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My wife and I have been investigating the possibility of moving to another country and right now it seems as though Ireland would be at the top of the list. We're both white, of mixed European ancestry. I have an Irish-born grandmother and as such could be granted Irish citizenship (dual or exclusive) through ancestry.
I'm a college graduate and could do plenty of things for income if need be, but I might just teach online music lessons. I can do that anywhere in the world. My wife and I are politically just right of "moderate"... we agree with some of what the liberals say and some of what the conservatives say, but more on the conservative side. We like neither Trump nor Clinton for president and will be voting for neither of them. (I'm just going to write in my own name!)
What we dislike about America is the increasing polarization of the populace, the militarization of the masses by the rich and powerful people who profit from it, the obscene division of wealth, the growing congestion, the fact that every last little thing gets politicized, the fact that it is really not a safe country, and the system which makes people rude, inconsiderate and selfish (generally speaking). Before we throw in the towel and say that we hate all people whom we don't know, we want to see if there's somewhere else where people are actually friendly and considerate. Ireland ranks high on both counts in every list I've seen, and on top of that, Ireland appears to have an ideal climate for us (we don't like extreme cold nor extreme heat). I have also read that Ireland is largely agricultural, which is good, because we aspire to be self-sufficient.
So there are some positives I can see. Rather than wading through who knows how many dozens of articles of dubious quality, I figured I'd ask those who know: Can you give me three good reasons why staying in America is better than moving to Ireland?
income taxes are very high in ireland if you earn anything like a decent wage
I wouldn't mind that as long as what's left over is enough for a comfortable life. For example, if my American job would pay me $400,000 per year, I'd gladly give up 50% of that to taxes necessary to sustain the system that enables me to have a normal job paying me that much because I can do really well with our current cost of living on $200,000 per year take-home pay.
I'd be most interested in the total tax burden. For example, in the USA, it's widely figured that the average family's total tax burden is between 30% and 50% when you consider all taxes (federal income tax, state income tax, local income tax, property tax, sales tax, lodging tax, fuel tax, and all of the increases in price that we have to pay to cover down on taxes assessed to the companies that sell us the stuff).
Quote:
Originally Posted by irish_bob
housing is expensive in cities , especially rents
It's the same in America unless you are living in the ghetto. There you can find cheap housing in the city, but there's a reason why it's cheap - your life might be ended by a stray bullet as you sleep.
We wouldn't be living in any city anyway. We're rural folk.
Quote:
Originally Posted by irish_bob
public transport is very poor compared to most of europe ( its a very car orientated country )
But it can't be as bad as it is in America. Admittedly, I'd love not to have to drive... but I fail to see how I'd ever be able to live without SOME driving. (Then again, I've never lived in Europe... so maybe their public transportation is that great! The problem is that I am always hauling stuff around... and public transportation seems geared toward people who travel light.)
Quote:
Originally Posted by irish_bob
cars are very expensive due to the level of goverment levies added to the purchase price
Tell me more about this one. They're pretty expensive in this country too, given all of the government-mandated expenses that we have to cover for in the purchase price. Does this price increase hit private-sale used cars as well?
Quote:
Originally Posted by irish_bob
climate is wet beyond description , least hours of sunshine of any country in europe
Wet beyond description? I used to live in Oregon, where it rained almost every day in the winter. I don't mind rain... in fact, I prefer overcast days to sunny days. I did some research not long ago and it showed that Ireland doesn't get an unusual amount of rain - I read something about around one meter per year, or less. (Y'all do use the metric system, correct?)
I can live with that. Do the temperate areas get substantially more than a meter of rain per year?
Does the rain tend to come in storms or does it come in many more smaller showers?
Quote:
Originally Posted by other99
You should make a visit to Ireland first before seriously considering moving there.
I wouldn't make a trip like that to any country to which I was not already seriously considering moving. But I would not move to any country without having visited first, for (hopefully) long enough to get a serious feel for the area.
I wouldn't mind that as long as what's left over is enough for a comfortable life. For example, if my American job would pay me $400,000 per year, I'd gladly give up 50% of that to taxes necessary to sustain the system that enables me to have a normal job paying me that much because I can do really well with our current cost of living on $200,000 per year take-home pay.
except you probably don't make $400k in the US, and you won't in Ireland either
you'll have to define "comfortable" life because "american" life is still expensive anywhere in the world relative to their local economy. IE a "comfortable" Irish life may not be comfortable to you if you expect the same things you do now in the US. If using your example of a comfortable life needing $200k post tax...
kind of sounds like you think Ireland is "cheaper"? So you are looking to move into a class above where you are in the US?
What do you actually do for a living, RomaniGypsy? What does your wife do? Lets assume you can find the same jobs in Ireland. What is the going rate for those jobs in Ireland? This is what you need to research. Can you live comfortably on that income?
I wouldn't mind that as long as what's left over is enough for a comfortable life. For example, if my American job would pay me $400,000 per year, I'd gladly give up 50% of that to taxes necessary to sustain the system that enables me to have a normal job paying me that much because I can do really well with our current cost of living on $200,000 per year take-home pay.
I'd be most interested in the total tax burden. For example, in the USA, it's widely figured that the average family's total tax burden is between 30% and 50% when you consider all taxes (federal income tax, state income tax, local income tax, property tax, sales tax, lodging tax, fuel tax, and all of the increases in price that we have to pay to cover down on taxes assessed to the companies that sell us the stuff).
It's the same in America unless you are living in the ghetto. There you can find cheap housing in the city, but there's a reason why it's cheap - your life might be ended by a stray bullet as you sleep.
We wouldn't be living in any city anyway. We're rural folk.
But it can't be as bad as it is in America. Admittedly, I'd love not to have to drive... but I fail to see how I'd ever be able to live without SOME driving. (Then again, I've never lived in Europe... so maybe their public transportation is that great! The problem is that I am always hauling stuff around... and public transportation seems geared toward people who travel light.)
Tell me more about this one. They're pretty expensive in this country too, given all of the government-mandated expenses that we have to cover for in the purchase price. Does this price increase hit private-sale used cars as well?
Wet beyond description? I used to live in Oregon, where it rained almost every day in the winter. I don't mind rain... in fact, I prefer overcast days to sunny days. I did some research not long ago and it showed that Ireland doesn't get an unusual amount of rain - I read something about around one meter per year, or less. (Y'all do use the metric system, correct?)
I can live with that. Do the temperate areas get substantially more than a meter of rain per year?
Does the rain tend to come in storms or does it come in many more smaller showers?
I wouldn't make a trip like that to any country to which I was not already seriously considering moving. But I would not move to any country without having visited first, for (hopefully) long enough to get a serious feel for the area.
every penny earned over 34 k in ireland is taxed @ 50%
Surely you have been to Ireland before? You can't seriously be considering a move without having been there?
Irish people should answer you on these questions, but just like the eskimos have many ways to describe snow, so too do the Irish have many expressions for rain. There is a reason why the Irish are probably the whitest people in the world.
You'll get far fewer and far less serious thunderstorms in Ireland than in the U.S., however.
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