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What are you solving for? In the U.S. income buys quality of life. In Europe you can have an amazing quality of life at a fraction of the cost. If you want a fancy car and a huge flat in a major city, then probably not a great choice. If you want hobbies and family and friends, jump ship asap.
Rising Star
If you want family and friends, especially family, stay in the US... where your immediate and extended family are.
Also, having hobbies relates more to just wanting to have hobbies. Best time to start is now!
They don’t have AC, Buc-ee’s, or ranch dressing. Make sure you have enough money to import these essentials.
A significant amount. I would argue as high as 75% of opportunity earnings from a consulting perspective but quality of life gains can also be significant depending where in Europe. Some Europe offices have the same or worse hours as US.
I think London is the worst with hours, also taking into account pay relative to living wages
I’d rather stay here
Cost of living matters too but I’d say that if you want to be happy in life, it’s not always healthy to think of maxing income. What you need to do is articulate the lifestyle you would need to make you 80-90% complete and recognize that the rest is upside. Then build a post tax income plan around that allows you to save enough to support that lifestyle long term. It also needs to factor in reasonable, conservative assumptions about career growth in your chosen field and what you can save / returns on that. But start with what you currently spend and save. I’ve found that I overestimate, as I get raises, how much I really would save. When you get promoted you spend more. If the CONSERVATIVE math make sense then pursue lifestyle / location dreams over income.
It is easy to love it when you live here.
Amen (and not in a religious sense). I moved from US to UK 20 years ago and never regretted it for a moment. If anything, I’m closer to my family now with weekly FaceTimes and holiday visits. And as others have said, quality of life and WLB are much better.
I did the opposite and moved from the UK to USA 10 years ago. You couldn’t pay me to move back to the UK. 🦅🇺🇸
UK was and still is in bad shape: relatively low income but quite high cost of living is a bad combo.
Stay in the us
A lot
Do it if you love the culture and simple life. An average salary can go far outside of the major cities
Rising Star
The major city piece is the biggest caveat for me. Most of us are English speaking, so would gravitate towards the UK. If you make an average salary in London, good luck ever buying a place or saving much while renting in a reasonable area.
On the flip side, if you get a job with a reasonable salary in a more affordable city, then it's a different story
Salaries lower in Europe? There is a lot of variety: Eastern Europe is totally different from Switzerland or Norway, Central/Western Europe falls somewhere in between.