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The inflation they're experiencing is not a sign of a collapsing economy. It's similar to other European countries right now. Also, 80k USD a year is a ton by E
by paddim8 3y ago
The inflation they're experiencing is not a sign of a collapsing economy. It's similar to other European countries right now. Also, 80k USD a year is a ton by European standards, so I'm not sure why you're using that as a point of comparison. Especially considering the employer pays significantly more (which goes to healthcare, pension, etc.) in practice. Iceland has some of the highest salaries in Western Europe.
- kristiandupont 3y ago>80k USD a year is a ton by European standards I can't speak to all of Europe but tech wages are significantly higher here in Denmark.
- emptysongglass 3y agoThat depends on if it's before or after tax. If after: 46k DKK out monthly is top of the line given our own crushing taxes. If before, yeah not good.
- jdmoreira 3y agoReally? Not in Sweden though. What do you think accounts for this difference?
- atdrummond 3y agoTax burden on Danish salaries is borne by employees post-tax rather than businesses. This tends to inflate net take home pay.
- thfuran 3y agoPost-tax taxes?
- atdrummond 3y agoJust remove that word - I failed to properly edit the sentence.
- 2000UltraDeluxe 3y agoThe social insurance (arbetsgivaravgift in Sweden IIRC) is paid by the employee. Apart from that, many compare the salaries in Copenhagen and Malmö, which is obviously unfair with Copenhagen being the national capital, while Malmö was a run-down hole the last time I was there. I assume tech wages in Stockholm are more comparable.
- paddim8 3y agoDenmark doesn't have employer taxes, unlike the rest of Europe, making salaries look much larger.
- gaadd33 3y agoIsn't Iceland significantly more expensive to live in than the majority of Europe? Not specifically housing cost but everything else.
- yownie 3y agoyes, small population plus remote location for shipping and no natural resources (besides fish) means we're much lower priority for imports and scale of imports.
- busterarm 3y ago> Also, 80k USD a year is a ton by European standards The rest of Europe doesn't have to import nearly as much food and at high tariffs. If it isn't fish, lamb, potatoes, some garden veg or oats, it's coming over on a boat. The price of a single lime at Bónus will make your eyes water.
- paddim8 3y agoFood is not a huge expense though. I spend 150€ a month in Sweden. Even if it was twice as expensive in Iceland, it wouldn't be too bad. They have a very high disposable income. And things like heating and electricity are basically free.
- Styrminator 3y agoIcelander here as well, I've worked in Norway, the UK and Germany. An 80k salary here buys you the lifestyle of a 50k salary in Berlin, the only reason I moved back is kids and grandparents.
- hef19898 3y agoWas that rent driven? Because Berlon is, still, considered cheap. Not everywhere and a lotnofnlocal are getting priced out since at least the early 2010s, but still cheap compared to places like Munich or Frankfurt.
- Styrminator 3y agoNo, I can't say it's rent driven per se as there are other factors but housing issues have gotten progressively worse last 20 years or so, same problem as everywhere else except that in our case it's amplified by having to structure an economy around the peculiarities of having world's second smallest independent currency in our wallets. That said, there definitely exist worse housing markets in the world, this is no Munich. Regarding the currency, that Iceland is expensive, is partly due to rules such as our pension funds not being allowed to invest but 20% of their fund outside the country, a rule designed to reduce the downward pressure on the local currency and create demand for it that would otherwise exist to a smaller degree as the long-term returns of local investments have been worse than the performance of the "foreign" portfolio. Mix such rules which create "artificial" demand, actual demand for the currency from tourism, indexed mortgages (a concept so unbelievable I've added a link at the bottom) driving up prices and you end up with a situation where economic problems are one of the few things that we don't have to import. https://www.islandsbanki.is/en/news/what-is-an-indexed-mortgage https://www.islandsbanki.is/en/news/what-is-an-indexed-mortg...
- AlbertCory 3y agoLet's see: you don't live there, but you're arguing with someone who did? Have you ever even been there?
- yoavm 3y agoHow is this relevant? Why does one need to live in Iceland (I have) to remind us that 80k USD a year is quite good in Europe, and that inflation isn't much worse than anywhere else?
- AlbertCory 3y agoIt is obviously relevant and I don't need to waste time explaining it. But you said you did live there, so never mind.
- mchaver 3y agoIt doesn't matter that they have not lived there, but they are not appropriately considering cost of living. Just because Iceland is in Europe and is a Nordic country does not mean it has the same economic situation as Sweden.
- AlbertCory 3y agoIndeed, and the government's "cost of living index" doesn't tell you what it really costs.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- paddim8 3y agoI live in another Nordic country that also has the same inflation rate as Iceland.
- yownie 3y agoBut probably not the same cost of living as here.
- dukeyukey 3y ago> Also, 80k USD a year is a ton by European standards I can't speak for Iceland, but for Western European tech workers 80k USD isn't massive. Like it's not bad, maybe an early-mid level developer?
- bobolino123 3y agoJuniors get 40-50k in Germany. Mid level 50-64k.
- api 3y agoWhy are tech salaries so low over there? I’m the US you will break $100-120k USD as a recent graduate even in parts of the South and the Midwest with lower cost of living.
- rchaud 3y agoCompare the cost of that degree in the US vs Germany. US tech salaries are also distorted due to VCs having more cash than they know what to do with, bidding up salaries to compete with FAANG.
- bobolino123 3y agoLack of companies who earn a lot or have a lot of cash / good business model. Currently open FAANG engineering positions are close to 0 (Still more than 600 positions in the US) and there are single digit "FAANG-like" companies here (hundreds in the US). I don't think that Germany will ever catch up tbh. There is no incentive. Once you earn a little more, the progressive tax rate is too high and eats everthing away. Less people pursue engineering in the first place, because net wages are so compressed. Also just look at real estate. Munich: - Median house price: USD 1’534’933 for ~1500 sqft - Median salary: USD 59k pre-tax. The pension system will break in the next decades. Actually it already is.. it is already heavily financed by other taxes. This country has other perks like more vacation days, but making bank is definitely not one of them tho. Many academics emigrate to Switzerland, USA, Netherland or Canada - me included.
- moralestapia 3y ago>80k USD a year is a ton by European standards It's good money but not a ton. Also, it's Iceland, COL is very high!