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Well I worked in both EU(Ireland) and US for the same company on the same projects the comp difference is huge. So all the safety nets might buy you more peace of mind but pragmatically you are better off just having an extra rainy day fund from the portion of extra income you get in the US.

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This is true, but the number of "hidden" fees associated with living in the US make the difference slightly less stark than it seems at first, and a catastrophic health event can set you back to 0. The difference is biggest when working in tech, of course, and for the most part it is usually still worth it, depending on desired lifestyle.

I'm trying to understand what are the "hidden fees". Different fees, extra fees, annoying fees (when compared to some other country) I can wrap my head around those, but what fees are "hidden"?

If your comp was that much higher, surely a few bucks a month for Union membership would have been an incidental expense?

If I was sure it would not become just another layer of corporate bureaucracy one has to navigate sure. In my possibly biased experience the people climbing any type of power structure are same type personality wise be it union or corporation or goverment agency

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