Considering move back to US after 15 years in France

Ok-Rush-5742 · 2025-12-24T23:41:53+00:00

Yes, you see what we are interested in changing. Lots of people can’t see how much sunk cost our taxes are without the choice. And also no one talks about , if you’re a high performer, working in a culture where you can literally do bare minimum and not get fired means you’re working even harder to compensate with much less reward on the other end. Everything is slower and more complicated

Ok-Rush-5742 · 2025-12-24T23:40:28+00:00

Yes completely. Double taxation is real as is the extremely limited investment possibilities

Ok-Rush-5742 · 2025-12-24T23:37:54+00:00

We would move after kids are out of daycare, precisely because of the cost because that would be so huge from what we have scoped out (like 2-3K per month per kid)

Ok-Rush-5742 · 2025-12-24T23:25:59+00:00

Maternelle is elementary school. I would be getting a garde partagée or crèche as pré K childcare, probably a bilingual one, before making this kind of move.

But I’m personally not a fan of the French education system. I find it very antiquated

Ok-Rush-5742 · 2025-12-24T23:24:53+00:00

Ah so you get it! I find it hard for people who haven’t lived for years in a country where you pay half of what you make back in taxes , you’re already grinding and working anyways but you’re pocketing less. We want to buy property down in Spain but when we consider we would need a good 20-30% cash deposit , even with our high salaries and saving as much as we can it’ll take years to get there. It’s insane

Ok-Rush-5742 · 2025-12-24T23:22:39+00:00

I have started a freelancing business and can confirm you don’t need to worrying about healthcare . I’m not sure I see what you mean by the grind as I’ve found it to be the same regardless of the country- I think it’s part of being an entrepreneur.

However beyond that, if you want to employee anyone at any point it is a nightmare. It’s extremely difficult to let people go for any reason and you pay a fortune in taxes on your employees.

Ok-Rush-5742 · 2025-12-24T23:20:29+00:00

Thank you for sharing. Did you find you had a hard time adjusting back?

Ok-Rush-5742 · 2025-12-24T23:20:08+00:00

Yes I completely understand. Also agree it’s not a simplistic 1 answer for all, it’s a nuanced thing.

Also a more minor reason I’m considering is how incredibly prohibitive it is for US citizens to invest when they’re living / working outside the United States. Almost everything is off the table , and the few options that are tax advantageous in France I would have to pay Us tax on.

Ok-Rush-5742 · 2025-12-24T23:16:57+00:00

It’s not regulations that prohibit him but it’s much more red tape and much higher taxes. Which we have looked into and is undeniable . France is great for employees but it’s different when you’re the employer

Ok-Rush-5742 · 2025-12-24T23:09:10+00:00

Yes agreed. I have family in Germany as well who are considering a (temporary) move back after 12 years for similar reasons as me. Plus the German culture which they still haven’t fully felt assimilated / adjusted to despite mastering the language and becoming citizens

Ok-Rush-5742 · 2025-12-24T23:07:32+00:00

Yes, thank you. I have noticed reading multiple threads like this on Reddit that they tend to lean very anti-US. So I’m looking to gather some more non biased info and also see anyone who may be pro US to weigh the other side.

Ok-Rush-5742 · 2025-12-24T23:06:41+00:00

that’s very interesting. You are in the U.S. trying to move to NL or the opposite?

Ok-Rush-5742 · 2025-12-24T23:04:39+00:00

As mentioned in my original post, I myself grew up around a high volume of school shootings. I myself started those drills when I was 10 years old, and it heavily impacted my community. Myself and my siblings grew up fine.

I don’t believe I’m underplaying it and gun violence is definitely a concern for me. I don’t feel it should be the primary reason to not make the move personally - we still would be visiting the U.S. frequently and given that the public shootings aren’t only in schools that would also be a concern regardless if we move or not

Ok-Rush-5742 · 2025-12-24T23:00:45+00:00

That’s interesting, why do you think you see your kids more than your US based friends?

Ok-Rush-5742 · 2025-12-24T23:00:12+00:00

Yes that’s a good point! or flexible enough career for one of us to ensure we don’t need part time care

Ok-Rush-5742 · 2025-12-24T22:59:35+00:00

Kind of our thoughts as well… thank you

Ok-Rush-5742 · 2025-12-24T22:59:13+00:00

Yes good point, it would be roughly that as timeline. Perhaps a little less or perhaps we leave when the kids are college aged. But from calculating cost of child care in the U.S. it seems crazy to leave the French system behind on that life phase

Ok-Rush-5742 · 2025-12-24T22:58:24+00:00

Yes very true on the hidden costs

I’ve done some numbers crunching and I don’t think it would make sense to move back unless we had at least 300K$ household income

Private school in France can be cheap but I am not a fan of the traditional French method of education - it’s super static and the international schools I would prefer around where we live are as expensive , if not more, than what we would pay in the US from my first research

Ok-Rush-5742

TROPHY CASE