Anonymous wrote:Let's blow your mind further: We're Europeans who come from a country with universal, affordable and pretty decent healthcare, and we STILL want to live here for now. Just like all our international friends. We complain about the healthcare industry here and the lack of gun control, but the reality is...

... there's a lot more economic opportunity for us and our kids in this country. My husband was offered half of what he makes here, when he looked for a job in our capital city, which has a higher cost of living than the DC area! And the job was not exactly at the forefront of research - because it's only in certain parts of the world (NIH, certain Asian countries) that his pointy field actually exists.

The USA also has a lot more support for people who are outliers. Our eldest has special needs that would never have been accommodated in private or public schools back home and our youngest is gifted and needs acceleration. Our "wealthy" home country doesn't have the money for special programs - what they do is offer a good education to the average kid, but they don't have gifted or SN supports. Most of the world is decades behind on childhood development, psychiatric treatments, acceptance of disabilities in schools and the workplace, etc, compared to the USA. Not to mention, the USA has a lot more available meds than anywhere else in the world. They cost a fortune, but they exist. In our country, Adderall is illegal, and my thyroid medication is not manufactured or distributed.

That being said, cultural nostalgia and senior healthcare costs being what they are, we might retire in our home country, and leave the kids to work around the world as they please.

But I just want to point out that even for first world nationals like us, the USA has many attractions.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let's blow your mind further: We're Europeans who come from a country with universal, affordable and pretty decent healthcare, and we STILL want to live here for now. Just like all our international friends. We complain about the healthcare industry here and the lack of gun control, but the reality is...

... there's a lot more economic opportunity for us and our kids in this country. My husband was offered half of what he makes here, when he looked for a job in our capital city, which has a higher cost of living than the DC area! And the job was not exactly at the forefront of research - because it's only in certain parts of the world (NIH, certain Asian countries) that his pointy field actually exists.

The USA also has a lot more support for people who are outliers. Our eldest has special needs that would never have been accommodated in private or public schools back home and our youngest is gifted and needs acceleration. Our "wealthy" home country doesn't have the money for special programs - what they do is offer a good education to the average kid, but they don't have gifted or SN supports. Most of the world is decades behind on childhood development, psychiatric treatments, acceptance of disabilities in schools and the workplace, etc, compared to the USA. Not to mention, the USA has a lot more available meds than anywhere else in the world. They cost a fortune, but they exist. In our country, Adderall is illegal, and my thyroid medication is not manufactured or distributed.

That being said, cultural nostalgia and senior healthcare costs being what they are, we might retire in our home country, and leave the kids to work around the world as they please.

But I just want to point out that even for first world nationals like us, the USA has many attractions.

Kinda agree with this post. We are Indian and based on what I've seen, read, etc. the US is the least racist country in the world for a non-white person, and that includes all the non-white countries in the world. I know some of y'all won't agree but that's a different thread. It is also the country where one can make the most money (gross and after tax) for any given profession, especially white collar. We may also emigrate to India in retirement given better access to medical care and support infrastructure. The biggest challenges in the US are guns and lack of access to medical care. I know of a family where the doctor suspected colon cancer and prescribed a colonoscopy. The earliest they could get was 6 weeks later. They flew her to India, had the colonoscopy, found the cancer, did the surgery, recovered and back in 4 weeks! If those two issues are fixed, the US will be a true paradise. While we have the best insurance possible, it's a royal pain to schedule appointments, tests, follow ups, etc even as a young person. In India, I can see any specialist in town within a day or two and most are way, way more qualified (at least on paper) than the ones I normally see here.

Tl; DR - I stay here for the money and QOL as a young/middle aged person. In old age? TBD.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honest question.

Just got back after two months in South America (including some very dangerous areas), and didn’t see much crime.

Land in Newark, and witness a knife altercation outside Newark Penn station.

I just don’t understand why anyone stays in the us outside of the chance of economic opportunity.

But on a more serious note, a lot of dcum’ers have 5-10 net worths…why aren’t you guys buying your way out to San Sebastián or Bilbao or lake garda or lucca or strasbourg, nice, aix-en-Provence, tours, Innsbruck etc…just as examples.

….5-10 is more than enough to insulate yourself from the cost of living in nice European towns, partially retire and live off of an actively managed portfolio while consulting or doing odd stuff here or there for some pocket change if you want to.

Is it friends/family?

Before people accuse me of being a poor, I have a number of friends who make 1.5-2 a year, and I’m not that envious of their lives and they still have to deal with some of the same QoL stuff by virtue of living here. It’s not like their lives are magically in a bubble
where it’s suddenly a Swiss style living for them because of their income and wealth.

Maybe my one friend who exited to park city that makes around 3 a year is the only one that seems to have insulated himself well.

Great question but the most obvious answer is this: just move to safe and sane and cheap Florida. Which is what hundreds of thousands of people are doing every year, leaving blue states.

Moving abroad requires much more work.

Florida Man would disagree.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honest question.

Just got back after two months in South America (including some very dangerous areas), and didn’t see much crime.

Land in Newark, and witness a knife altercation outside Newark Penn station.

I just don’t understand why anyone stays in the us outside of the chance of economic opportunity.

But on a more serious note, a lot of dcum’ers have 5-10 net worths…why aren’t you guys buying your way out to San Sebastián or Bilbao or lake garda or lucca or strasbourg, nice, aix-en-Provence, tours, Innsbruck etc…just as examples.

….5-10 is more than enough to insulate yourself from the cost of living in nice European towns, partially retire and live off of an actively managed portfolio while consulting or doing odd stuff here or there for some pocket change if you want to.

Is it friends/family?

Before people accuse me of being a poor, I have a number of friends who make 1.5-2 a year, and I’m not that envious of their lives and they still have to deal with some of the same QoL stuff by virtue of living here. It’s not like their lives are magically in a bubble
where it’s suddenly a Swiss style living for them because of their income and wealth.

Maybe my one friend who exited to park city that makes around 3 a year is the only one that seems to have insulated himself well.

Great question but the most obvious answer is this: just move to safe and sane and cheap Florida. Which is what hundreds of thousands of people are doing every year, leaving blue states.

Moving abroad requires much more work.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let's blow your mind further: We're Europeans who come from a country with universal, affordable and pretty decent healthcare, and we STILL want to live here for now. Just like all our international friends. We complain about the healthcare industry here and the lack of gun control, but the reality is...

... there's a lot more economic opportunity for us and our kids in this country. My husband was offered half of what he makes here, when he looked for a job in our capital city, which has a higher cost of living than the DC area! And the job was not exactly at the forefront of research - because it's only in certain parts of the world (NIH, certain Asian countries) that his pointy field actually exists.

The USA also has a lot more support for people who are outliers. Our eldest has special needs that would never have been accommodated in private or public schools back home and our youngest is gifted and needs acceleration. Our "wealthy" home country doesn't have the money for special programs - what they do is offer a good education to the average kid, but they don't have gifted or SN supports. Most of the world is decades behind on childhood development, psychiatric treatments, acceptance of disabilities in schools and the workplace, etc, compared to the USA. Not to mention, the USA has a lot more available meds than anywhere else in the world. They cost a fortune, but they exist. In our country, Adderall is illegal, and my thyroid medication is not manufactured or distributed.

That being said, cultural nostalgia and senior healthcare costs being what they are, we might retire in our home country, and leave the kids to work around the world as they please.

But I just want to point out that even for first world nationals like us, the USA has many attractions.

So many Americans are clueless about how much lower salaries are for white collar workers in Europe. They think they have it worse off because they don’t have one year of parental leave at a max of around $500 a week that’s referred to as “fully paid leave.”

Anonymous wrote:Honest question.

Just got back after two months in South America (including some very dangerous areas), and didn’t see much crime.

Land in Newark, and witness a knife altercation outside Newark Penn station.

I just don’t understand why anyone stays in the us outside of the chance of economic opportunity.

But on a more serious note, a lot of dcum’ers have 5-10 net worths…why aren’t you guys buying your way out to San Sebastián or Bilbao or lake garda or lucca or strasbourg, nice, aix-en-Provence, tours, Innsbruck etc…just as examples.

….5-10 is more than enough to insulate yourself from the cost of living in nice European towns, partially retire and live off of an actively managed portfolio while consulting or doing odd stuff here or there for some pocket change if you want to.

Is it friends/family?

Before people accuse me of being a poor, I have a number of friends who make 1.5-2 a year, and I’m not that envious of their lives and they still have to deal with some of the same QoL stuff by virtue of living here. It’s not like their lives are magically in a bubble
where it’s suddenly a Swiss style living for them because of their income and wealth.

Maybe my one friend who exited to park city that makes around 3 a year is the only one that seems to have insulated himself well.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Being an expat is hard and lonely.

Op here

I have been an expat

It’s not that hard and imo since it’s easier to afford areas with less dysfunction and a more “socially attuned” built-environment (public third spaces, public transport, Walkability) abroad than similarly in the us, I’d argue the us is more lonely (which data seems to back up)

And with the economic resource parameter I mentioned above, it would be even easier as I was an expat with less resources so I couldn’t trade money for time to socialize as easily as I could with more money

Anonymous wrote:Being an expat is hard and lonely.

Anonymous wrote:Because I have friends and family here, and one of the biggest predictors of longevity and happiness is ties to friends and family.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let's blow your mind further: We're Europeans who come from a country with universal, affordable and pretty decent healthcare, and we STILL want to live here for now. Just like all our international friends. We complain about the healthcare industry here and the lack of gun control, but the reality is...

... there's a lot more economic opportunity for us and our kids in this country. My husband was offered half of what he makes here, when he looked for a job in our capital city, which has a higher cost of living than the DC area! And the job was not exactly at the forefront of research - because it's only in certain parts of the world (NIH, certain Asian countries) that his pointy field actually exists.

The USA also has a lot more support for people who are outliers. Our eldest has special needs that would never have been accommodated in private or public schools back home and our youngest is gifted and needs acceleration. Our "wealthy" home country doesn't have the money for special programs - what they do is offer a good education to the average kid, but they don't have gifted or SN supports. Most of the world is decades behind on childhood development, psychiatric treatments, acceptance of disabilities in schools and the workplace, etc, compared to the USA. Not to mention, the USA has a lot more available meds than anywhere else in the world. They cost a fortune, but they exist. In our country, Adderall is illegal, and my thyroid medication is not manufactured or distributed.

That being said, cultural nostalgia and senior healthcare costs being what they are, we might retire in our home country, and leave the kids to work around the world as they please.

But I just want to point out that even for first world nationals like us, the USA has many attractions.

Kinda agree with this post. We are Indian and based on what I've seen, read, etc. the US is the least racist country in the world for a non-white person, and that includes all the non-white countries in the world. I know some of y'all won't agree but that's a different thread. It is also the country where one can make the most money (gross and after tax) for any given profession, especially white collar. We may also emigrate to India in retirement given better access to medical care and support infrastructure. The biggest challenges in the US are guns and lack of access to medical care. I know of a family where the doctor suspected colon cancer and prescribed a colonoscopy. The earliest they could get was 6 weeks later. They flew her to India, had the colonoscopy, found the cancer, did the surgery, recovered and back in 4 weeks! If those two issues are fixed, the US will be a true paradise. While we have the best insurance possible, it's a royal pain to schedule appointments, tests, follow ups, etc even as a young person. In India, I can see any specialist in town within a day or two and most are way, way more qualified (at least on paper) than the ones I normally see here.

Tl; DR - I stay here for the money and QOL as a young/middle aged person. In old age? TBD.