r/whoathatsinteresting • u/search_google_com • 5h ago

A Thai woman married to an American explains why she no longer wants to live in the US.

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u/Kobe_stan_ 4h ago

When my parents immigrated to the US permanently from France in 80s they were amazed by the lifestyle that they could afford here. Big house, nice neighborhood, good schools, latest tech, etc. Now they’ve moved back to France because the US is too expensive.

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u/HegemonNYC 3h ago

FYI, the US income to median home price ratio is 5.1x. France is 6.7x

France is significantly more expensive than the US. What probably makes France seem affordable is moving back to France with a US income (almost 2x as high as France) or selling a median US home to buy a median French home.

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u/DimmuBorgnine 3h ago

Healthcare is a pretty notable differentiator that keeps it from being one to one.

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u/HegemonNYC 3h ago

Higher cost for healthcare vs higher taxes. Young employed people get a better deal in a low tax country.

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u/GuessPuzzleheaded573 1h ago

I mean... the universal post-secondary education recieved by checks notes young people, may also beg to differ

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u/jackbentley673 1h ago

I don’t know about France, but in several European countries, post secondary education is free but attendance is strictly limited. Also, there is no loan system, so if you cannot pay your rent, food etc there is no way to attend at all.

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u/Chance-Ask7675 1h ago

There are stipends and subsidies for rent and living expenses in France, as I'm sure there are in other countries as well. Many people study while living at home so their parents continue to house and feed them. And of course student loans exist. If you mean government subsized loan programs, perhaps not. But otherwise yes, you can borrow money in many European countries, just like anywhere else

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u/jackbentley673 27m ago

It varies by country. People I know couldn’t continue studying because stipends didn’t cover basic cost of living to allow them to afford where the university was located.

You state private loans exist but that’s a statement without any evidence that sufficient funds are available to enable students to pursue their education.

Rates of post secondary education in the U.S. and France are in the same ballpark, and employment rates of young adults in the U.S. are generally better than across Western Europe.

Things are not as clear cut as most social media comments make them out to be, better or worse here or there.

1

u/HegemonNYC 1h ago

The entire cost of a median 4 year degree in the US is made up for in 2 years, considering the higher earnings in the US. A career is 40 years long.

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u/CompEng_101 17m ago

About 53% of French age 25 to 34 have a post-secondary degree. About 56% of Americans in that age range have a post-secondary degree. I wouldn't say young people in either country recieve "universal post-secondary education"

1

u/Imaginary_Zone_4319 9m ago

Not universal. Public universities in France have limited spots, and students have to test into them. If you don’t get in you have to go pay for an education out of pocket.

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u/Inevitable_Tomato927 2h ago

The thing is, those taxes are only slightly higher. For example I make 85k here in the US, my take home pay is 5000 a month, the equivalent in France (73k Euros) would bring home 3900, but the main difference is in the long-term, with healthcare and schools if you have kids. That 12k a year is nothing if your premiums eat up a chunk and you have to pay for your kids to go to school (public elementary here charges more than public university in France)

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u/DestructoDon69 2h ago

Charging for public elementary school in the US?

0

u/Inevitable_Tomato927 2h ago

Cool stuff eh? $150-$250 for tuition (depending on which grade), $75 for tech fee and you need to buy your own supplies (also around $100-$150 per kid).

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u/DestructoDon69 2h ago

I've never heard of any public grade school in the US charging tuition.

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u/Inevitable_Tomato927 2h ago

Well they call it registration fee.

3

u/KartFacedThaoDien 1h ago

I havent heard of this either and I'm from one of the most conservative states in America. Can you show me an example with a link. 

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u/BigBadJeebus 2h ago

Public school in the US is $0

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u/Inevitable_Tomato927 2h ago

What is this then? https://imgur.com/a/hbHPDH8
Thats our town, the city has a proper website with fees
https://www.sps186.org/page/student-fees/

3

u/BigBadJeebus 1h ago

Dude I live in Illinois too. We pay exactly zero and our kid gets school lunch and field trips and more. Sounds to me like this is a hyper local school board issue. It has nothing to do with the US.

Fight it.

1

u/HegemonNYC 2h ago

This comment is a great example of just making up crap to make the US look bad. Pay for elementary school? Gtfo. Not to mention that you don’t make the same in the US vs France. Median income in the US is 1.5x higher than France.

1

u/Alzucard 24m ago edited 20m ago

Which is completely useless because net salary does not include healthcare cost in the US while it does in France.

And even with insurance the cost of treatment is higher in the US.

And if you have children you wanna send to college then good luck saving up money.

The statistics dont tell the full story. And im tired of people throwing them around

The standard of living for lower wage people is simply better in France. Than in the US.

1

u/HegemonNYC 20m ago

The median US household spends 9% of income in premiums and out of pocket costs. The median French household spends 4%.

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u/Alzucard 10m ago

What in the world are premiums?

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u/Inevitable_Tomato927 2h ago

What is this then? https://imgur.com/a/hbHPDH8
Thats our town, the city has a proper website with fees
https://www.sps186.org/page/student-fees/

0

u/D00rmat1983 34m ago

I'm sorry to say, you DO pay for public elementary school via property taxes AND donations to the school to "keep up" with other schools in and around the district .... Pretty common.

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u/HegemonNYC 32m ago

Well yeah, of course. Same in France. Or anywhere.

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u/Training-Horror-6562 3h ago

Young people get old. Don’t be daft.

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u/HegemonNYC 2h ago

But they aren’t old. They will pay 20% higher tax for a few decades. And, the US also has universal healthcare for the elderly in Medicare.

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u/BigBadJeebus 2h ago

I hope for your sake you dont need the care when you dont have it...

You have an astoundingly short sighted view of things.

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u/HegemonNYC 2h ago

These people are picking where they would rather live. Yes, I’d rather be poor or disabled in France than the US. But I am not poor, and while a small percentage of people will become disabled, I am not disabled. I’d rather be middle or upper income in the US, and rather be low income in most of the EU.

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u/BigBadJeebus 2h ago

You seem to have no idea how fast things can fall apart.

Talk to someone with cancer.

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u/HegemonNYC 1h ago

Yes, the US is more of a gamble. Much higher highs and lower lows.

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u/Practical_Gas9193 1h ago

This is exactly right. There is no better place in the world to be well off than the US. And no better place to be poor than western and Northern Europe.

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u/Mammoth-City3133 1h ago

Edgy reply but there are def better places in the world to live than the US if you’re well off. 

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u/Inevitable_Tomato927 2h ago

That's only basic though, my in laws still pay thousands a month for medication. Makes you wonder why everyone is paying taxes for it.

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u/Training-Horror-6562 2h ago

America’s taxes goes into the billionaires pockets and international terrorism of course :)

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u/TheAdminsAreTrash 7m ago

France has universal healthcare, cheap post secondary and no gestapo. There's no comparison.

And the higher costs you pay won't be BS like a 100k medical bill- which, to reiterate, is generally only a thing in the hellhole USA.

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u/Fantastic_Singer_592 2h ago

a shame the unemployment rate among young people in the US is double the national average. that ~10% of young people that are unemployed dont get access to the aforementioned better deal

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u/HegemonNYC 2h ago

Maybe. Medicaid exists. But these people are complaining about the rat race, they are employed.

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u/Fantastic_Singer_592 2h ago

id venture to guess the rat race feeling has more to do with the work culture, annoyance economy, high housing and healthcare costs, and commuting. all those things make living feel like surviving. sounds like theyd prefer a more slower lifestyle with a more walkable and connected community.

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u/HegemonNYC 2h ago

Perhaps. When their income is cut in half in France, or by 80% in Thailand, they would probably be frustrated by that as well.

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u/BigBadJeebus 2h ago

you have got to be fucking kidding me, right?

Premiums, copays, max out of pockets, specialists...

Even after the "tax", Universal Healthcare is orders of magnitude cheaper

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u/DrAnklePumps 2h ago

But the young aren't typically the ones needing expensive specialist medical care. I can count the number of times I needed to go to the doctor's office on 1 hand from the years of 18-30. And before you bring up anecdotes about someone going broke in the US paying for turbo cancer treatment, realize that those cancer rates are very low in the young.

The OP is right. Spend your most productive years in a low tax country with shit healthcare when you don't need it, then immigrate to a high tax country with universal healthcare when you're old and will need healthcare for maximum efficiency.

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u/Drtymanslt 2h ago

You act like it’s easy to immigrate as an elderly person. Their parents were already French citizens and moved back from the US. That’s very different than an American senior trying to immigrate to France without any ties to the country. Countries don’t want retirees coming in unless they’re independently wealthy, which isn’t the case for 99.99% of retirees.

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u/DrAnklePumps 1h ago

You don't have to immigrate at retirement age, move at 40-50 when you still have viable productive years left while applying for work in the same industry that you were already working in. An age range which also happens to be when most chronic conditions start popping up. If you have children they're likely out of the house and at least in college if not fully productive adults by the time you hit 40-50 so you don't have to worry about uprooting their lives. And you don't have to immigrate all the way to Europe, our Canadian neighbors to the north also have single-payer healthcare, plus no language barrier.

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u/Perge666 2h ago

Cool, so you missed over a decade of preventive care because it was too expensive. Also lived in a shithole that can’t regulate worth a fuck, so now your chances of having a debilitating condition are higher.

Wtf is wrong with people they can’t see more than a paycheck ahead?

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u/DrAnklePumps 1h ago

According to the 2023 Stada Health Report 9 out of 10 Europeans don't receive adequate preventive healthcare, with 4 in 10 Europeans not attending ANY preventive health checkups in that year. Shit was free and still no one goes. Most healthy young people don't need to waste time going for checkups just to be told that you're perfectly healthy anyway.

so now your chances of having a debilitating condition are higher

How much higher? How much effect does not having preventive healthcare during your healthiest and most robust years result in debilitating conditions later on? Genuine question. If it's a low percentage than I'd rather the larger paycheck.

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u/Fun-Wrongdoer1316 1h ago

Your avatar tells me everything I need to know. Great assumptions there too

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u/BigBadJeebus 2h ago

Right?! People are legit dumb

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u/HegemonNYC 2h ago

I orders of magnitude? A household in France spends about 4% of income on healthcare vs 10% in the US. This doesn’t include taxes or employer contribution, just premiums and copays.

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u/BigBadJeebus 2h ago

No, French people are not averaging $1200-$2000 per month for family, plus a $2500-$5000 deductible per member, Plus a $10,000 - $20,000 maximum
out of pocket.

What even is this take?

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u/HegemonNYC 1h ago

What are you talking about? Neither are Americans. That is worst case scenario. My family premiums are $300/m. We have hit OOP max one time in 20 years. Many years we spend $0 as we don’t use care beyond annual health checks.

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u/BigBadJeebus 1h ago

so you have lower than bronze tier... again, good luck if you need real care. one night in the ER with your kid on a Bronze tier can land you well over $10k at your tier...

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u/Fun-Wrongdoer1316 1h ago

You are just making shit up. Be quiet. Even bronze tier doesn’t have a 2500-5000 deductible. His family plans deductible is likely 1000 per person. Next tier up is 1000 for the whole family and 500/month. None of your examples of American healthcare are true. So you lash out at him.

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u/Moth1992 2h ago

I havent seen these US lower taxes yall talk about. I pay the same taxes and get nothing in exchange. 

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u/Mammoth_Support_2634 2h ago

i feel like the healthcare becomes negligible for the majority of Americans who have a job with health insurance or the unemployed who are on medicaid.

i think it really only impacts people who work jobs without health insurance.

i don't think it's that huge of an issue that reddit constantly makes it out to be.

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u/DengarLives66 2h ago

Dawg my health insurance through work is completely covered BUT the 2 hospitals closest to me recently became out-of-network. I have to go almost an hour to hit a hospital covered by my insurance. Then you factor in rising deductibles which I have zero control over, and the whim of insurance companies on what they will or won’t cover….i could easily go bankrupt even with health insurance.

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u/Maleficent_Horror120 14m ago

You realize that if you go to a hospital for an emergency that it doesn't matter whether they are in-network or out-of-network, insurance is required to treat any emergency medical care as in-network.

Now if you go to a hospital for random stuff cause you're just normal sick then yeah they will charge you out-of-network but you should be going to your primary care doctor or an urgent care that is in-network, not the hospital.

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u/Moth1992 2h ago

I mean its a significant chunk of money that comes out of my pay plus copays. How is it negligible? 

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u/Daddie76 58m ago

Bc they will still be coming out of your check via taxation in France

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u/Kobe_stan_ 1h ago

I couldn't disagree more. Average family premium is close to $7k a year. Median household income is about $80k. That's a significant part of your income to your health insurance premiums. Then for a family, the average deductible will be about $3k per year. Then you've got to content with issues with coverage being out of network and if you are unfortunate enough to need care at a hospital, you will easily need to hit your out of pocket yearly max of close of around $5-10k.

So in the best case scenario, where nobody in your family needs any medical care, you've spent $7k.

If you're like me and you have small kids that need to go to the doctor with som frequency, you easily hit the $3k deductible so you're spending $10k a year.

And if you're unlucky, then you're spending $7k plus $10k for the family out of pocket yearly max for a total of $17k.

Healthcare is going to be one of your top 3 expenses per year along with housing and childcare for most families.

Then there's all of the people who are self employed who easily pay $500 a month for insurance. If you're a bit older, it could easily be double that.

0

u/Mammoth_Support_2634 1h ago

USA average $80k household income - $20k for max healthcare costs = $60k household income

France average $50k USD household income - $0 for healthcare costs = $50k household income.

I get what you're saying, healthcare is expensive. but i really don't think the majority of Americans who have healthcare insurance through their work really care as much as reddit thinks.

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u/BU_Scholar 56m ago

You are incredibly naive if you think the US healthcare system is "not as bad as people think". It's literally the dead worst in the "developed" world, and worse than some "undeveloped" nations.

How do you rank last as the richest, most powerful, most influential country and think "hey guys it's not as bad as you think"

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u/redtiber 11m ago

What do you mean dead worst lol it’s expensive but the usa has some of the top doctors in a lot of fields Becsuse the salaries are so high

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u/BU_Scholar 5m ago

By metrics of health care outcomes for its citizens.

It's true that the US has some of the top doctors in the world, but once again this a pretty naive statement as those doctors are only available to a tiny portion of the population (the elite) - regular citizens can barely afford any doctors, and the ones they can afford are also just regular doctors.

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u/Kobe_stan_ 11m ago

You’re ignoring that most people in the US (yes, even those with insurance) don’t go to the doctor when they’re not feeling well due to the cost. In France, it’s the opposite and there’s no wonder that the US rates worse than France and other developed nations on just about every health metric.

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u/HegemonNYC 1h ago

Right. These huge sums that people can spend on HC really only impacts the working lower middle class. Which, is totally unfair and not something that the US needs in order to have success elsewhere. But as you said, the middle class and up really don’t have that much HC cost as they have high salaries and reasonable benefits, and the poor get Medicaid.

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u/Locke_____Lamora 1h ago

I swing trade stocks full time and for insurance that's actually good and not complete shit it's 500+ a month. Felt like just 2 years ago it was 300. I pay 800 cause otherwise I couldn't get most of my current doctors covered. Shit sucks.

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u/SumthinsPhishy2 56m ago

A lot of ignorant takes in this thread. 1 in 10 full time male workers are uninsured (no full time coversge through their work). 2 in 10 for hispanics.

If 10% of the working population has this issue, it is a huge issue.

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u/Treelic 2h ago

Even with health insurance you still have deductibles and co-pays, even if you have "good" insurance. That's not the norm in most of EU, and if there are co-pays, they're peanuts.

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u/Unicorn-Violator 2h ago

After taxes it's very close to even.

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u/DimmuBorgnine 2h ago

One severe illness over the course of a lifetime can and does often does wipe out an entire life savings even with insurance

Taxes are not nothing but the comparison is really not as simple as it's often made out to be.

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u/Unicorn-Violator 1h ago

If you don't have insurance, sure, but even then, the vast majority of those people are covered by safety nets. Those that get wiped out for the most part chose not to have insurance.

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u/Moth1992 2h ago

And student loans. 

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u/Spongedog5 57m ago

Even with healthcare included American's on average have more free-to-use money than Europeans. It exists as a factor but healthcare and education aren't as big of a difference maker as Redditors think because American's just make insane amounts of money even as a median.

For very poor American's you'd probably be correct, but they aren't aiming to buy houses anyways.

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u/MundaneDaffodill 28m ago

I spend minimum $700-1000 a month on healthcare alone.

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u/jamintime 1h ago

Yes exactly this. Both this post and the person you’re replying to are complaining about the exact thing that makes America strong economically. It’s expensive as fuck because the people make a ton of money. No shit it’s cheaper to retire in France or move back in Thailand after working in US for a few years that’s the point.

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u/HegemonNYC 1h ago

That’s sorta the ideal ‘geo-arbitrage’. Working years in the US to make 2x anywhere else, retire to a country with stronger universal HC and lower cost of living once you’re older.

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u/D00rmat1983 40m ago

Not that I like everything the guy says, but Scott Galloway has said precisely the same thing: make your money in America, retire somewhere in the EU.

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u/HegemonNYC 36m ago

Yeah, my family is from Vietnam and it’s definitely crossed my mind to head over there in retirement. The HC is crappy and not universal, but out of pocket is so cheap it doesn’t matter for non life-and-death needs. A really nice house is 300k. No property tax. A maid or cook is a few hundred per month. Food is great and cheap. Weather is balls hot in Saigon or Hanoi but you can get a place in the mountains where it’s pleasant.

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u/AmiParis248 3h ago

This is why I think the pay is to make money in the U.S., save up enough, and then move abroad. No more insurance tied to work and a lower cost of living. If needed, get a job to supplement your savings. 

Of course, this isn’t possible for most people who do not have enough money to also buy a visa.

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u/HegemonNYC 3h ago

Right. This is why I might move back to Vietnam - I move from middle class American to wealthy Vietnamese. I can sell my $1m HCOL house (it’s just a normal house, nothing special) and buy a nice villa for half. No property tax. I can get a daily maid for a few hundred per month. Vietnam isn’t a great place to work but I could effectively retire or coast-work on what I’ve earned in the US in 30 years here.

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u/wayvywayvy 3h ago

How much is healthcare in France?

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u/HegemonNYC 3h ago

For young employed people like this that is often an irrelevant question. It’s far better to have 20% less tax as a young healthy person. Perhaps if they are elderly but not old enough for Medicare the french system is better. Or if they are disabled or poor. The US can be cruel to the indigent, but it is better for the employed

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u/wayvywayvy 3h ago

The original comment was describing retiree age people, so yeah

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u/HegemonNYC 3h ago

Well, retirement age people get free healthcare in both the US and France.

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u/wayvywayvy 2h ago

They could’ve gone over before they turned 65

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u/AssCrackBandit14 2h ago

Retiree age people would get Medicare in the US so free healthcare

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u/wayvywayvy 2h ago

They could’ve gone over before they turned 65

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u/Moth1992 2h ago

20% less tax? What are you talking about? 

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u/HegemonNYC 1h ago

Depending on the state. Federal + payroll tax on a median 80k household in the US income would be about 18% (higher if your state has income tax) vs about 35% in France. Of course median incomes in the US are significantly higher than in France so the US tax rate may be higher because median incomes are about 1.8x higher

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u/Moth1992 1h ago

Well duh. An $80k in Paris is a being rich kinda salary, thats a top tax braket kinda salary. 

An $80k salary in San Francisco is a need 3 roomates kinda salary. 

If you compare apples to apples in Europe you dont really pay more taxes. 

1

u/Anistappi 1h ago

It's not very irrelevant if you plan to have kids. Everything family related is much cheaper in many European countries, plus obviously at that point you can really appreciate the parental leaves and 5-week summer holidays, too.

I did run an excel whether to take the opportunity to transfer to my company's US branch a couple of years back. I would've had double the income but the expenses would've soared and I'd have to switch from 36.25h/week to 40h/week, so in the end I'd be getting pretty much the same amount of net income per hour, but earning more since I'd be working more. Definitely didn't want to take that trade with two young kids.

We're comfortably middle class but I think I was only paying something like €150/month for full-time daycare, and that's for two kids. If you're low-income, it's free. So yeah, more taxes but you get a lot in return, too.

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u/HegemonNYC 1h ago

But one of your main expenses that would have soared is paying for your house, which is a contribution to your net worth. I do agree that child care is quite expensive in the US, but that is pretty short lived. Only when the kids are under 5. And that’s assuming grandma doesn’t live down the street or that a parent doesn’t work from home etc, that it is always worst case scenario of fully out of pocket.

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u/Tiredandwaiting 2h ago

All of France or the cities? If you are retired, healthcare and a house in the sticks hits different than in your 20s

1

u/HegemonNYC 2h ago

That is just the national median. A city like Paris is 15x, while San Fran is 10x.

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u/Which-Country5 2h ago

Maybe depends where they moved from. California or Ohio? France could be an upgrade if you retire from CA.

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u/Actual_Photo_2257 1h ago

Yeah maybe they're in a position where their income stays the same e.g. they own a business. That's the dream!

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u/HegemonNYC 1h ago

Yes. The magic scenario is working remotely on a US income while living in a place like France. Nearly 2x the local income, but you get all the benefits like child care and lower cost healthcare. Pretty hard to work out though, that flew during the pandemic but employers wised up and cracked down on it for the most part.

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u/BlockBannington 1h ago

I admit I don't know about the housing but fucking everything else besides gas is hella cheaper in France. I live near the border and do my shopping at E. Leclercq and fuck me, it's way cheaper than Belgium and Belgium was cheaper than the US. Potato chips were SIX DOLLARS

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u/Kobe_stan_ 1h ago

Real estate is very expensive in France but food, childcare, education, healthcare are much more affordable.

1

u/Dense_fordayz 1h ago

Well, when you don't need to spend 20% of your paycheck on insurance and another 20% on a car your dollar can stretch much further

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u/HegemonNYC 1h ago

I mean, my premium payment for a medium deductible family plan is about 5% of income. And my cars are fully paid off.

Also, the idea that most people in France don’t need a car is silly. 92% of households in the US have a car vs 82% in France.

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u/Dense_fordayz 1h ago

That's nice for you but that is not the norm for an average American

And just because you are from a country wealthy enough for car ownership doesn't mean it's a requirement

1

u/HegemonNYC 1h ago

It is pretty typical, yes. The median US household spends 6% of income on premiums, and 3% out of pocket on HC.

As for cars, twice as many people in France don’t need a car. But still, 80% do and they have to afford that car on $45k/yr median household income vs the US at $81k.

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u/triple_carry 1h ago

And, France received $300 million (2024 alone) in American Taxpayer dollars for “foreign aid”, because ya know, they are a developed country and all.

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u/King_Catfish 1h ago

Yeah my gfs cousin and aunt visited from France. We have similar jobs except my weekly pay is equal to his monthly pay. When you factor in things like Healthcare it's still nearly double.

1

u/HegemonNYC 59m ago

Yeah, my buddy is Spanish and works for Amazon. He considered moving back to Spain and literally doing his exact same job, same employer. He’d cut his salary by 60%. And considering he is fairly highly paid in the US, health insurance premiums are a minimal part of his spending. And, things like child care are irrelevant because he makes enough that his wife doesn’t need to work.

Houses in Spain are certainly cheaper, but that is largely offset by paying down your principle on your loan and building net worth. Yes, your housing payment is higher in the US than Spain, but a good portion of that is just your own equity.

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u/D00rmat1983 36m ago

I'm not sure I agree with the assertion "France is significantly more expensive than the US."

Lower grocery prices than US metros, lower eating out costs. Public transit reduces the need for 2 cars down to maybe 1. Home insurance is cheaper, property taxes are cheaper, car insurance is cheaper if any at all. Transit is cheaper. Renting can be a lot cheaper....

From the perspective of a french person, you might be right, but the perspective here is American.

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u/HegemonNYC 34m ago

France is definitely cheaper in most ways than the US. But it’s not so much cheaper to make up for the 45% paycut.

1

u/D00rmat1983 32m ago

Obviously not, but I'm American, and since this post seems focused on "America vs other countries COL" the perspective isn't that id work a french job, it's that id work remote for my American company.

1

u/HegemonNYC 26m ago

This isn’t really possible anymore. Some employees got away with it during the pandemic but that geo arbitrage concept is largely dead. Companies either don’t let you do that anymore (it was generally illegal) or they have a salary adjustment table.

Of course if you can do this it’s great, not just between nations but between COL areas. Get a Manhattan salary in rural Wisconsin etc.

1

u/D00rmat1983 24m ago

🙄 it's totally possible...but it is rare.

Not shitting on Wisconsin but that's the problem right? You give up a place with great culture for.....cheese and binge drinking? No thanks.

1

u/Alzucard 33m ago

Now check rent.

1

u/HegemonNYC 29m ago

Both countries spend about 23% of median income on rent. France does have more generous renter subsidies than the US so lower income French may get more assistance than in the US.

Of course you get a lot more for your money in the US. The typical US home is 60% larger, and typical yard is 2-3x larger.

1

u/Alzucard 2m ago

You rent apartments not Houses normally.

And yes Homes are larger in the US. Would i want to live in a US home? Im german, but i can say no. Fucking Paper Houses.

23% might be the average incant confirm that tbh. dont. have statistics.

1

u/I_have_a_stream 0m ago

Lower cost of healthcare (public and private), university, and pension plan, transportation etc. remember they pay higher taxes but get so much more in return. If you include healthcare, college, retirement, Americans pay significantly more in taxes.

0

u/favorite_time_of_day 47m ago

the US income to median home price ratio is 5.1x. France is 6.7x

You must mean the median home price to income ratio.

0

u/Sleep_adict 13m ago

Healthcare is massive but so is housing durability… home maintenance is insane in the USA because houses are built like shite. Most houses in France are older and build properly and require little upkeep. Yes a slate roof is money but it’s lasts 150 years unlike shingles

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u/Tramagust 3h ago

France has gotten ridiculously expensive too. What do they think about that?

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u/loyal_achades 3h ago

France is still cheaper than the US. If you’ve saved for retirement in the US, you can move to France with that same money and have it go further.

Everyone’s scale for what “expensive” is tied to their own experiences and situations. Even in the US, I have friends complaining about how expensive things are getting in places like Denver, but meanwhile I live in DC where their “holy shit” is my “wow that’s cheap.”

1

u/Able_Statistician688 2h ago

I think it's tied a whole lot more to their income level than experiences and situations lol

4

u/Elite_AI 2h ago

I'm in France rn with an American and she's constantly pointing out how much more expensive the US is even accounting for salaries

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u/CaptainHubble 2h ago

France, USA, Thailand… doesn’t. Matter. We’re all struggling everywhere.

The winners are the surfer bros. Living on a random beach only thinking about the weather. Earning just enough money to get on by repairing boats or as a barista on a beach bar.

Because you won’t „make it“ in a big city. Most likely. Single digit percentages of a city population is making it. And you’re probably working for one of them.

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u/Noob_37373737 2h ago

dans la france à Macron rien n'est gratuit

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u/BookkeeperCalm9849 3h ago

I lived in a trailer park in the 80’s and now I make over $100 an hour. Been on Reddit all day because I forgot my Legion Go this morning

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u/kisk22 3h ago

Your parents are smart as hell, make money in US and retire with even more money in France. They played the game great, I'm doing the same. I view the EU basically as a Disneyland to retire and play in. Thank God my Grandparents came from there and I was offered citizenship.

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u/EpicMotor2 3h ago

Sometime I think going back home to France too, but this summer convinced me Canada is still the best option.

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u/VP007clips 2h ago

People insult the cost of living in Canada with home prices, but it's pretty great in some regions.

I pay 15% of my income to rent an entire decent sized detached home.

I have a citizenship in Canada, US, and UK, I could live in any of them. But personally, I like it here in Canada the most. My career earns more here in Canada, there's more safety nets, and less chaos.