10 ms·

I wouldn't move to US for $140k from my £40k salary in the UK unless they point a gun at my face and force me to do it. So to each their own I guess.

handbanana 8y ago
Why’s that?
- bepotts 8y ago
  People on the internet love to exaggerate how bad living in the US is. The US is a big country and there's plenty of places that most people wouldn't like to live (every country has locations like this), but if you're a tech worker, there's no place better in the world to live than in the US. You don't have to live in the Bay Area, you can live in Seattle, New York City, Boston, Los Angeles, or Atlanta. Don't like the city? Okay, there's plenty of affordable suburbs to live in all over the country. Plus your cost of healthcare will either be free or heavily subsidized, taxes will be lower, you'll be making more money, and the opportunities for career advancement, VC funding (if you want to go the startup route), and opportunities to network will be much greater here. America is an amazing place to live, whether the internet wants to believe it or not.
  - fooker 8y ago
    America is an amazing place to live if you do not have to be stuck in the same place for decades waiting for a green card.
    - 6ak74rfy 8y ago
      This. The visa scene is US is fickle and very unfriendly even for folks in high tech companies. For instance, the Green Card process is same for a software developer (no matter what company she is in) and a taxi driver. Of course, I don't have anything against taxi drivers, but I do believe education and professional qualifications should play some role in the Green Card process.
    - riyadparvez 8y ago
      I think you have better chance getting a green card if you're an illegal immigrant than if you're on H1-B.
      - swebs 8y ago
        Lol, that's because H1-B is a temporary work visa, not an immigration visa.
        fooker 8y ago
        H1B is a dual intent visa, explicitly allowing you immigrate.
        distant_hat 8y ago
        H1-B is dual intent.
      - fooker 8y ago
        Yep, sneak in (or overstay), marry an US citizen. Alternatively, create a media sob story and you're golden.
- swarnie_ 8y ago
  My guess would be healthcare costs, bay area living costs or the dice you you have to pass every time you encounter a police offer.
  - cafard 8y ago
    "the dice you have to [roll] every time you encounter a police [officer]"? Are engineers recruited from Cambridge of the sort that particularly attract the attention of the police?
    - scatters 8y ago
      22% in the latest admissions cycle (though that's across undergraduates as a whole, not engineers specifically).
  - handbanana 8y ago
    People are down voting because of the dice roll part. But it's not that far off reality when compared with other western nations
    - swarnie_ 8y ago
      I'm not overly concerned, this forum is extremely USA-centric. Across the entire UK there were only 4 police shootings in to 2016 and only 2 total in all of 2012-2014. I'm willing to bet America has 4 yesterday (even adjusting for proportion populations)
      - handbanana 8y ago
        Well, UK officers don't carry guns as much as US officers do. UK officers also don't have to worry about guns as much. However, the lack of centralization of the US system and culture/mindset of the US officers (as a whole) are the main problems IMO
pentae 8y ago
Except you would't need to, they have local offices.
6ak74rfy 8y ago
I am thinking about moving from US to London. So, I am curious to know why you prefer UK to US despite the salary gap. Also, do you know how does their healthcare compare?
- hacker_9 8y ago
  For one, our healthcare is free. Though many companies still provide private healthcare as a benefit. Personally I agree with OP, I wouldn't want to live in the US either. Mainly because capitalism has been taken to an ugly extreme and you might get paid more but you also work more etc. Not to mention the tax and tips culture. Of course there are problems here too; it rains a lot more, and every conversation that goes on long enough always ends up as some sort of brexit complaint ...
  - sjm-lbm 8y ago
    > every conversation that goes on long enough always ends up as some sort of brexit complaint To be fair, we definitely have a problem with normal/non-political conversations suddenly turning political as well. It's even a problem that started in 2016, too :/.
  - walshemj 8y ago
    Private health care in the UK is a scam just gives you an extra tax bill for no real advantage
  - fgrep 8y ago
    The major disadvantage of the UK is: Shoebox "houses". Or what we call them houses. So its raining a lot outside, but we also do not feel comfortable inside, at home, because it is ridiculously small and normally very old. bad weather and cage-homes, deeply depressing combination. Th main advantage of the US: Big homes (if you choose not to live in SF or NYC) and good weather.
- justsomedude43 8y ago
  "I am thinking about moving from US to London. So, I am curious to know why you prefer UK to US despite the salary gap." Because it's not all about the money. People make mistake by comparing salaries on their own which is not correct, you need to compare what's left of your salary after you've afforded the same level of lifestyle. You might look at $140k as a lot of money and £40k as very little money but you need to put that into perspective. My salary comes with tax deducted and you have to pay someone to do your taxes for you. That's the first difference and it's quite vocal. I don't mind and honestly prefer to have 40-50% tax taken away from my salary to enjoy certain social benefits which you would need to pay extra for and there are some things that just aren't in the US, like pension. You don't have pension, you have 401k which is a voluntary savings account basically. Besides the state pension that I will get once I retire (and will continue to receive as long as I'm alive), I also get 5% of my gross salary taken away every month and my employer tops it off with another 5%. If nothing else, at least I'm set when I retire and I don't have to worry if I'll have enough money until the day I die after retirement. Some countries in Europe, much like the one I come from, have half smaller salaries than the UK and I would still take £20k salary over $140k in US because you can't put a price on a 5min commute to work and letting your children play outside without supervision, going for a walk at 11pm without having to worry that something might happen to you, not having ghettos or "bad areas" in your city, being able to go to a hospital and have a surgery without paying anything, sending your kids to university without paying anything... like I said, to each their own. If you only look at money itself and nothing else then yes, $140k in US is much better.

handbanana 8y ago

Why’s that?

bepotts 8y ago
People on the internet love to exaggerate how bad living in the US is. The US is a big country and there's plenty of places that most people wouldn't like to live (every country has locations like this), but if you're a tech worker, there's no place better in the world to live than in the US. You don't have to live in the Bay Area, you can live in Seattle, New York City, Boston, Los Angeles, or Atlanta. Don't like the city? Okay, there's plenty of affordable suburbs to live in all over the country. Plus your cost of healthcare will either be free or heavily subsidized, taxes will be lower, you'll be making more money, and the opportunities for career advancement, VC funding (if you want to go the startup route), and opportunities to network will be much greater here. America is an amazing place to live, whether the internet wants to believe it or not.
- fooker 8y ago
  America is an amazing place to live if you do not have to be stuck in the same place for decades waiting for a green card.
  - 6ak74rfy 8y ago
    This. The visa scene is US is fickle and very unfriendly even for folks in high tech companies. For instance, the Green Card process is same for a software developer (no matter what company she is in) and a taxi driver. Of course, I don't have anything against taxi drivers, but I do believe education and professional qualifications should play some role in the Green Card process.
  - riyadparvez 8y ago
    I think you have better chance getting a green card if you're an illegal immigrant than if you're on H1-B.
    - swebs 8y ago
      Lol, that's because H1-B is a temporary work visa, not an immigration visa.
      - fooker 8y ago
        H1B is a dual intent visa, explicitly allowing you immigrate.
      - distant_hat 8y ago
        H1-B is dual intent.
    - fooker 8y ago
      Yep, sneak in (or overstay), marry an US citizen. Alternatively, create a media sob story and you're golden.
swarnie_ 8y ago
My guess would be healthcare costs, bay area living costs or the dice you you have to pass every time you encounter a police offer.
- cafard 8y ago
  "the dice you have to [roll] every time you encounter a police [officer]"? Are engineers recruited from Cambridge of the sort that particularly attract the attention of the police?
  - scatters 8y ago
    22% in the latest admissions cycle (though that's across undergraduates as a whole, not engineers specifically).
- handbanana 8y ago
  People are down voting because of the dice roll part. But it's not that far off reality when compared with other western nations
  - swarnie_ 8y ago
    I'm not overly concerned, this forum is extremely USA-centric. Across the entire UK there were only 4 police shootings in to 2016 and only 2 total in all of 2012-2014. I'm willing to bet America has 4 yesterday (even adjusting for proportion populations)
    - handbanana 8y ago
      Well, UK officers don't carry guns as much as US officers do. UK officers also don't have to worry about guns as much. However, the lack of centralization of the US system and culture/mindset of the US officers (as a whole) are the main problems IMO

pentae 8y ago

Except you would't need to, they have local offices.

6ak74rfy 8y ago

I am thinking about moving from US to London. So, I am curious to know why you prefer UK to US despite the salary gap. Also, do you know how does their healthcare compare?

hacker_9 8y ago
For one, our healthcare is free. Though many companies still provide private healthcare as a benefit. Personally I agree with OP, I wouldn't want to live in the US either. Mainly because capitalism has been taken to an ugly extreme and you might get paid more but you also work more etc. Not to mention the tax and tips culture. Of course there are problems here too; it rains a lot more, and every conversation that goes on long enough always ends up as some sort of brexit complaint ...
- sjm-lbm 8y ago
  > every conversation that goes on long enough always ends up as some sort of brexit complaint To be fair, we definitely have a problem with normal/non-political conversations suddenly turning political as well. It's even a problem that started in 2016, too :/.
- walshemj 8y ago
  Private health care in the UK is a scam just gives you an extra tax bill for no real advantage
- fgrep 8y ago
  The major disadvantage of the UK is: Shoebox "houses". Or what we call them houses. So its raining a lot outside, but we also do not feel comfortable inside, at home, because it is ridiculously small and normally very old. bad weather and cage-homes, deeply depressing combination. Th main advantage of the US: Big homes (if you choose not to live in SF or NYC) and good weather.
justsomedude43 8y ago
"I am thinking about moving from US to London. So, I am curious to know why you prefer UK to US despite the salary gap." Because it's not all about the money. People make mistake by comparing salaries on their own which is not correct, you need to compare what's left of your salary after you've afforded the same level of lifestyle. You might look at $140k as a lot of money and £40k as very little money but you need to put that into perspective. My salary comes with tax deducted and you have to pay someone to do your taxes for you. That's the first difference and it's quite vocal. I don't mind and honestly prefer to have 40-50% tax taken away from my salary to enjoy certain social benefits which you would need to pay extra for and there are some things that just aren't in the US, like pension. You don't have pension, you have 401k which is a voluntary savings account basically. Besides the state pension that I will get once I retire (and will continue to receive as long as I'm alive), I also get 5% of my gross salary taken away every month and my employer tops it off with another 5%. If nothing else, at least I'm set when I retire and I don't have to worry if I'll have enough money until the day I die after retirement. Some countries in Europe, much like the one I come from, have half smaller salaries than the UK and I would still take £20k salary over $140k in US because you can't put a price on a 5min commute to work and letting your children play outside without supervision, going for a walk at 11pm without having to worry that something might happen to you, not having ghettos or "bad areas" in your city, being able to go to a hospital and have a surgery without paying anything, sending your kids to university without paying anything... like I said, to each their own. If you only look at money itself and nothing else then yes, $140k in US is much better.