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by pkb 1458 days ago
Do not go. Here's why:

1) You have no network in the US. You will have to start from scratch. Remember how you started. Multiply difficulty level by 2. And you're not going to be any younger.

2) Salaries for perm positions being "significantly lower" in the US than in EU. This nullifies gains from moving to the US. Add cost of moving everything over long range by plane/cargo ship.

3) Healthcare cost. My friend asked me once about cost of dental care in Ireland (where I live now). I replied 'it depends, between 30-60 euro'. He was quoted 13000 dollars for one tooth job. Think about this double hard, you're 50 and you won't get any younger.

4) Friends and your peers will stay in the EU. You won't see any of them for months and years. Factor in plane ticket prices. You won't be coming home to visit family for Christmas.

Just few things from top of my head, but I think they are important.
4 comments
guerrilla 1458 days ago
> You won't be coming home to visit family for Christmas.

Especially if COVID-19 or similar comes back. That cut me off from my family for multiple years.

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sam_lowry_ 1458 days ago
>Salaries for perm positions being "significantly lower" in the US than in EU

On HN, we hear all the time that the inverse is true. Is it because high salaries are limited to Silicon Valley?

In Western Europe, freelancers with good credentials and a large network can have yearly gross revenuу of 100..200k€. Is this comparable to US freelance revenue?

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woodson 1458 days ago
I guess one difference is how much of the gross income goes to taxes/social insurance contributions. This can differ a lot from country to country.
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christophilus 1458 days ago
I’m at the upper end of that spectrum, so I think yes.
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Markoff 1458 days ago
who would pay 13000$ for one tooth? that can cover air tickets, vacation, tooth job and extra money to save in most of the world including most EU countries, that's insane price
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pkb 1458 days ago
...that was end user price, after factoring in private insurance plan. For 13000, you can buy tickets in both directions, vacation, tooth job - and buy local car in the target country if renting one exceeds 1000 usd [1].

[1] https://extra.ie/2022/06/12/news/tourists-cancelling-trips-t...

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ipaddr 1457 days ago
Salaries for perm positions being "significantly lower" in the US than in EU.

Do you mean the opposite?

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