
I'm an American living in Sweden. Here's why I came to embrace the higher taxes - joeyespo
http://www.vox.com/2016/4/8/11380356/swedish-taxes-love
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GCA10
Stage of life makes all the difference here. Higher-tax, higher-services
economies are a really good deal for people at the beginning or end of their
earnings curves (college/early 20s or 60s/70s.) As the author points out, you
get a lot of government-funded services that make life better. Your tax burden
is noticeable but not hellish.

For peak earners in their 30s/40s, especially those without children, HT-HS
economies are frustrating. I can't fault people like our Vox poster who live
in the U.S. during their peak earnings years ... and then head to a European
country for their retirement years. As long as the border guards don't stop
you, and you aren't consumed with guilt, give it a shot!

~~~
dalke
I am a US citizen who moved to Sweden. I am in my 40s and have no children.

I am not frustrated by the move. I find it easier to work on my business (I am
self-employed) when I don't have to also worry about things like insurance. In
the US, my rates kept going up, and I didn't really know what covered. It's a
specialized topic I don't care to know, and rigged against self-employed
people.

Now I don't have that worry.

The essay talks about transportation. I live in a small city. The nearest big
city is about 50 miles away. I can get to the big city center on the
(subsidized) train for $12, in 38 minutes. That's faster than driving. Which
means I don't need a car, so don't need a garage, so can live in the center of
town.

The essay talks about accessibility to nature. Last summer went hiking for
several days. I didn't need to arrange travel to/from the end points because I
knew there would be bus service. The summer before I went on a 10 day cycling
trip. At every point, if there was a serious problem could take a train or bus
to get back home on my own. Also, "no trespassing" doesn't really exist in
Sweden, so I was free to pitch a tent anywhere. And the trails have some very
nice lean-tos.

I can also underscore how easy it is to do Swedish taxes. The national, state,
and city taxes are all filled in for me, in a simple form, vs. the many pages
of my US federal taxes which I still have to file every year even though I
make less than the overseas exemption so don't actually pay any taxes to the
US.

Also, just because I've been healthy and making decent money doesn't mean that
my friends are all healthy and making money. In the US some people don't have
the money for medical treatments which here are part of the social system. Not
only do I think it's wrong for basic health care to be based on income, but I
don't like the popularity-based back-up solution of personal fund-raisers for
treatment.

Were my parent Swedish, I wouldn't have to worry so much if my retired parents
could support themselves, especially as they need to get more at-home help.

Sure, it's possible to game the system, and only move to Sweden for
retirement. But should everyone do that, the system wouldn't work. I think
Kant would have something to say about the morality of that proposal.

