Having kids or not will make a huge difference in that calculation. Childcare, excellent public schools, and college that cost a couple hundred Euros easily cos

Having kids or not will make a huge difference in that calculation. Childcare, excellent public schools, and college that cost a couple hundred Euros easily cost tens of thousands in the U.S. Also, internet & phones: I have friends who keep their French cell phone contract because even though used from the States it is still much cheaper than any local contract. Internet is mostly a monopoly in the U.S., resulting in easily 5x European prices at much worse performance and service.