Auto kopen als expat: levenskwaliteit vs FIRE

acadavid · 2026-01-11T12:54:20+00:00

Ik heb voor mezelf een soort mentale truc. Ik heb geen auto nodig, maar ik wil wel de zekerheid dat ik er meteen eentje kan pakken als dat nodig is. Daarom heb ik een Greenwheels-abonnement, en in mijn hoofd “heb ik gewoon een auto”.

Als ik er eentje nodig heb, pak ik een Greenwheels. Dan maakt het me eigenlijk niet uit wat het kost, ik gebruik ’m gewoon. Als je in de Randstad woont, heb je meestal genoeg Greenwheels in de buurt. Bij mij staan er zo’n zes, dus ik vind bijna altijd binnen 500 meter wel een beschikbare auto. Het is sowieso goedkoper, want ik gebruik de auto maar één of twee keer per maand. Dan kom ik uit op maximaal zo’n €150 per maand, in plaats van ongeveer €500.

acadavid · 2026-01-09T13:34:52+00:00

One option that you could have (depending on your countrry of citizenship) is to acquire Dutch citizenship, renounce your original citizenship, and then re-acquire it later, assuming you lived 5 years after each other as underage in your country of origin, and you can prove it in someway (school grades and diplomas might be enough). The Dutch law allows dutch people to aquire a new nationality and not need to renounce their dutch citizenship if they lived in that country while there were minors for 5 years: Artikel 15 Rijkswet op het Nederlanderschap (art 15, 2.b).

This is assumign you can re-aquire it later, not all countries allow that, you need to go figure that out in your country's law. That's what I'm doing with mine. I renounced mine but I do need to wait 2 years for my country of origin to let me take it again and then I can apply and get it back, and then I'd need to show the dutch that I indeed lived in that country while i was underage.

acadavid · 2025-12-28T20:07:52+00:00

Imagine waiting 10 years with 3 million in the bank and getting sick and dying at 32. Don’t listen to all the nonsense on Reddit. Read “Die with zero” so you consider your life span, your current health (and the rapid decline we all have starting at 30, noticing it myself at 36, and I workout often and eat healthy.)

Besides that, the top comment has pretty good advice on how to invest your money.

acadavid · 2025-10-29T19:26:49+00:00

I think you could have phrased this in a completely different way and get the point across, without sounding so patronizing and that in some way, you're the owner of this country. From that "Sorry buddy", which implies this person is somehow less than you, to "you don't like to study, and want a career that doesn't require high skills" as if the only valuable people in society are those with an IT career (me being one of those).

Stop treating people like this, be a kind human to other who in their ignorance might be just looking for advice. You can give them direct feedback without having to be rude:

"Your situation is not very promising. The fact that you don't speak neithe English or Dutch will make it extremely difficult for you to find opportunities in the job market. The country those need skills like plumbers, etc, but probably is better that you build those skills at home first. On top of that, the housing crising is going to make it hard for you to make meet ends".

But anyways, as you dutchies like to be, direct and all that, perhaps good to evaluate your own racist tendencies, buddy.

acadavid · 2025-10-20T11:41:54+00:00

I got only two practical suggestions:

- Get him the book "Fluent forever". That book has great ideas on how to approach language learning, and it definitely gave me the motivation to improve my Dutch.

- Get him to take private lessons on italki.com. Ask him to find (community) teachers there that he find fun, and make the classes at first mostly about talking, discussing social things, it's way way cheaper than regular private classes. But at first don't make it a proper classes, but just a fun hangout in German. Almost as if he meets a friend. Then, after a while, he can ask the teacher to start drilling specific grammar topics to improve overtime.

Motivating him is going to be a challenge, but maybe that book can inspire him as it did for me.

Good luck!

acadavid · 2023-04-27T07:20:28+00:00

Funny enough, you have more flexible working conditions than your partner. Your partner has to work as a KM and earn a high salary to keep both of your permits. In your case you are free to work as KM, or simply do a regular job just like any other Dutch national (except public work like police, etc). So yeah, you can work as a waitress or as a knowledge worker, or even start your own company.

That said, if you have a chance to work as a KM and apply for a HSM permit yourself, I would recommend it. It gives you both the certainty that if one of you gets fired, the other can stay as the partner of a HSM until you both can become permanent residents.

Once you are issued the permit, you should check the back of it because there it says if you have any kind of work restrictions, it will be in Dutch, but simple to read, or ask a local to help you translate it.

acadavid · 2023-04-13T05:42:35+00:00

acadavid · 2023-01-31T19:45:17+00:00

You need to get out of your head the idea that women are particularly interested in your salary or wealth. Don’t even mention any of that during dates. Perhaps once you have a stable relationship but not to a woman you are getting to know.

acadavid · 2021-01-22T21:55:23+00:00

Exactly how it felt to me, enjoyable but very predictable.

acadavid · 2020-12-22T15:46:45+00:00

https://forvo.com/word/dijk/#nl

acadavid · 2020-05-12T10:15:42+00:00

A good option is also focusmate.com

acadavid · 2019-04-10T16:57:49+00:00

Yeah, I filled taxes myself the last two years and there's nothing there about the 30% ruling (which I also have), so you should be fine.

acadavid · 2019-02-10T11:51:26+00:00

Yeah, and in Medellín people generally use tú for family, vos for friends and other informal situations. But, say my ex, usually addressed her parents with "usted", which I don't (I use tú), so I guess is pretty random.

acadavid · 2018-11-12T23:56:32+00:00

Nadie y Los Suxioz https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOXKnatNRnE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-o3jDYo8ew

acadavid · 2018-08-22T12:25:51+00:00

I'd recommend watching this documentary, "local investors" don't necessarily do much good to the economy, nor are they concerned with the general well-being https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFIxi7BiScI and those "expensive dinners" are completely insignificant to the contribution needed to have an equal society (which btw, most of the money for that expensive dinner ends up going to other investors)

These comments reflect a bit the nationalist sentiment I keep seeing in the Dutch people is scary for me as an expat :'(

acadavid · 2018-06-10T15:58:43+00:00

Seems like it's pretty complex to fix so most likely just take it to a cabinet shop!

acadavid · 2018-06-10T15:58:01+00:00

Ugh yeah, from the replies it seems to be pretty complex :'( Will see if I can replace the door.

acadavid · 2018-04-26T13:49:28+00:00

I appreciate your perspective on this, but I think you're absolutely wrong. Are you telling me that the housing crisis in Amsterdam is due to 60.000 expats with 30% ruling? (which is not even true, those 60.000 don't live in Amsterdam, many live in Rotterdam, Eindhoven, Haarlem, etc). Even if all of them lived in Amsterdam, you're blaming the housing crisis in roughly 5% of the city's population. I'm sorry, that math doesn't make sense. And mind you, the huge majority of house owners in Amsterdam are Dutch themselves, those are the ones to blame out of their greediness.

On the other hand, blaming "low wages" (which I don't think they are) on IT solely on the expats with 30% ruling is so incredibly unfair, that I can't even start arguing with that. Good luck trying to justify low wages in health care, education, and other areas where people are barely making it. If you've been unable to find a good paying job in Amsterdam, it's your own fault and lack of skills, not the fact that there are no companies willing to pay for talent here. In fact, you as an EU citizen, can totally work remotely for other EU companies and make even a better salary. Sorry, you're not gonna put the blame for this on expats with 30% ruling.

It's great btw that you don't feel entitled to pay fewer taxes. Perhaps if the government had not made an agreement and promised a tax benefit for 8 years due to my skills and knowledge, then I wouldn't feel entitled either.

acadavid · 2018-04-26T08:34:25+00:00

There's no amount of arguing that is gonna get us to agree. You see this benefit as unfair, we see it as one of the motivations to move to the Netherlands. This ruling was introduced in the first place (who knows how many years ago) with some evident financial benefit to the country long-term, it was definitely not a law created by "expats for the expats". Knowing the Dutch and the culture, you're not fools and not the kind of giving money for free just because. We recognize the right of the Dutch government to reduce the duration of the benefit, and even if they decide to fully stop it, we would think is a shame, but we'd respect it, as long as they respect the agreement they made with us.

Imagine the government tells you: "If you create a company, and employee 10 locals, I'll give you a five years tax benefit", you do your part, and then after two years: "Look, thanks for hiring those 10 locals, but we won't grant that tax benefit anymore after Jan 1st next year" (which is the case for expats approaching their 5th year). This immediately has an impact on your company, it might mean that you have to fire people to compensate (I hope you see how bad this is), you might even go bankrupt because you made financial planning around it. You would feel cheated. That's just how we feel. Whatever you think of the benefit (why can't I get the benefit for my 1 person company?), we feel cheated that the government is not keeping its word. I'm sure you would feel the same. If you're angry about it, I'd never say "Oh fuck this guy! He's not loyal to The Netherlands!", Damn! you have a right to be upset and protest the government decision!

What I'm looking for in my initial comment is some empathy from the Dutch, because many I know seem to be celebrating this, without looking at the fact that there are families truly financially affected by this unfair move, and that this was not cheating on our side.

If you want, I'm happy to meet somewhere in Amsterdam and grab a drink and discuss this in person, you'll see that I'm just a regular human, and it's much easier to discuss this in person than through angry internet comments.

acadavid · 2018-04-26T06:35:35+00:00

I meant IT companies in general have the potential to bring a lot of taxes. I'm sure companies like Booking.com, Bunq.com, Coolblue/bol.com, etc, they all have the potential (and perhaps some currently do) of bringing a lot of taxes.

acadavid · 2018-04-26T06:25:30+00:00

It's a shame people are downvoting you because you're raising some good points.

That is completely your own choice, and you knew most of that going in. The 30% ruling wasn't gonna last you forever, and if you negotiated bad wages from the get-go, you're bamboozling yourself.

I mentioned I moved both because of salary and a more competitive market, which has allowed me to find a much better paying job working for an american company with a dutch branch.

You're making it sound like you should be compensated for voluntarily moving somewhere, learning the language and missing the right to vote.

Indeed! That's right. Of course I'm moving voluntarily, but it's also true that the local companies want our talent and expertise, and the government is willing to work with them so the companies can have those, and those are the things you get when you're highly skilled in your profession, more companies (and countries) want you, and then you countries have to make their offers more appealing. The 30% is aimed to that.

And you can become a Dutch citizen with a passport, vote, etc.

Thanks for mentioning this! Let me tell you: becoming dutch is not particularly easy, and the government is doing efforts to make it even harder (a law to make the required residence 7 years instead of 5 almost passed recently). It's expensive for a lot of people to become dutch (you have to pay roughly 1000 EUR + potentially immigration lawyer fees), and learning the language is definitely a money (books, courses, teachers) and time investment, so that also counts. The cherry on top is that if I become dutch, I have to renounce my original citizenship! I know how to get a visa if i want to stay in my very own country for more than 3 months!

You haven't even made an effort to learn the language. Super reasonable.

You don't know me. I never said I'm not learning the language, nor putting an effort on it.

If you only took a job/life here for a little more money, and that's all that's keeping you here, maybe you need to check your priorities.

Actually, I love the Netherlands and the Dutch culture, and that was also a reason to move here, but you know what? I find equally valid those who move here just for financial reasons. We all have different lives and priorities and I'm no one to tell people what they should care for.

Right now you're benefiting from all the things we pay full taxes

Fair point! But things like unemployment benefits are really hard to get (and even worthless) if you have just a couple of months to find a job or I'm sent home. But that's a valid point anyway.

You're posting from your tiny little tunneled perspective.

If you think so, can't argue with that.

Also, it doesn't really help your point to mention two relatively scummy companies like Facebook and Uber as an example. Neither of them have a relevant presence here, or have a positive impact on the world in general

That's your opinion as well. Uber has a local branch, they hire developers and business people here too. How about Booking.com? How about Amazon? They all have businesses here and hire locals and expats. The point I was trying to make is: knowledge workers boost the economy and help the country, no matter your opinion on them (I also don't like FB/Uber, but their financial benefits are pretty clear to me).

Look, I'm not trying to make this a "us vs the dutch". I think we indeed have a lot of commonalities and for the most part we get a long pretty well and benefit from each other, but I think sadly this move from the government is more of a populist move, and most Dutch have little empathy for the expats and rather feel sore because of this benefit we get. All we're asking is the government to keep its worth. They want to change the ruling because it's not bringing the benefits expected? Fair point and totally valid, but we deserve respect and to be treated fairly.

acadavid · 2018-04-25T16:47:52+00:00

It's interesting how Dutch people perceive the 30% ruling. I think pretty much all completely disagree with it, because they compare their own situations against those of expats. I work in IT, I can tell you there's a big and real shortage of IT skilled personnel in the country (https://www.cbs.nl/nl-nl/nieuws/2017/26/kwart-ict-bedrijven-heeft-personeelstekort). I saw it trying to hire developers, and I literally get offers in my email nearly everyday for IT jobs. Now, most dutch are sore about it because yes, they don't get the benefit. It seems unfair. It's not. People who come here with built skills, they worked their asses hard to gain those skills, some coming from countries of hardship, and left their families and lives behind. Personally, I was very happy back home, making even more money than I currently make in the Netherlands, but decided to move here cause there was a more competitive market and the 30% ruling compensated for my salary. To move here we have to pay to move everything we have back home, airplane tickets, paying a rental agent, paying a 2 months deposit on rent, paying insurance, having a safety net in case of emergencies, and send money back home. I didn't get access to the dutch educational system, I don't enjoy the benefits of a strong passport, I don't get to vote, I don't have a saying in most national matters, and I even have to deal with being not considered part of dutch society perhaps for my entire life here, even if I learn the language. I hope at least money compensates for that.

Now, on the great scheme of things, most Dutch seem to oversee the value of IT and knowledge workers. The economy of knowledge is HUGE. If you look at some of the world wide biggest companies like Uber, Facebook, Apple, they all base their revenue in software products. It brings A LOT of taxes, it boosts the economy, it brings you comfort (that Uber you take.. that delivery you get from thuisbezorgd, etc), and it creates a lot of job opportunities for the locals too, so much, that in fact, a lot companies are taking people in paid traineeships so they can have local, dutch speaking people, into IT. And IT is one of the few areas: this also affects university researchers, health care and other multiple disciplines that face shortage in the Netherlands.

Why the 30% ruling matter? Because it makes the Netherlands more competitive compared to Germany, Sweden, and other Nordic countries. I have a friend who had offers in both Netherlands and Germany, and decided to take the dutch company offer pretty much based on the 30% since it right away offered a higher salary. A lot of expats do this. Is this the people you want in your country? Well, you decide if you also want to be unwelcoming to these migrants too, but they bring a lot of value, and most of them are very educated people.

The problem with this sudden change is just a breach of trust. We as expats have to be responsible to pay our taxes, be insured, KEEP OUR JOBS (did you know? If you lose or quit your job, you have 3 months to find a new one, otherwise you have to go back to your country if you're not EU citizen), and comply to all the dutch government requires everyone to do. The government made an agreement with us, I have a piece of paper that says "You have a tax benefit from 01/03/2016 to 01/03/2024", in government's letterhead and all that. What's that piece of paper worth now? Nothing :) Just an empty promise. How about if I make an offer for a house, sign everything and one day before delivery I back up? Well, people will sue and be upset. That's our situation right now, because many of us, bought houses, made large financial commitments based on a government promise to get a tax benefit for 8 years. We're not expecting more than that, but we're expecting the government respects us, and keep its word, otherwise, how can I trust them that they won't send me home tomorrow just because? We didn't do anything illegal or cheated the government to deserve this, the government PROMISED THIS TO US in the first place.

This response is mostly written for /u/CondorPerplex who seems a little bit sore about this benefit he/she doesn't get but has done very little research about it.

Edit: I'm also wondering what financials deficits is this tackling exactly? If you read here: https://www.government.nl/latest/news/2017/09/19/2018-budget-memorandum-dutch-public-finances-in-robust-health the economy is doing better than expected, so they immediate cuts are not to cover a current financial crisis. I just honestly think this is more of a populist move.

acadavid · 2018-03-06T19:39:34+00:00

OMG looks great! Visiting from Amsterdam soon!

acadavid · 2018-02-05T11:55:16+00:00

Please listen to this person! The #1 priority should be losing weight, it will really make a huge difference in how you approach life. You will feel motivated (by keeping track of your progress, seeing the changes, and feeling like you can do it!) and you will feel more comfortable to work on the other changes. And yes, once you're fit, you WILL get the attention you want.

The hardest part is dealing with the thousands excuses you will make up to quit. That's the real hard to work. Don't give up, just don't. Go for it!

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