I left. I’m poor. I’m still poor here, but I like life better. My conditions are far from luxurious and may not appeal to most expats but I’m satisfied.

The key is to find some place who needs or at least is willing to accept whatever skills or abilities you have to offer. Or find someone to marry, if you’re attractive. I’m not, so I don’t have that option. If you are serious and persistent, you can find a way.

If you’re capable of making $150k a year you aren’t going to be living out of your car and dying in the cold in the US. And outside of highly skilled individuals you probably won’t be making $150k in most countries this sub focuses on

Americans have the same means to migration as 8 billions of other people: marriage, ancestry, study, visa sponsoring job, investment/retirement visa.

And it isn’t uncommon for migrants not to have enough money to qualify for investment visa or retirement visa, and many don’t have money for studying abroad.

The issues Americans are having when trying to migrate are not uncommon or unusual.

Made a bit north of 100k in the US. Make a fifth of that now in my new country. Blood pressure is down, quality of life is through the roof. It has worked out very well for me. Really don’t like going to the US anymore, even for a short stay. So much happier now.

“Land of the Fee”, nice. Pun intended or Freudian slip?

I was making less than 60k in South Florida. I decided to work remotely from Italy. My money goes much farther here. Next year when I finally start paying taxes to the Italian Uncle Samuele, I’ll see if it was really worth it.

For now I’m enjoying 4 seasons, a more active lifestyle, better tasting food, and a more safer quieter life.

I make about half of what I was making in the US and that’s after getting a Masters here (UK) as well. Cost of Living is lower and I get significantly more annual leave. I would say I’m not saving as much as I had been in the US but I’ve also had some large expenses this year (wedding and honeymoon). Work culture is a lot better here. I also don’t need a car at all and just rely on public transit and a bike.

Overall if you want to build up wealth the US is better for that but it comes at a price. If you aren’t just looking to make money then living abroad may have some advantages.

We are so damn happy to be out of the US. FOREVER.

I’ve seen a few different sides of things as I’ve lived in 5 states and grew up in situations ranging from technically houseless to staying with family to staying with my mom and her new husband who has money, but was abusive to both of us (super fun having to testify in court against your mom’s husband when you’re in high school).

As an adult, I also struggled and had no family support to fall back on. I finished my degree late and am still paying it off, but I have a good career now and would be making around $150k base salary back in the US - I’m also married, DINK household.

In 2019, we moved to the Netherlands. I make significantly less money here, and I will say base salary is not the only/best comparison, but let’s say about half or a little less in base salary, excluding 13th month. We were able to buy an apartment last year, which wouldn’t have happened had we been in the USA/gone back to the USA - at least, not in our old neighborhood with traditional financing. I also have had some serious health problems in the past year that would’ve caused me a serious loss of income if not job loss in the USA, and that’s even before considering medical bills. We have a better lifestyle and quality of life here by any measure.

To clarify on the health issues - I was not working full time for a little over a year. For the first YEAR of illness I get paid 100% of my salary for any sick time taken. For the second year, 85%. I cannot lose my job for at least two years. My deductible is €385 per year, premiums for two people just over €300/mo, copays are not a thing. I’ve had a lot of testing, imaging, meds, treatments, etc. and not paid anything more than the premium and deductible costs. I’m also actually getting better now.

Quality of life is better other than in the USA generally. America sucks up and punches down. It permeates everything

The problem here isn’t the fact that you make more money, the problem is that everywhere you turn, every industry is working every angle possible to TAKE that money. Want clean water with minerals in it? In the UK that’s a regular bottled water but in the US you have to research for hours to make sure you’re buying clean water (will not come from your tap) with none of the 1600 chemicals in it that are banned in Europe and uk. Want natural food that is not bioengineered? In Eu and UK that’s on the shelves of the grocery but in the US you have to spend hours researching the names they’re allowed to use to trick you into thinking you’re eating natural food or food that won’t give you cancer. And then the big guns (by the way hope your kid doesn’t shot at school) HEALTHCARE - premiums are upwards of $500 just to be insured and it’s a guessing game whether your doctor (who is probably only out for money) knows how to file insurance claims properly otherwise you could end up with six different bills for a checkup. And people are scared shitless to go to the hospital here, it’s like the second cause of death, doctors are scared to take chances on treatments due to lawsuits and since hospitals are for profit here, they have to find ways to squeeze your insurance or you got every dime you’ve got. So maybe the salary is high but Americans can barely hold on due to all of the costs. I didn’t even mention housing, there is cheap housing but it will not be near a decent city where there are jobs and organic groceries available. Which brings us to the last point and that is there is no decent public transport anywhere here. It’s usually privately owned so again dealing with pure capitalism, dirty and poorly planned.