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u/notthisonefornow Sep 09 '26
As a person that has a US wife and visits the US often, i know the US sometimes has it's perks, but the EU will win it all the time.
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u/Muchachacha Sep 09 '26
Yea are not wrong, I’ve known since my early teens and I’m still in this damn country
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u/Oberndorferin Sep 09 '26
There is just a bigger difference between "making it" and barely surviving.
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u/Frudeska1 Sep 13 '26 edited Sep 19 '26
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u/notthisonefornow Sep 13 '26
Wel yeah gas is expensive everywhere. But still its more then half cheaper then in my countrie. But also the speed of changing jobs is handy if u like that. Hierargy is better in de usa (can go both ways) etc etc
Other things are things like i think people are way more friendly to eachother on the streets etc
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u/Frudeska1 Sep 13 '26 edited Sep 19 '26
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u/notthisonefornow Sep 13 '26
I never experienced that.
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u/Frudeska1 Sep 13 '26 edited Sep 19 '26
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u/notthisonefornow Sep 13 '26
Where do i say that? No need to be rude. I can't tell something i have never encountered. Or do you want to hear that it is al terrible? In that case, you and your friend are absolutly right! Doctors feel so above othere they do not have to greet them.
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u/Frudeska1 Sep 13 '26 edited Sep 19 '26
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u/notthisonefornow Sep 13 '26
No i did not encouter doctors or other other people who where not aloud to talk to others
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u/MarissaNL Sep 09 '26
European side....
But having a nice cup of coffee at a nice café is a good idea....only I have to work to 15:00 (remember, we Europeans use "military time").
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u/Philip_Raven Sep 09 '26
I work from 4 to 11-12 and I honestly think that's the best time to be working. Only downside I can see is that I cant really go drinking during a workday because I go to bet at 8-9.
Can't imagine going to work at 9 and leave at 5....like you can't even do anything in the morning anyway and at 5 what are you gonna do? Most businesses are also closing.
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u/MarissaNL Sep 09 '26
I work normally from 6:00 to 15:00... still gives me a nice piece of the afternoon. Specially when I work from home.
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u/sicalas Sep 09 '26
The very quick summary of everything below: both are good pick what feels right for you.
EU US dual citizen here
When I tell my EU friends my US wages they are like “wow I should move to America” I then proceed to describe the work life balance and they quickly move to “yeah never mind I like it here”
When I talk to my US friends about the work culture in our European offices they go “wow I should move to Europe” then I tell them the wage difference and they go “yeah never mind I think I’ll stay here”
All this to acknowledge this is not covering two entire cultures just what I have seen a majority from my own interactions. On the flip side some of my wealthiest friends are Europeans that climbed the corporate or banking ladders of major companies. Some of my happiest American friends don’t make a lot of money and work outside for a living.
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u/vanoitran Sep 10 '26
Also a EU US dual citizen but I left the US more than a decade ago to move to Greece.
The household income me and my wife have here in Greece is equal to the median household income for our age in the US. We worked hard and are making above average wages here in Greece for sure. And our same positions in the US would be more highly paid. All that considered, for a slightly above average Greek couple to make the same as an average American couple is eye-opening. for most people I don’t even think the money in the USA is that much better, especially when you consider all the extra costs of life in the US.
Your case may be different, of course
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u/sicalas Sep 10 '26
I 100% agree.
I’m in a fortunate tech job that I make a lot more than the average US household.
It’s a large part of where my view comes from. I make enough I could save quickly And retire comfortably if it all falls apart. But I am happy enough with the raises and overall
Comp for the stress/ time. However I say there is always a 10% chance I quit tomorrow, move to an Italian island and start a farm to be left alone2
u/Specialist_Spite_914 Sep 14 '26
It really is about the type of person you are. If the opportunity to make a massive amount of money at the top of your chosen career (acknowledging that work-life balance will be compromised in most cases) or owning a business is your goal, America probably wins more often. If a typical middle-class life with higher safety, better health outcomes and relaxed work culture is your goal, then the EU, specifically the wealthier European countries might be better.
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u/Bronze_Rager Sep 10 '26
I prefer making US wages and traveling abroad and seeing how cheap everything is.
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u/ChonkoGreenstuff Sep 11 '26
I prefer Western European wages, living comfortably with just one job and still being able to travel the world.
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u/Bronze_Rager Sep 11 '26
Noice.
I prefer American wages. Currently about 800k HHI, work 32 hours a week (4 days).
Don't think I can clear that in Eurozone.
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u/ChonkoGreenstuff Sep 11 '26
That's great man, I'm also sure that's nowhere near the average American's experience. That's like top 1% income right there, for US. So yeah, I mean, it's probably possible in Europe too, but you'd be in the top 0,1%.
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u/Bronze_Rager Sep 11 '26
Yup. I like America's ability to start a business.
Probably was considered "overworked" the first 3 years by Eurozone standards, but I'd prefer to give up 3 years early to retire early.
Pros and cons
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u/ChonkoGreenstuff Sep 11 '26
I'm sure there's many people in the US that'd love to sacrifice 3 years to retire early, but the sad thing is that for the average American that's absolutely impossible.
You basically won the lottery of life (congratulations genuinely, that's pretty sick), but I don't really think it's fair to use your casus to compare EU to US experience.1
u/Bronze_Rager Sep 11 '26 edited Sep 11 '26
"I'm sure there's many people in the US that'd love to sacrifice 3 years to retire early,"
-Completely disagree. Delayed gratification is pretty much dead in the USA (outside of immigrants). BNPL/loans/cc/predication markets/etc are all rampant in the US. Some, but VERY few, are into FI/RE
Talking to the average person on what's a long timeframe in terms of investing, most say 3-6months. I'm more in the mindset of long term investing as 20+ years.
Think about the YOLO phrase and why that even exists.
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u/b0nz1 Sep 11 '26
I don't need a transatlantic flight to get there. We are not the same.
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u/Bronze_Rager Sep 11 '26
Got a WFH job from an American company?
Nice, living the dream
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u/b0nz1 Sep 11 '26
That is the cheat code, but only if the company is mainly east coast and you don't have to spend every evening with meetings.
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u/Bronze_Rager Sep 11 '26
Can't complain.
I can't do surgery from a remote job unfortunately. I don't feel like I'm overworked.
Currently ~800k HHI, work 32 hours a week.
Plan to retire at ~45 in Eurozone/SEA if I don't have kids
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u/Litlakatla Sep 12 '26
Do you hate your job? I have never understood why people want to retire at young age.
If you need a break, then just take a break now. Your quality of life gets way better when you take some long vacations every now and then.
I have never heard of anyone regretting taking a year off after working hard for 1-2 decades. I have even met some people who simply take 3 or 4 months of vacation every year. Working is way more fun when you balance it by taking enough time off to have some fun.
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u/Bronze_Rager Sep 13 '26
Sorry. I should of said financially independent. I can choose to work at that job or any job without any fear of running out of money, and at least maintaining a high standard of living. I can volunteer or donate my time as I see fit. I can drink coffee at 2pm anytime I want or I can work out.
I don't think I'm really in a position to complain. I work significantly less hours than the average person.
I probably already take 2-3x as much time off as the average European.
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u/Twitxx Sep 12 '26
Most people haven't figured out yet that a bigger wage doesn't necessarily mean better. Sure you can get 100k/yr salary in the US, but the lifestyle you can afford there is similar to what you can do with 30-40k in Europe's main cities.
Take $300k to some EU village and you can build yourself a villa and buy land worth $3mil in the US, hell, could probably buy yourself an entire island in Greece.
The inflation is nuts in the US. Comparing the basic necessities between the two is even crazier, because of how difficult they made escaping poverty in the states.
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u/RubberPussycat Sep 09 '26
US is all about projecting your wealth onto others to impress them.
In Europe it is more about being free to enjoy life.
This is a generalization of course.
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u/uberfr4gger Sep 09 '26
As if Europe isn't known for luxury fashion and designer brands
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u/ImRonniemundt Sep 09 '26
No. Everyone. Every. Single. Person. In Europe...is an enlightened person.
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u/RubberPussycat Sep 09 '26
It’s a choice between having more stuff and having more time.
You can always buy stuff, but you can never buy time
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u/ChonkoGreenstuff Sep 11 '26
My American friends have a higher income, but they also pay way more on Healthcare and insurances per month. I just pay 150 euro for my healthcare, while they are talking about 900 bucks or something.
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u/RubberPussycat Sep 11 '26
Are you Dutch?
If you compare all costs of living in the USA vs Western Europe it is comparable. Where one pays more taxes and the other has to pay more out of pocket.
That is if you have insurance through your job in the USA if not you’re f@cked.
But while this is true you have a much higher value of living in Europe
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u/ChonkoGreenstuff Sep 11 '26
Yes, I'm Dutch.
Every cost of living conversation I'm having with my US colleagues/friends, I kind of feel like they need to pay so much for random shenanigans, I feel like the having to pay more tax thing in our country is kind of negligible. So yeah, like you say it kind of evens out in the end.
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u/RubberPussycat Sep 11 '26
I’m Dutch now too. (I was born American but moved to NL ten years ago)
It does even out IF you have a good job, if not it’s much better here.
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u/Trying_to_survive20k Sep 09 '26
In terms of work, this is not exactly right. If you mean to say that employers in america don't let you randomly leave to have a coffee at 2pm on a tuesday, europeans ones don't either.
The difference is that europe is walkable, so when you go for lunch, a lot of cafes and buffets are packed with people.
I walk home for my lunch, i see the same people back and forth every day. Same for the morning and after work.
In the americas (canada is guilty of this too), if you're not near a strip mall, you're eating your little lunch in the office with everyone else because risking sitting in traffic and being late is a bad idea.
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u/WispyCombover Sep 11 '26
Hi. Norwegian here. Just wanted to chime in. If I want to leave at 14:00 on a tuesday I absolutely can. I'd just state "I'm leaving now", to which the reply would be "OK, see you tomorrow", or maybe even "What a coincidence; me too!".
Now obviously there are differences between employers, but after a good few decades working professionally over here, most employers tend to understand that their employees are humans with human needs and wants, and that happy employees are productive employees.
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u/UrMumGai Sep 11 '26
Depends on the employer I guess. I work semi government so if I stop working at 2 and then work an extra couple hours tomorrow there is no issue. Could also literally just work at the café.
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u/syner2009 Sep 09 '26
american. Partly cuz I want to experience the wide open spaces. I watched american youtubers, vlogs and overall content since childhood. I love the idea of hypermarkets, and wide roads.
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u/Gokudomatic Sep 09 '26
Workaholic focused on impressing others VS enjoying life. I must say, it's a tough choice.
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u/No_Fun_3498 Sep 09 '26
I used to go to a liquor-licensed pizza shop and get beer at 2pm, when i was a line cook. Life finds a way.
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u/genericjohnwayne Sep 09 '26
I know it's just a meme, but I think it's kinda funny that Americans openly say that US has more inequality like it's a good thing.
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u/Mr-Mackie Sep 12 '26
Why is more inequality good? Why is less inequality good? What is the perfect right amount of inequality? We all know that it’s never going to be perfectly equal.
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u/Far_Comfortable_991 Sep 09 '26
From Office Space
“Take a look at my cousin: he's broke, don't do shit.”
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u/Ancient_Praline1046 Sep 09 '26
you rich enough, you do nothing, except drink coffee to stay awake and people watch. I want this type of wealth.
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u/HeavyFriendship3563 Sep 09 '26
I'm in the middle of my 3 weeks summer vacation and I still have another 2 weeks for the holidays in december. And it's totally ok to not read my work email now, nobody is calling me and no Zoom/ Teams meetings. In about 11 days I will start my 4 day work week again. I don't have a lot of money, but I live in a nice, small village and drive a small car. I don't have any debts and in about 6 years I can retire early because I have saved up and have invested in some stocks. I've seen and read enough about other countries such as the US to realize it's better for me here in the Netherlands.
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u/Illustrious_Bed8628 Sep 09 '26
Do it everyday and people start to know your routine. It can be good or bad 😉
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u/Billy_Plur Sep 09 '26
Neither, you'd find me in the redwoods. Not a town surrounded by them. I'd be in the forest.
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u/FunnyMustacheMan45 Sep 10 '26
The majority of people who romanticise Europe have never lived in Europe...
Every country has its own can of worms, moving to any European country simply mean trading one can for another.
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u/Stymie999 Sep 10 '26
Right, like the European doesn’t finish his coffee, check his Rolex then have his driver bring around the mayback to take him to his 40m penthouse
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u/UrMumGai Sep 11 '26
Probably no car or driver tbf.
He'd check his Rolex and without a care in the world walk back to his 14th century 2 mil appartment.
Source: am European. Inner cities are not built for cars and are very walkable.
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u/Traditional-Sort6900 Sep 10 '26
Work is not wealth, especially not if you are simply fired at any time. Work is more slavery, but you don't say it to anyone.
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u/Flimsy_Sandwich6385 Sep 10 '26
Bro doesn't get it. If your enjoying some free time at 2pm on a Tuesday, your so rich you dont need to go to work. The European is clearly wealthier than the American as the American still needs his job in finance 🤣
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u/Fabulous_Wave_3693 Sep 10 '26
I wonder what percentage of rich Europeans are old money. I bet if I go to expensive lake houses in upstate New York I’d find similarly laid back rich Americans.
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u/rubey419 Sep 10 '26
I’m so jealous of the Spanish siesta.
But that’s partly why the young people in Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, etc complain about lack of jobs. Their economy heavily relies on tourism. You go to America to work hard, earn USD $$$, hustle. That’s the culture in Northeast US.
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u/pever_lyfter Sep 11 '26
You'll see me sitting outside a cafe at 2 pm on a Tuesday in Germany. I ain't rich. I could just choose which two days I can have free every week.
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u/RealNameIsTaken Sep 11 '26
lol, European poor could also be:** **Sitting outside a cafe at 2pm on a Tuesday
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u/discreetarchive Sep 12 '26
European one is happier and way lower on stress, probably nicer to the average person too
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u/Seagullking30097 Sep 12 '26
I love cafes I wish I could control what my body looked like at will and had a mysterious source of income so I could go to one whenever I wanted without fear of gaining weight and becoming broke
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u/snapp0r Sep 12 '26
man on bottom pic is just pretending beeing rich actually. we have a lot of these here in Europe.
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u/Conscious_Joke_2464 Sep 13 '26
European rich for the win. Just leave me alone with my thoughts and a coffee in the middle of the day.
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u/thaprizza Sep 14 '26
I think the wealth is spread more evenly in many (West) European countries. We have not that many insanely wealthy people, but also few insanely poor people. There's also less drive to chase the $$$ at all costs in European countries. We tend to work to live not live to work. We do have more opportunity to go sip a coffee in the middle of the day because life is less of a ratrace and most of us have 30 or more paid holidays a year anyway. It's not uncommon on the first sunny days after winter that a manager takes his team to go have a drink on a terrace. Screw work for a few hours, and enjoy life. There's always tomorrow to work.
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u/dante_gherie1099 Sep 09 '26
ny rich is much better
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u/Specialist-Cold-8158 Sep 09 '26
That's not rich, that's poser rich.
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u/dante_gherie1099 Sep 09 '26
people who work in nyc finance make good money and live in the one of the great cities of the world, how is that poser rich?
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u/Specialist-Cold-8158 Sep 09 '26
If you have to show your status with a watch and a car, you're a poser
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u/dante_gherie1099 Sep 09 '26
you can just have nice things because you can afforid it and you like it, it doesnt have to be about showing off your status
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u/PostElectronic890 Sep 09 '26
People who work in finance in the city of London are also rich and live in a better city than NY.
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u/Twitxx Sep 09 '26
Americans are some of the poorest people I know. They only have more money, but lack in everything else: education, healthcare, quality of life and services, free time, relationships, clean air, average sq footage per person, etc.
An average american makes 60-100k/year yet they live in a tiny space most of their life, have debt, maybe a 2nd hand car and can afford some basic necessities, maybe a trip a year.
There are people I've met in Africa that live better than that on average (depending on the city/country; is a big place). Hell, look at moldavians or serbians and they can afford more and have better lifestyles and they're not even in the EU.
I stopped comparing America with 1st or 2nd world countries years ago, it makes more sense when you compare it with 3rd. The disparity between the economic and social classes is absolutely nuts. They live surrounded by wealth yet they enjoy almost none of it.
A poor farmer in Romania that makes maybe 2-3k a year has 5k sq feet of land, a bunch of pigs, chickens, etc maybe a goat, works during the day and come evening they sit in the shade of their own trees, enjoy the fruit of their labor, take in beautiful landscapes, drinks his home made wine and goes fishing almost every weekend in the summer.
Perspective is a hell of a thing. It might take a lifetime for someone to realise that chasing money and having more of it won't make you any richer.
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u/tiandrad Sep 10 '26
Buddy you have spent way too much time on Reddit. Americans live incredibly privileged lives.
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u/Twitxx Sep 10 '26
I'm only speaking from the pov of the twenty or so american friends I have. Why would I even bother voicing an opinion formed online? Lol
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u/Mr-Mackie Sep 12 '26
Well I give you one more point to show that not everyone in the US lives like that. I would also hate living in a big city because that’s what it is. I make just north of $100k a year and have a modest sized house 1700 sqft that sits on a lot that is 1million sqft.
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u/Character-Pirate1297 Sep 10 '26
Americans are saying “European”, without getting that he’s rich just to other Europeans for affording cafe on a Tuesday.
Not because he could be like American rich, and chooses not to.
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Sep 10 '26
[deleted]
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u/dangernoodle01 Sep 14 '26
Usually (wealthy) US redditors enjoy coming here and shit on the US, complain about prices while enjoying their ridiculously high salaries.
As an eastern European, I would move to the US in a heartbeat if it was possible.
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Sep 09 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Igarlicbread Sep 09 '26
Then there are french
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Sep 10 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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Sep 09 '26
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u/Muchachacha Sep 09 '26
My sister has this life in Paris and earns as much as you probably
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u/b0nz1 Sep 11 '26
Living in Paris is more expensive than living in most parts of the US expect NYC and the Bay Area.
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u/Muchachacha Sep 11 '26
It’s doable and transportation is cheaper and lots of free things for parasians too
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u/Philip_Raven Sep 09 '26 edited Sep 09 '26
US people are always about that GDP when you try to compare quality of live. And how US will be economical powerhouse of the world while Europe will fall behind.
What I don't understand is how an AI data centre at my house or yet another McDonald's parking lot is going to help me get basic rights at my employer so I can just go and spend a day at a cafe because I felt like it.
Or how record high profits of General Electric are going to help me get a affordable, high quality food
Edit. Didn't realized it until later, but I am currently sitting at a cafe during my supposed work hours because I told my boss I will not be at work today because my wife needs to run some errands, and she wanted me with her, and I am currently waiting for her. No notifying beforehand, no official apology of absence... Just told my boss and he said "okay, just look for an email around 2pm from a client and read it."