5 ms·

"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.

"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.

maccard 8y ago
I agree with your sentiment but - > you can't put a price on a 5min commute to work and letting your children play outside That's very achieveable in parts of the US, and unachieveable in parts of the UK. > having ghettos or "bad areas" in your city Not exclusive to the US by any means. Plenty of nice cities in the UK have ghetto/bad areas. > sending your kids to university without paying anything If you live in England, this is definitely not applicable. Based on [0] (no idea how reputable the source is, but the first I could find) The average student loan debt is just shy of £35k. Anyone who borrowed for university from 2012 or later is paying 3% + RPI interest on their loans - That's fairly substantial. [0] https://www.statista.com/statistics/376423/student-loans-england-average-debt-on-entry-to-repayment-timeline/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/376423/student-loans-eng...
- deleted 8y ago
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- hacker_9 8y ago
  Yeah traffic can still be bad in the UK, but ghetto wise the US have it worse because of their gun laws (and seen from the murder rate). Also student loans are paid for by the UK government, and you only have to pay it off after graduating, and even then it's basically a small percentage of your earnings. Also after 25 years they write off the debt anyway.
  - maccard 8y ago
    I wasn't actually talking about traffic, I was purely talking affordability. e.g. You can live in nice areas around Leamington-Spa with 5-15 minute commutes in light traffic, with huge amounts of green space for kids, or you could live in Zone 4 and have to commute to the City every day. Similarly in the US, you could commute to Mountain view, and live in a city condo, or you could live in Raleigh, NC and work for SAS/Red Hat, and live in a wonderful outdoor area 10 minutes away. Sure, the worst areas in the US are worse than the worst areas in the UK, but that doesn't mean that the worst areas in the uk don't suck. You said you couldn't put a price on not having ghettos, not that the ghettos in the UK are better than the US equivalent. Besides, being on HN, the majority of us aren't going to be living in the Missions or Paisley. > Also student loans are paid for by the UK government, and you only have to pay it off after graduating, and even then it's basically a small percentage of your earnings. Right, but you still have to take out a 35k loan, and pay 9% of your earnings for 25 Years, or until it's paid off. That definitely doesn't sound like having to pay nothing to me.
    - lflffl1lfl1lfl 8y ago
      > Right, but you still have to take out a 35k loan, and pay 9% of your earnings for 25 Years, or until it's paid off. That definitely doesn't sound like having to pay nothing to me. The student loan really isn't that big of a big deal, because it's 9% of your salary OVER £25,000. So at the moment on £27k, I pay about £15 a month. If I stop going to work or earn less than £25k then I won't have to pay anything back (unlike normal loans). Ideally the tuition fees would be free like in Scotland, but the English loans aren't as big of a deal as you're making them out to be. The student loans also include money for living costs (if desired), some of which is free (and doesn't have to be paid back) depending on household income. We also pay year by year, so we wouldn't have to commit to £35k straight off the bat, just £9k per year. So if you decide to drop out after first year, you'd be in £9k of debt (or slightly more if you took out extra money for living costs). Source: https://www.gov.uk/repaying-your-student-loan/what-you-pay https://www.gov.uk/repaying-your-student-loan/what-you-pay
bytematic 8y ago
This is always the argument from Europe which makes America seem like some hellhole existence.

maccard 8y ago

I agree with your sentiment but - > you can't put a price on a 5min commute to work and letting your children play outside That's very achieveable in parts of the US, and unachieveable in parts of the UK. > having ghettos or "bad areas" in your city Not exclusive to the US by any means. Plenty of nice cities in the UK have ghetto/bad areas. > sending your kids to university without paying anything If you live in England, this is definitely not applicable. Based on [0] (no idea how reputable the source is, but the first I could find) The average student loan debt is just shy of £35k. Anyone who borrowed for university from 2012 or later is paying 3% + RPI interest on their loans - That's fairly substantial. [0] https://www.statista.com/statistics/376423/student-loans-england-average-debt-on-entry-to-repayment-timeline/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/376423/student-loans-eng...

deleted 8y ago
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hacker_9 8y ago
Yeah traffic can still be bad in the UK, but ghetto wise the US have it worse because of their gun laws (and seen from the murder rate). Also student loans are paid for by the UK government, and you only have to pay it off after graduating, and even then it's basically a small percentage of your earnings. Also after 25 years they write off the debt anyway.
- maccard 8y ago
  I wasn't actually talking about traffic, I was purely talking affordability. e.g. You can live in nice areas around Leamington-Spa with 5-15 minute commutes in light traffic, with huge amounts of green space for kids, or you could live in Zone 4 and have to commute to the City every day. Similarly in the US, you could commute to Mountain view, and live in a city condo, or you could live in Raleigh, NC and work for SAS/Red Hat, and live in a wonderful outdoor area 10 minutes away. Sure, the worst areas in the US are worse than the worst areas in the UK, but that doesn't mean that the worst areas in the uk don't suck. You said you couldn't put a price on not having ghettos, not that the ghettos in the UK are better than the US equivalent. Besides, being on HN, the majority of us aren't going to be living in the Missions or Paisley. > Also student loans are paid for by the UK government, and you only have to pay it off after graduating, and even then it's basically a small percentage of your earnings. Right, but you still have to take out a 35k loan, and pay 9% of your earnings for 25 Years, or until it's paid off. That definitely doesn't sound like having to pay nothing to me.
  - lflffl1lfl1lfl 8y ago
    > Right, but you still have to take out a 35k loan, and pay 9% of your earnings for 25 Years, or until it's paid off. That definitely doesn't sound like having to pay nothing to me. The student loan really isn't that big of a big deal, because it's 9% of your salary OVER £25,000. So at the moment on £27k, I pay about £15 a month. If I stop going to work or earn less than £25k then I won't have to pay anything back (unlike normal loans). Ideally the tuition fees would be free like in Scotland, but the English loans aren't as big of a deal as you're making them out to be. The student loans also include money for living costs (if desired), some of which is free (and doesn't have to be paid back) depending on household income. We also pay year by year, so we wouldn't have to commit to £35k straight off the bat, just £9k per year. So if you decide to drop out after first year, you'd be in £9k of debt (or slightly more if you took out extra money for living costs). Source: https://www.gov.uk/repaying-your-student-loan/what-you-pay https://www.gov.uk/repaying-your-student-loan/what-you-pay

bytematic 8y ago

This is always the argument from Europe which makes America seem like some hellhole existence.