Because I have a terrible passport and would want to get EU citizenship for travel freedom and more importantly, the right to work in Switzerland. The hassle is just waiting for the endless processing by the bureaucracy, the application itself is relatively straightforward.

Decaying pension system is a valid point but I am able to save quite a bit in ETFs working in DE so don’t see that as the biggest issue.

But you would be able to save a lot more for your own retirement if you didn’t have to contribute to the bankrupt Ponzi system. In addition, 25% of the total tax intakes are used to subsidize the pension system, at the cost of investment in the country.

I might be paranoid, but the way the confiscatory government behaves, I wouldn’t be surprised if there is some flat tax in the future on people that have saved wisely (in ETFs or whatever). All in the name of SoLiDaRiTy of course.

No. I will most likely leave some time after getting citizenship. I’ve been here for 2+ years now.

Bankrupt Pensions – I don’t want to pay my whole career into this state-sponsored Ponzi scheme. No private options like a 401k because that’s tax money that the greedy government would lose out on. Too many old people and not enough young folks. Also, while mass migration from the Middle East and Africa will continue (at least while Germany sticks to these heavily outdated asylum laws), I have very little faith it will qualitatively improve the demographic situation in the next 20-30 years. Compare the number of blue card arrivals every year to the number of asylum seekers - that will tell you exactly who Germany is attractive for.

Deteriorating Healthcare – Voluntarily on the public insurance, purely because I knew if I retired here, I would be fucked with private premiums. Immense wait times for doctors compared to private. Also, the system will be under even more strain soon as the boomers retire, so it will approach an NHS-state where they save you if you’re dying but that’s about it. Ideally a minimum wage person should have the same access to health care as someone with a high income. Conversely with a collapsing health system, someone like me paying the maximum premium of 500 EUR a month is in the same miserable boat as someone who’s never paid a dime into the system. Hooray for solidarity, I guess.

Also worth keeping in mind when making a decision to move - as a hard-working skilled immigrant, I know I will be first in the line of fire for tax / social contribution hikes to “improve” the above two systems (not to mention increasing welfare benefits and Germany’s endless social charity for the world). The general attitude of the political class to the salaried middle class is atrocious, which leads to a general “work must be punished” culture in Germany. This is something that I believe will only get worse in the future.

The US is a dog eat dog world.

Absolutely, I left when (among other reasons) I didn’t want to be part of the “move up or move out” mentality anymore.

The taxes can be very hard to stomach here, even with a high salary.

I’d say especially with a high salary. The more you make, the more you’re punished. Sometimes I feel that’s why the US economy is more innovative, because there isn’t much incentive to work hard in places like Germany (by comparison).

It’s funny to read this because I’m slowly heading towards the opposite situation. I’m in Germany and looking primarily for non-German women because I personally see no future in / for Germany (just staying here for citizenship) and if I fell in love with a local, that would very likely unwillingly tie me to the country forever lol.

You forgot the not burn any of his savings part.

How much are average house prices in a good part of town, do you know?

I went to Napoli a few months ago and while the pizza was divine, the streets and sanitation were awful, it reminded me of when I visited India.

What drove you out of Germany if I can ask?

When you’re from skilled worker from a third world dump, you usually get a job and a visa before you move lol. Although I think even if I could do the Hail Mary approach, it would probably drain my accounts haha

Do you just watch the highlights or something (talking about football mostly)? Or how do you get a 90 minute version of a 3-4 hour game?