I can also give you a different calculation. 1. Working hours. I know people in Europe that have 35 or 37h per week guaranteed. 40 hours is normal in the US an

I can also give you a different calculation. 1. Working hours. I know people in Europe that have 35 or 37h per week guaranteed. 40 hours is normal in the US and most of the time you work much longer. 1 hour lunch break is obligatory. It is too long, I can not eat for one hour if I bring my own lunch. It is too short to go the the gym too. 2. Travel. Sometimes I had to travel a lot. You board the plane Friday evening, you are back home Saturday at 5pm and Monday you start again at 8:30 pm 3. Commuting. It is difficult to live close to work. Basically 1 hour commute each way is guaranteed. And while this is no time on my companies clock, it is on mine. So you easily get 60 hours a week. Depending where you live, you pay 30-50% taxes, 20% sales tax in Europe etc. If you move abroad and work from your laptop, the whole game can change. Working hours, commute, taxes, purchasing power...