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There are places in those and similar countries where that sort of income will let you own a house and car, raise a family and pets, even fit in a fairly cost-intensive hobby such as sailing/horseriding/cars/light aircraft if you don't go crazy. It's genuinely a slightly confusing situation to be in, compared to reading about Google employees making half a million a year - are you living a great life, or falling behind the modern world?

As a person living in a (relatively for the western world) low-cost-of-living area, making a decent income for a low-cost-of-living area, it sometimes feels like a local maximum. It would take a sizeable income jump to offset low cost of housing. No doubt the top world cities are the place to be, in terms of all kinds of fun and opportunities, but lifestyle would be worse there unless or until you'd broken into a really high income bracket.




As someone living in the United States and earning much more than I would in my home country, even though my professional contribution would be the same if the same opportunities existed in my home country (I took my PhD in my home country), there is no comparison between the quality of life I have in the country I currently live in and my home country given the expected local salary - setting aside loved ones, friends, and memories.

If a two-bedroom apartment goes for 200k and after taxes what I have is 25k or so, my financial situation, considering kids, car(s), aging parents and what we call life, would certainly not be one of unquestionable success.

"Sailing/horse riding/cars/light aircraft" would certainly be a stretch.




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