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by thegginthesky 1946 days ago
I would recommend the opposite. I lived in a LATAM country and I earned a modest USD salary but my quality of life was much better than now, when I receive the "33% more" and live in the US. This is because:

- USD is always high, so currency conversion is very favorable. I literally earned 4x more than an engineer at the same position in a local big company.

- My spending was in local currency, so utilities and most of everything is very low priced compared to what I earned.

- Taxation in many LATAM countries is about 15% or less, depending on how you incorporate yourself.

- Health is much cheaper than of the US at a similar quality. I could have a major heart surgery for less than 10k USD with world renowned doctors.

- Migrating is never easy, cultural barriers, lack of family support and bureaucracy can add a huge amount of stress.

edit: some minor grammar mistakes

4 comments

I was sort of passing by Bogota a few years ago and got a job for BairesDev... It was 2,500 US a month kind of job... I guess thats peanuts in the US but it was quite a bit for my needs in Bogota, rent included near Calle 85 (which I miss like hell!)... Super secure as well... never had a problem in Bogota... LATAM is the best, I must say.
Check out my story of relocating to Mexico nearly 4 years ago. Everything you say here is true, and more... https://obie.medium.com/you-should-relocate-to-mexico-598743...
Excellent comment! Agree 100%. Thank you
Tell me about security living there ... ?
Where I lived had a very low crime rate, similar to where I live right now.

The US has many parts where crime is much worse, such as Baltimore, Detroit or some parts of Chicago.

yeah, that bad US places are not offering jobs for software engineers usually.
You don't have to worry about security. Glad to invite you down here so you can change your perspective! Cheers.
LATAM is big and in a lot of countries it's a valid concern.

Source: living for 10 years in LATAM