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by KGIII 3166 days ago
Yes, I see that. It's second in a very narrow category that I'm not sure equates to 'the entire world' when talking about general taxation. The OP didn't state that "German single people are taxed at the second highest rate in the entire world."

So, while it's interesting, that's not really the same as what the OP suggested.
1 comments
rmoriz 3166 days ago
It is, as I pointed out: Everyone starts as single, unmarried person with 0 children. It's the time in your life when you make the big decisions, take high risks, maybe get high returns.

1. If you cannot save enough money to buy a condo, you will probably run into financial problems once/if you marry and grow your family. It's easy as that. Having children ist one of the top reasons to become poor in Germany. You add additional costs and risks to your life. Sure you pay much less taxes then but you already have a tight income situation (child care is expensive).

2. In the US the usual wages in IT are much higher. Let's say 75-150.000. Minus 26% taxes. You can easily save a lot of money in 5-10 years if you live a modest lifestyle. Compound interest/index ETF savings plan. Simple math.

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jaclaz 3166 days ago
Hmmm, it is a completely different situation, normally in the US someone that is in IT also has a huge college/university debt that he/she should re-pay.

And besides - probably not so relevant when you are young and fit - somehow you have to consider the social assistance (healthcare before anything else) that Germany (or most EU countries) offers to their citizens (compared to the US provided ones, which is - I believe - 0 or nearly 0).

Before or later you won't probably be a single, unmarried person with 0 children, and I believe that "social" states such as Germany offer a number of advantages when it comes to children's costs, so a good "tactic" would be:

1) be born in Germany

2) study there (for free or almost free)

3) as soon as you are fit to earn a decent wage, emigrate somehow to the US getting a highly paid job in IT

4) stay there for ten years or so, living modestly so that you can maximize your savings

5) when the time comes for marriage, go back to Germany (hopefully in the meantime you will have enough experience as to find easily a well paid IT job there too)

6) get the "social" provisions and benefits that Germany offers you and your family (at the cost of a higher than US taxation level)

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rmoriz 3161 days ago
Yes. That's how I would do it, if I were 18-20 again. :(
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