty for not having health insurance.
- toomuchtodo 10y agoIf you live outside of the US for 330 days a year, you're considered exempt from ACA coverage requirements.
- afarrell 10y agoI think there is also something where you can take an extension in order to hit the 330 day mark if you move in the middle of the year?
- toomuchtodo 10y agoIf such a loophole exists I'm unaware of it, but I would love to be proven wrong if someone has a link or citation they can respond with.
- kgwgk 10y agoMaybe this is included in your "according to the conditions" qualification, but for example in some EU countries you have to contribute to the state pension scheme for more than 15 years to be entitled to anyhing (if you make contributions in multiple EU countries they are also considered, but the rules are not exactly simple).
- Bombthecat 10y agoAs far as I know Germany and us have a double tax prevention agreement. So you only pay taxes in Germany. But I'm not sure.
- jasoncartwright 10y ago> One thing I've noticed is that if you're willing to live a bit outside of a major city and along a commuter rail line (a commute not extraordinary by U.S. standards but seemingly insane by European), housing costs can be much much lower. YMMV, IMHO etc, but living too close to the middle of cities is the biggest mistake I see people from who move to the UK make. Yes, you get a shorter commute and a great social life, but the crazy cost (esp. in London) doesn't justify it - and these people often end up moving further out.
- afarrell 10y agoIt depends on if you are okay with living with flat mates. My wife and I considered living farther out, but that increases cost of transport and the length of time in transit.
- jasoncartwright 10y agoThat's very true. Flat shares are often a lot of fun with the right people.
- stuaxo 10y agoThere's no point in living really far out in London. You get none Of The advantages and all the disadvantages, you may as well live in a smaller town when you can walk everywhere and the commute to London is about the same as living on the outer fringes.