Crazy to consider moving to Europe?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did it. No regrets. Don’t plan to come back. We love it.

Where do you live?

[Anonymous]

Sanest idea I’ve read in awhile on this forum.

[Anonymous]

Stockholm has got to be one of if not THE best city in the world to raise children. It is so safe and beautiful and family friendly. And everyone speaks English, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DH works for a Swedish company and could basically put in to relocate to Stockholm, London, or Berlin at any point. Our kids are currently 5 and 2 years old. We've been throwing around the idea of moving to the EU since DH would already have a job, I own a small business and could easily work from anywhere, and the kids are not yet really established in the school district or with friends/activities. One major perk we discussed is if we stayed 5+ years and became dual citizens, the kids could go to college anywhere in the EU. Also, we're attracted to the work-life balance, opportunity to travel, healthcare, childcare available. If my DH moved to the European side of the company, he would get August off every year on top of his regular generous PTO. We do currently live within 15 mins of all the grandparents which would be a big change, but DH's parents are in the process of building their retirement home a few hours away. The kids don't have any cousins yet (Dh and I are both the oldest in our families).

Any thoughts or experiences?

I don't think you will necessarily be given citizenship after 5 years, and being an EU citizen doesn't give you the right to college in any EU country. Do you speak German or Swedish? It's no picnic to pick up a new language at your age. Would these countries give you a work visa?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is it really just that easy to get citizenship in 5 years?

No

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, they were wildly more rational than the US during COVID. Two year olds in Europe in 2021 are ten-fold ahead of American 4 year olds today.

What does that mean?

[Anonymous]

It gets complicated when you think about retirement savings, 401k and 529s. I would think about the opportunity cost of 5 years of lost retirement income, especially if you are young and lose that time for it to compound.

[Anonymous]

Lived in Western Europe for an expat assignment. I’d do it again in a heartbeat. Miss it every day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DH works for a Swedish company and could basically put in to relocate to Stockholm, London, or Berlin at any point.

I think that this is really like deciding whether to move to San Antonio.

Moving there might be a lot of good, practical fun but probably won’t be drastically better or worse, on average, than moving to some other nice place in the United States.

If you have good health benefits here, for example, you might find that the health benefits are actually skimpier in Europe.

If you have young children heading into good public schools here, you might find that the schools in a country like Sweden are fine but not really that exciting.

Knowing you can send your children to college at a very low cost is wonderful, however.

Because, for you, Sweden and the rest of the EU will seem exotic, simply being there and figuring out how a grocery store works will be an adventure.

In the long run, however, wherever you go, there you are.

Sweden will be better in some ways than here and worse in others. The people will be about as good, bad, educated and ignorant as they are here.

If life is depressing here, eventually it will be depressing in a similar way there, but in Swedish.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, they were wildly more rational than the US during COVID. Two year olds in Europe in 2021 are ten-fold ahead of American 4 year olds today.

Maybe they think they are, but they aren’t. The main thing they have over us is a little extra math and skill with languages, but one sign of how little of the extra math sticks is their inability to calculate tips.

[Anonymous]

For a few years, it could be a good adventure. Long term, a harder call. I think one issue to think about is where you want your kids to live when they grow up. Salaries are much lower, and if you go, you may not be able to afford to buy back in the US. Do you want to raise American or European kids? Where do you want your own kids to raise their kids, and do you want to help them?

[Anonymous]

Our plan is to go if DC is admitted into a college abroad (2.5 years out) - looking at schools in UK, EU and AUS.

[Anonymous]

Doesn’t Sweden have like 6 hours of daylight in the winter?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Check the rules about university tuition for UK. Even if you are a citizen, I think you have to be living there for some number of years immediately preceding applying to university to get the lesser tuition.

This is true.

I’d move to London. I lived there for two years and loved it. The darkness in winter is hard tho.

London is very diverse so it’s easier to feel like you belong in the city than in many other places. I loved studying abroad in Italy for example it always felt like an “other”.

[Anonymous]

We did 6 years in Northern Italy and I want to go back every, single, day. I just loved it. My kids loved it. There were plenty of frustrations and annoyances but it was worth it. That said, I have traveled to London, Berlin and Sweden but have no idea what it’s like to live there. If you go, you must be very open minded and let go of your expectations for lots of things.