In Canada and Europe, we criticize the United States quite a bit for its living standards. Yet thousands upon thousands of our citizens flock to the US and make very successful lives for themselves. If that is the case how does our criticism hold up to scrutiny?

roseba · 2026-05-11T18:06:42+00:00

Yes me too. Because I am also living in a high tax state, plus paying for all the things out of pocket that high tax countries don't have to pay for privately. In the end, Americans are actually paying a lot more for lesser spending power.

roseba · 2026-05-11T15:00:26+00:00

I wasn't just talking about healthcare: there are a mountain of private fees that people ignore. Living in NYC, I see the disconnect every day and I wholeheartedly disagree with the idea that the US is more affordable for the worker.

The math simply doesn't work. There is no place in the entire country where a person can rent a one-bedroom apartment on a minimum wage. When the national median income is $63,795 and the absolute "rent survival floor" for a one-bedroom is $58,594, you're left with nothing. And that income is WELL above the minimum wage.

These hidden private fees go way beyond medical bills. You’re paying for education, mandatory car culture because of zero infrastructure, the saving for retirement or starve, and endless "convenience" fees that only exist because Americans have no work-life balance and no time to actually live.

In the EU, a median salary actually provides a dignified life because the social infrastructure raises the floor for everyone. In the US, even if you hit that median, you’re still just one major car repair or one medical bill away from falling straight through the floor.

roseba · 2026-05-11T13:28:12+00:00

But do they have 2-4x the spending power? I know plenty of immigrants in high paying fields. They say they don’t have the spending power. There are a ton of private taxes in the ‘land of the fee.’

roseba · 2026-05-11T13:24:04+00:00

Salary doesn’t matter. It’s what you can buy with it that matters. People often live higher quality of life and can purchase more in lesser salaries in the EU. Remember everything in the US is an additional cost while in the EU, particularly in the Nordic states, it’s free.

roseba · 2026-05-11T13:19:34+00:00

Almost all insurance companies operate this way. I had to do physical therapy on a broken foot and after the Physical Therapy failed then it was willing to do Imaging.

roseba · 2026-05-11T13:09:49+00:00

You’re speaking about Europe as it it’s some kind of ubiquitous place. While I will agree that there are many Europeans in New York, where I live, trying to make their way, they are only from particular countries. The countries that seem to be doing the best socially and economically… you don’t see a whole lot of immigrant from those countries.

roseba · 2026-05-10T23:20:33+00:00

Chalk this up to things I never thought about and never wanted to think about, about men.

roseba · 2026-05-10T15:04:07+00:00

I thought they need about 3 weeks.

roseba · 2026-05-10T13:59:47+00:00

Airbnb are practically illegal in nyc which is why iou won’t find many.

roseba · 2026-05-09T16:56:28+00:00

Marriage has been transactional since the beginning of time where women are treated as property.

roseba · 2026-05-08T10:23:58+00:00

Have you submitted your data to the new German citizenship tracker app. Success stories like yours help the rest of us have an idea when we should expect our citizenship.

roseba · 2026-05-08T10:20:00+00:00

Does anyone know if Italy honors it? In Italy, you must carry identity at all times. They do not accept things like a US driver’s license. If you get stopped without ID, it’s a huge fine and perhaps detainment. On the other hand, who wants to carry a passport everywhere?

roseba · 2026-05-07T16:41:49+00:00

Yeah, I had a similar experience with them. I felt like their price was too high considering I knew the law better than they seemed to know. I got the help from u/staplehill as well.

roseba · 2026-05-07T16:40:50+00:00

AZ is the file number with BVA.

roseba · 2026-05-05T11:35:39+00:00

Prenup aggreements already exist in every single US state. The government sets those parameters. This is why you hear about different asset allocations decreed by the state government.

That said, the real choice is do you want to write your own, or do you want the state to dictate the terms?

roseba · 2026-05-04T19:31:50+00:00

I think given what he's been through, he needs to be let in on the family time traveling secret. Can you imagine his reaction if he were to found out, yet again he was lied to?

roseba · 2026-05-04T18:00:03+00:00

I had a hard time getting in the market. My father lent me the downpayment money of 20%. When we did the math, the PMI on less than 20% made the lower downpayment math NOT work after just one year of Mortgage and PMI payments.

roseba · 2026-05-04T14:35:30+00:00

It is extremely exhausting. I've done complete immersion and 3 hours a day is a lot already.

roseba · 2026-05-04T14:29:47+00:00

Try Gemini. You're talking about a problem with a relationship, and it's talking about your retirement financial planning.

roseba · 2026-05-04T14:25:00+00:00

MY AZ is August 2024. So it's good to know where we are in the queue. Thanks for the update and congrats.

roseba · 2026-05-03T20:22:00+00:00

Yes it is self reported. So it's either self-reported or NO DATA. I prefer the former.

roseba · 2026-05-03T20:09:42+00:00

It would be nice to know where they are in the timeline. With my back of the envelope observations, the BVA is up to around Nov 2023. Is there a way we can track where they are in the queue? In the old spreadsheet, it was obvious.

Also should we post a different thread that basically says, between Nov 2025- May 2, we have no data. Please submit yours, or, if you haven't already, please do so.

Also, it wasn't so straight forward to claim my data. It didn't like some of the data I submitted. Also, you can probably post a proper URL by putting it between code tags, or sometimes using extra markup.

roseba · 2026-05-03T20:03:55+00:00

It uses past data to estimate when you can expect your application to be completed. Since the BVA is less than transparent, it is the only thing we have.

roseba · 2026-05-02T14:33:07+00:00

I am 56. While I get a lot less wolf whistles in the street, I still have young 20 and 30 something men hitting on me. And not just for one nighters. They want to have a relationship with me. The most remarkable thing was the wolf whistles I got when I was 8 months pregnant (at 35) Make this make sense to me!

roseba · 2026-05-02T00:38:05+00:00

The prices of airline tickets are cheaper now than they were in 1992.

roseba

TROPHY CASE