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Comment by janandonly | Hacker News Reader

As a European, I can tell from experience that my US friends are usually yellow with jealousy (in a good way) when I mention the fact that:

1. I work part-time 2. live rent-controlled 3. have an affordable healthcare insurance (€125 p/m) and car insurance (€50 p/m). 4. and have 15 holidays per year (but I only need 3 days “holidays” to take a whole week off because I work part-time).

True, I earn a lot less than some California friends, I don't drive a new BMW and I don't go to Disney every month. But that's not what my life is about anyway.

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I believe that having enough days off work every year makes a huge difference in quality of life. So much so that when our union negotiated the option to forego a 5% pay raise for 12 days more paid vacation per year, it was a no-brainer for me. If I include the optional 5 days of educational leave granted by my state[0], I have 47 vacation days per year. This is a rather privileged position of course, the average is around 28 in Germany, but I don't see myself ever going back. Last year I refused an offer for 40% more money just because it would have only offer 30 days instead.

Maybe I don't have the "drive" that is common in US tech workers, but for me this is simply a job, and more time for hobbies will always beat more money.

[0] "Bildungsurlaub", available for things like language learning, personal development or other educational purposes by accredited providers

Some conferences fall under this.

I guest kinda tired of Californians being the sole yard stick all of the US is measured by. I think it sucks to live like they do too. It sounds very stressful to live on the edge like a lot seem to.

But like my very poor sister can match you. I'm very middle class and can match you as well in anything but part-time work and rent control, but my rent has never been a significant burden for me. I take a week off every quarter on top of the standard set of holidays. I take off just to spend time with my kid at her school and it's fine. I know I'm pretty privileged, but given you brought up wealth like that, you're talking about pretty privileged Americans in California. My health insurance for me and family is $200/mo. It would $70 if it was just me. These kinds of benefits have been super common over my career.

There are a lot of Americans in less cool states who have a pretty decent life setup. It really varies by state. Like I don't even have student loans because there's a series of state granted scholarships in my home state that effectively mean that attending a state college is tuition free for residents, although you gotta figure out books and lodging.

Your $200 health insurance probably doesn’t cover anything a bit more expensive. You’re one accident away from bankruptcy.

$200 US health insurance is almost certainly dependent on the job the poster works at.

I recently repatriated to the US, and my independent healthcare cost is $460/mo for just me, someone of older but not senior age with zero family costs. The same (better) coverage for me privately in the Netherlands was 140 EUR.

Since we're on HN and you mention California, it's worth noting that with a good job in tech 2/3/4 disappear, leaving only 1 (which is still very nice).

> affordable healthcare insurance (€125 p/m)

you sure about that? where on earth do you live to pay this little?

I dont know about OP, but here in France I pay 40€/month, and my children are covered too.

In NL healthcare I pay about €150 p/m, covers everything except dental and vision, which you can add for a bit more

When I read the post, my initial thought that 125 p/m was on the expensive side!

I pay about the same, slightly west of Germany.

One of my tropes is that breaking bad couldn't have been written in Europe, as the cancer treatment is covered for everyone.

"where on earth do you live to pay this little?"

Not being from the US I'm slightly surprised that you are surprised!

I'm surprised because I'm German and I pay 10 times that per month.

Really? Your neighbors in NL are paying ~ 140/mo.

This is standard pricing in Western Europe, if not a little higher. I'm at about €150 a month with everything covered bar Vision and Dental in Ireland, employer provided. Total medication bill per month is capped at €80 as well as part of our National Health Service, regardless of what you're prescribed.

So we are cheaper for insurance but you do actually pay more than that when you include the black hole that is your taxes to the HSE.

The taxes in the US are even more of a black hole considering you get essentially nothing in return

I'm German and I pay wayyyy more than 150€, that's why I'm asking. I'd say it's more like 1000-1500€ bucks, depending on how much you make.

/edit: I checked my pay slip and I pay around 1600€ per month for regular health care (Techniker Krankenkasse). Are we discussing different things here? I'm confused

/edit2: In general it's at least 14,6% of your gross income, for me 15.8%.

I moved to Amsterdam after working in the Bay Area for 10 years, I was able to negotiate 70% of my old salary with some stock options/bonus. Now I have the best of both worlds, working towards a permanent residency, paying much much less CoL and enjoying traveling Europe with my wife.

You were either underpaid in CA or have negotiated an unusually high salary for NL.

Finding an NL salary over 100k EUR is exceedingly difficult unless you are C level (or middle management, which is grossly overpaid for the value they provide).

My TC is 200k EUR and I'm a senior engineer with 7 YOE. I didn't find it particularly difficult to negotiate, I sent them my old offer letter and told them how much I thought was fair. They also included a full white-glove relocation of my family and house overseas which was nice.

For talented engineers, it's definitely possible!

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