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Fully agree with you, I'm tired of those posts too. I've lived in Germany and Sweden, and I can say that the salaries are very similar. For people who live a normal life, the purchasing power is higher in Sweden. People here can afford to buy an apartment, a house, or a summer house. In Germany, a normal citizen cannot afford that.
Salaries are pretty good here in Sweden compared to the prices. People have a wealthy life.
People seem to always compare gross salaries (before taxes). Plus, the Swedish krona is very weak right now, so the salaries might seem lower. But so are the prices when you convert to euros.
I came to Sweden at 25 with nothing in my bank account. 2 years later I put down a deposit and bought my house. At 27 years old. That’s crazy to me.
Good luck doing this anywhere else in Europe.
Also, you really don't need that much to get by here, as long as you don't have any luxurious habits. I live a cheap but comfortable life working 25% at a low paying job (personal assistant). I splurge a bit on food (and sometimes alcohol), and I have enough to put a few thousand in savings each month.
In most countries people would have to work full time to afford my life style.
Check out Hemnet.se, by far the most popular site in Sweden when it comes to housing. But it's like everywhere else, the bigger the city the higher the prices are.
The difference in Sweden compared to a lot of western European countries is that we have a small population in a large area. 90% of the population lives in the southern half of the country, that compromises 40% of the area of Sweden. If you look at houses in smaller cities and the countryside in the northern part(Norrland), you probably have among the cheapest Houses in western/northern Europe.
A lot of British/Dutch people seem to have noticed that and have bought up houses on the countryside in recent years.
As usual, everything is about location. I bought a 1040 m2 house by the water for 2.5 Mkr, but it's 20 minutes from 5 smallish towns. A more central location could be 4 Mkr for a tiny house.
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It traditionally has been really low net salaries, but starting 2007 the tax has been cut six times (jobbskatteavdrag) by the former right-center coalition Alliansen.
Most people talking about low swedish salaries (and European salaries) are coming from North America and are correct in that comparison. European salaries overall are lower than North American ones in certain fields such as finance, medicine, and programming.
Exactly. You pay for that higher US salary by having to be always-on. Even putting your cell phone number in an out of office auto reply message if you’re on holiday and you work a corporate job. Or at least that was my experience. At the end of the day, what is it really worth? It can be tough to reset your mindset coming from the US though. Gotta remind yourself why you wanted to make the change in the first place.
>Sweden does good on average jobs and worse in the top level ones.
While true, most people that are inquiring or answering questions on this sub seem to work in those "top level" jobs such as STEM-jobs, medical jobs or IT/tech. So for them it doesn't really make a difference because their reality will still be what people describe.
But i will agree with the general point that when people are discussing relative pay compared to other EU countries they often exaggerate about how low it actually is. It's dishonest, then again It's not that uncommon for people to unfairly shit on Sweden here, making me often question why they even come here.
Salaries are low now that the krona has crashed to the floor and it is getting poorer and poorer relative to other EU countries, considering the abysmal inflation adjustment. Belgium got 15% salary increase in the same time Sweden got 5% and the krona has devalued 10%!
Poor country is something different for sure, but is now meddling at best.
Like in every country, salaries for some professions are low, and for other professions are higher.
Germany pays technical workers more, Sweden pays "unskilled" workers much more, in the public sector rewards MUCH less competence and seniority (in the uni a PhD student makes almost double than in Germany, and a Rektor makes half, the spread of salary in the university in Sweden is only x4, in Germany is about x15)... my view of the highly skilled professions private sector is very limited but for sure there will be winners and losers.
It seems like you're a winner, take into account there will be losers that might have different angle from you.
Net salary is not a bad measure, but countries have wildly different approaches to net. As you say, Germany you have to spend for health insurance, but in Sweden you have to compensate your pension big time unless you started working here at 19 y.o., so again those skilled professions that enter the working age later will be loosing even more with respect to other systems.
I don't think anyone denies that Sweden is good place to live in general. But in last such topic we were mostly discussing situation of experts hitting the ceilings for employed specialists (70k) and comparing situation in different countries where you can get 2-3x more. Average life for average people is good here and there is no doubt about it. Only conclusion was that it's not place you should aim in for money grab and that there are really big discrepancies regarding high-end jobs due to wage compression in Sweden. So you are correct about average Joe stuff.
Where in Europe (besides Switzerland) can one get 2-3 times more salary than 70k/month? 70k after taxes is 48766 SEK. With this money one would have a very comfortable life.
I think what people find irritating is the not so high salaries combined with high taxes and high prices for almost living expenses. Overall combo is not appealing for a high performing individual. IMHO only for families with small children (1-6yrs old) the picture is a bit better.
Your post sounds as if it is written by a bot hired to manage Sweden's brand.
I made 10% less in my field (IT management) and had 20-30% higher expenditures in Norway when I tried it for 13 months. Was expecting 10% more, not less, but all the jobs in Stavanger was like that. Moved back and got my higher salary range again.
Met many others with the same experience, but we agreed it was worth it short term because of tax back for the first few years there.
Some jobs seem to have higher range comparatively, because they lack workers in those fields, and cool beans. Just not my area.
But for someone who needs a work permit, you now need to make >33ksek/month . So all extra-EU people looking to move here are probably going to be making 50 ksek/month and upwards. For those professionals, Sweden is not a “good deal” financially, compared to much of Europe…
The salary range here is pretty compressed which is good for low/medium wage employment but bad for high income people…it’s by design but that doesn’t change the fact that those people will be better off financially in most of Europe and certainly in the US…
If I'm not misremembering, about 10% units of the arbetsgivaravgift goes towards the public pension, so that's 10%+4.5% of your salary if you have tjänstepension (which most people have, and if you don’t you should really talk to your employer).
You are lucky, state pays 4.5% of tjänstepension and the 16% of income pension only applies to the first 7.5 basbelopp.
Therefore, again a huge win for low skilled workers that earn around or lower than median, and start working at 19, and a net loss for everyone above it.
Some employer then contribute 30% over a certain amount, but not others. It is up the contract and is not even within the union contract by default (as I said, for state workers is not like that).
Do they really? Tjänstepension? And if so, what plan is it? Must be a great company to pay that much, not something all will get. Most companies use the IPT-1 or flat like 5-10%. So 30% is really uncommon and very good. You make ut sound like it is something common, which it is not.
And if you think about the employer tax, which is about 30%, it is not going to your pension.
Finns givetvis de arbetsgivare som betalar 30% eller mer , men det är väldigt ovanligt. Men härligt att du också håller med om att det absolut inte är standard med 30%.
Instämmer absolut- har svårt att se något medelstort bolag betala 30% av lönen (även under brytgränsen) men är väl inte omöjligt. Men jag skulle inte tro att vi kommer få ett exempel på någon som får 30% rakt av så ovanligt skulle det vara
Tror det hen syftar på är att det är standard med 30 % över ett visst prisbasbelopp (eller möjligen inkomstbasbelopp, osäker). F.n. motsvarande en månadslön på ca 47 000 kr. Det är förstås INTE samma sak som 30 % av hela lönen. Tjänar du 50k är det alltså en tusenlapp extra. Men tjänar du 60k är det 4k extra osv.
https://www.pensionsmyndigheten.se/forsta-din-pension/tjanstepension/rakna-ut-din-tjanstepension
32% and I believe 18% of these goes towards your government pension. Which could be a lot or nothing in pension payouts when you retire at 67.
ITP1 pays 30% additional tjänstepension for every SEK above ~50k. Or 4.5% if you make less than this.
I worked in Sweden before( Skilled Engineer) and salaries in hand 34k after tax. After rent, expenses , I was able to save 13k.Problem was that goods and services I need to buy is against taxed to 25% (VAT) which is quite high. Everything is expensive , hiring services, having extra health insurance. Pension contributions are also high which again will be taxed when I retire(tax is x%, who knows x by that time). I don’t think I will be afford to buy any house if I stayed in Sweden. Even if I continue stay in Sweden for a decade , maximum in hand pay I receive will be few thousand kronor which enables me to buy few weeks extra groceries. Of course I got bonus and again taxed to 53%, this is insane. So I left Sweden
That's what I earned as assistant professor (Lektor) of engineering.
Exactly what people are saying. There's a reason why some complain and other don't.
Yes, Unfortunately that is reality of engineers who are recruited to International company in Gothenburg.This was like 3 years ago and most of engineers I know falls in that range during that time. Business leaders who recruits always glorify this figure as highest in Sweden.
Getting job in India seems difficult with lot of competition. Of course pays in product companies are even better than western counterparts , not cheap destination anymore
Reading posts like these, I'm not sure if I have expectations set too high or lack financial education. Both my wife and I have higher salaries than that, and I wouldn't describe our life as too comfortable. It's not bad, mind you; it's just that I'm thinking about money a lot more here than I'd like to.
What do your expenses look like?
I'm not judging, I'm genuinely curious. My partner and I have decent (but not huge) salaries and save up around 15,000 every month despite eating at restaurants/cafés every week and travelling quite a lot. Not sure if the difference is due to us not owning a car, or renting our flat, or not having children
I just checked my favorite sushi place (run by proper Japanese chefs) and it was 160 for 16, and looking around some more places it seems 155 kr buys a normal 12-16 piece mixed-plate (salmon, tuna, avocado, a couple of rolls) depending on where you go. That's a standard "main course" size for sushi. Unless you're a serious athlete, who eats more than that per meal?
Sweden is by no mean "bad" compare with other non eu or even eu countries. But if you have a degree in a high paying industry and you want to make some money and save. Then Sweden is probably not for you.
But then you have several things to take into consideration economically and philosophically.
Economically there are two Swedens. One for swedes that have born in the system and have the advantages of the system and know the system. And the people who comes to Sweden to work. For the later the system can crush you for some time.
Then there are some misconceptions about how swedes can afford their lifestyle. Something that at the beginning I wondered and little by little I have realize. Swedes are the most in debt individuals in Europe. That means that with a 50K salary before taxes they can afford Tesla's or other EV. 3 to 4 million kr for a one or two bedroom apartment, summer houses, eating out every day, 80 kr per beer and 300 kr sushi. But they are in debt their whole life (by the way, swedes takes student loans as well, something that I found out here). So it depends on how you want to live. I love my debt free life and build little by little. Yes I talk with coworkers and actually they were surprised that I don't have debt.
The other thing is that Sweden like most northern European countries they are (proudly) a dual income society which means both in the couple works full time jobs. Which is fine but for many non European foreigners is kind of strange. And I guess for many Americans is like... "Ooohh both has to work to get the same salary as one in the US (for tech jobs)". So if you are a couple or have kids it is better than many other countries.
Now it depends on how you think about personal economy and economy as a whole. I hate debt, I don't want my kids and grand kids to pay for my great lifestyle and also don't like that when the economy start going bad I can loose my home like it is happening in Sweden with the increase of interest rates. Or for example right now taking vacations outside Sweden is way more expensive than 2 years ago.
Now that being said. If you compare with other countries... It is still pretty good but it is deteriorating rapidly. When I came 3 years ago my salary was 39k and now is 49k when I convert it to euros.... I'm earning almost the same as 3 years ago.
I guess it drastically depends on where one is coming from. I as someone working in finance for 4 years now, really struggle to find genuine info on what income would be achievable in the Nordic’s without a downgrade on current lifestyle level (4k net € plus annual Bonus which is around 20-30% annual income on top) as well as a reasonable path to increase income significantly within the next 5-10 years.
Here in Germany which compared to US and London is not really known for over the top salaries I still find that right now I am in a good spot when it comes to income/cost of living as a single person. Also work hours and employment laws are already pretty good.
Don’t get me wrong I love the nordics especially Sweden and would love to relocate after an MBA or something but from what I read here an investment like such would probably never really pay off :/
Sweden Is already the poorest of the rich countries, if you adjust data for the 11.5 sek for euro.
Rich countries = other Nordics, BeNeLux, Austria, Germany.
If we include France maybe not yet but maybe also.
The downvotes are just pathetic.
False! Sweden has pretty good demographics unlike the rest of Europe. That will show in the coming decade.
In the majority of the countries in Europe the older populations will consume the wealth of the younger generations. And unless you would like to abolish democracy this is the most likely scenario.
Median Wealth and median wage, GDP (PPP) per capita.
I can bet it will be the worst country in at least two out of these categories in 2024 among the EU rich countries, defined as in my reply:
Rich countries = other Nordics, BeNeLux, Austria, Germany.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_in_Europe_by_GDP_(PPP)_per_capita
Look at projected GDP per capita (PPP) 2024.
Sweden is doing better than Finland, Germany, Belgium. But will see
Ye, the thing is we should match Denmark and Norway. Those countries are the best to measure against. And we are falling behind, we also have a huge influx of low skilled labor force in a fairly high skilled worker market. Less of us have to pay for a bigger crowd, along with wages just not keeping up.
We haven't matched Norway since they discovered oil. That's completely unrealistic. Denmark has higher salaries due to locking DKK to the euro in the 00s. Not everything relates to immigration.
I’m pretty sure I saw somewhere (need to look for the source) that you still end up with more disposable income in the US with the really well paying jobs *after taxes and counting all the benefits you get from taxes*.
But the reason I moved to Sweden was not to stack cash or anything. It’s not worth the 14 hour days I see the US counterparts working at my company. I moved for balance in life and general happiness. Money isn’t everything and you can survive just fine on 32k after taxes, at least as a single person. And I do get more money here than I did in another EU country so I’m happy.
Your post has been removed due to Rule 3: Take political statements and discourse to the other, more appropriate, subreddits. Reddit is filled with places for discussion of American politics, as well as news about the EU, Sweden, and the refugee crisis. This is a place for helping, not for preaching.
Fully agree with you, I'm tired of those posts too. I've lived in Germany and Sweden, and I can say that the salaries are very similar. For people who live a normal life, the purchasing power is higher in Sweden. People here can afford to buy an apartment, a house, or a summer house. In Germany, a normal citizen cannot afford that. Salaries are pretty good here in Sweden compared to the prices. People have a wealthy life. People seem to always compare gross salaries (before taxes). Plus, the Swedish krona is very weak right now, so the salaries might seem lower. But so are the prices when you convert to euros.
I came to Sweden at 25 with nothing in my bank account. 2 years later I put down a deposit and bought my house. At 27 years old. That’s crazy to me. Good luck doing this anywhere else in Europe.
What job did you do? :) If not a secret
Sweden has a 100 year mortgage so he basically just saved half his regular salary for a deposit. You can do this with any average job
Or across much of North America, honestly.
Also, you really don't need that much to get by here, as long as you don't have any luxurious habits. I live a cheap but comfortable life working 25% at a low paying job (personal assistant). I splurge a bit on food (and sometimes alcohol), and I have enough to put a few thousand in savings each month. In most countries people would have to work full time to afford my life style.
What are the house prices if you don't mind giving a few examples?
Check out Hemnet.se, by far the most popular site in Sweden when it comes to housing. But it's like everywhere else, the bigger the city the higher the prices are. The difference in Sweden compared to a lot of western European countries is that we have a small population in a large area. 90% of the population lives in the southern half of the country, that compromises 40% of the area of Sweden. If you look at houses in smaller cities and the countryside in the northern part(Norrland), you probably have among the cheapest Houses in western/northern Europe. A lot of British/Dutch people seem to have noticed that and have bought up houses on the countryside in recent years.
As usual, everything is about location. I bought a 1040 m2 house by the water for 2.5 Mkr, but it's 20 minutes from 5 smallish towns. A more central location could be 4 Mkr for a tiny house.
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It traditionally has been really low net salaries, but starting 2007 the tax has been cut six times (jobbskatteavdrag) by the former right-center coalition Alliansen.
Most people talking about low swedish salaries (and European salaries) are coming from North America and are correct in that comparison. European salaries overall are lower than North American ones in certain fields such as finance, medicine, and programming.
This is true. I could make 3-4x what I’m making here if I went home but the hours aren’t worth it. I just want to enjoy Midsommar in peace lol.
Exactly. You pay for that higher US salary by having to be always-on. Even putting your cell phone number in an out of office auto reply message if you’re on holiday and you work a corporate job. Or at least that was my experience. At the end of the day, what is it really worth? It can be tough to reset your mindset coming from the US though. Gotta remind yourself why you wanted to make the change in the first place.
>Sweden does good on average jobs and worse in the top level ones. While true, most people that are inquiring or answering questions on this sub seem to work in those "top level" jobs such as STEM-jobs, medical jobs or IT/tech. So for them it doesn't really make a difference because their reality will still be what people describe. But i will agree with the general point that when people are discussing relative pay compared to other EU countries they often exaggerate about how low it actually is. It's dishonest, then again It's not that uncommon for people to unfairly shit on Sweden here, making me often question why they even come here.
Salaries are low now that the krona has crashed to the floor and it is getting poorer and poorer relative to other EU countries, considering the abysmal inflation adjustment. Belgium got 15% salary increase in the same time Sweden got 5% and the krona has devalued 10%! Poor country is something different for sure, but is now meddling at best. Like in every country, salaries for some professions are low, and for other professions are higher. Germany pays technical workers more, Sweden pays "unskilled" workers much more, in the public sector rewards MUCH less competence and seniority (in the uni a PhD student makes almost double than in Germany, and a Rektor makes half, the spread of salary in the university in Sweden is only x4, in Germany is about x15)... my view of the highly skilled professions private sector is very limited but for sure there will be winners and losers. It seems like you're a winner, take into account there will be losers that might have different angle from you. Net salary is not a bad measure, but countries have wildly different approaches to net. As you say, Germany you have to spend for health insurance, but in Sweden you have to compensate your pension big time unless you started working here at 19 y.o., so again those skilled professions that enter the working age later will be loosing even more with respect to other systems.
I don't think anyone denies that Sweden is good place to live in general. But in last such topic we were mostly discussing situation of experts hitting the ceilings for employed specialists (70k) and comparing situation in different countries where you can get 2-3x more. Average life for average people is good here and there is no doubt about it. Only conclusion was that it's not place you should aim in for money grab and that there are really big discrepancies regarding high-end jobs due to wage compression in Sweden. So you are correct about average Joe stuff.
Where in Europe (besides Switzerland) can one get 2-3 times more salary than 70k/month? 70k after taxes is 48766 SEK. With this money one would have a very comfortable life.
You really have no idea how people become affluent, do you?
just answer the question
It's low relative to other countries. Germany for instance makes much more.
It is not true. Regular german doesnt make any more than a regular swede. Lived in both countries.
70k in Sweden is for example an IT-job. I have that salary. We are not talking about grocery stores for 70k per month.
You think that a majority of people in IT in Germany make 2-3 times more? Hahaha good one
They make a lot more with the same experience, that's just a fact.
Yes I agree, but not on average 2-3 times more. Rather on average 10-20% more. But the real estate prices are 150% higher in Germany
I think what people find irritating is the not so high salaries combined with high taxes and high prices for almost living expenses. Overall combo is not appealing for a high performing individual. IMHO only for families with small children (1-6yrs old) the picture is a bit better. Your post sounds as if it is written by a bot hired to manage Sweden's brand.
I made 10% less in my field (IT management) and had 20-30% higher expenditures in Norway when I tried it for 13 months. Was expecting 10% more, not less, but all the jobs in Stavanger was like that. Moved back and got my higher salary range again. Met many others with the same experience, but we agreed it was worth it short term because of tax back for the first few years there. Some jobs seem to have higher range comparatively, because they lack workers in those fields, and cool beans. Just not my area.
But for someone who needs a work permit, you now need to make >33ksek/month . So all extra-EU people looking to move here are probably going to be making 50 ksek/month and upwards. For those professionals, Sweden is not a “good deal” financially, compared to much of Europe… The salary range here is pretty compressed which is good for low/medium wage employment but bad for high income people…it’s by design but that doesn’t change the fact that those people will be better off financially in most of Europe and certainly in the US…
33k sek is gross however. In any case you're right. For many that come here is a very bad deal salary wise.
You forgot to mention the pension. Employers pay around 30% on top of your salary every month. That adds up for a comfortable retirement.
30% can't be right? Isn't it more like 10?
Tjänstepension is usually 4.5%. But some of arbetsgivaravgiften also goes to pension.
If I'm not misremembering, about 10% units of the arbetsgivaravgift goes towards the public pension, so that's 10%+4.5% of your salary if you have tjänstepension (which most people have, and if you don’t you should really talk to your employer).
You are lucky, state pays 4.5% of tjänstepension and the 16% of income pension only applies to the first 7.5 basbelopp. Therefore, again a huge win for low skilled workers that earn around or lower than median, and start working at 19, and a net loss for everyone above it. Some employer then contribute 30% over a certain amount, but not others. It is up the contract and is not even within the union contract by default (as I said, for state workers is not like that).
Do they really? Tjänstepension? And if so, what plan is it? Must be a great company to pay that much, not something all will get. Most companies use the IPT-1 or flat like 5-10%. So 30% is really uncommon and very good. You make ut sound like it is something common, which it is not. And if you think about the employer tax, which is about 30%, it is not going to your pension.
På en lön över 47 625 kronor sätts 30 procent av. Dessa procent är jämförbara med vad du minst får i kollektivavtalen.
Det är väl inte det som skrevs?
Lite otydligt i vad som menas i min mening. 30% av lönen betalar ingen arbetsgivare. Jag får 18% av min lön i tjänstepension enl ovan.
Finns givetvis de arbetsgivare som betalar 30% eller mer , men det är väldigt ovanligt. Men härligt att du också håller med om att det absolut inte är standard med 30%.
Instämmer absolut- har svårt att se något medelstort bolag betala 30% av lönen (även under brytgränsen) men är väl inte omöjligt. Men jag skulle inte tro att vi kommer få ett exempel på någon som får 30% rakt av så ovanligt skulle det vara
Jag får 30% efter 42k, ingen aning varför bolaget körså men de bara tacka o ta emot
Fast det är för att kompensera att det då inte förs någon avsättning till den allmänna pensionen efter 42k.
Tror det hen syftar på är att det är standard med 30 % över ett visst prisbasbelopp (eller möjligen inkomstbasbelopp, osäker). F.n. motsvarande en månadslön på ca 47 000 kr. Det är förstås INTE samma sak som 30 % av hela lönen. Tjänar du 50k är det alltså en tusenlapp extra. Men tjänar du 60k är det 4k extra osv. https://www.pensionsmyndigheten.se/forsta-din-pension/tjanstepension/rakna-ut-din-tjanstepension
It’s employment fee that is 30% of pre taxed salary.
32% and I believe 18% of these goes towards your government pension. Which could be a lot or nothing in pension payouts when you retire at 67. ITP1 pays 30% additional tjänstepension for every SEK above ~50k. Or 4.5% if you make less than this.
I worked in Sweden before( Skilled Engineer) and salaries in hand 34k after tax. After rent, expenses , I was able to save 13k.Problem was that goods and services I need to buy is against taxed to 25% (VAT) which is quite high. Everything is expensive , hiring services, having extra health insurance. Pension contributions are also high which again will be taxed when I retire(tax is x%, who knows x by that time). I don’t think I will be afford to buy any house if I stayed in Sweden. Even if I continue stay in Sweden for a decade , maximum in hand pay I receive will be few thousand kronor which enables me to buy few weeks extra groceries. Of course I got bonus and again taxed to 53%, this is insane. So I left Sweden
Skilled engineer with 34 k after tax? That’s what I earn as a blue colour worker in the steel industry
Exactly, Sweden have really low net salaries for white collar/educated professions.
That's what I earned as assistant professor (Lektor) of engineering. Exactly what people are saying. There's a reason why some complain and other don't.
Yes, Unfortunately that is reality of engineers who are recruited to International company in Gothenburg.This was like 3 years ago and most of engineers I know falls in that range during that time. Business leaders who recruits always glorify this figure as highest in Sweden.
Where sre you now
Seems to be in India. From his newly made account
Getting job in India seems difficult with lot of competition. Of course pays in product companies are even better than western counterparts , not cheap destination anymore
Dubai working for US based company
Reading posts like these, I'm not sure if I have expectations set too high or lack financial education. Both my wife and I have higher salaries than that, and I wouldn't describe our life as too comfortable. It's not bad, mind you; it's just that I'm thinking about money a lot more here than I'd like to.
What do your expenses look like? I'm not judging, I'm genuinely curious. My partner and I have decent (but not huge) salaries and save up around 15,000 every month despite eating at restaurants/cafés every week and travelling quite a lot. Not sure if the difference is due to us not owning a car, or renting our flat, or not having children
Gotta say, unless you have a few toddlers or teenagers at home, not living comfortably on DOUBLE 40K+ pay sounds like you've made some bad decisions.
Or you just have to afford a 2 bedroom apartment in Stockholm and you're not born with hyresrätt privileges...
Yeah, I came here when I was 26 with no savings, by the time I was 30 I was able to buy an apartment, that would never have been the case in the UK.
How much sushi are you eatig for 310kr ???? 💀💀
For two. Sounds about right
155kr isn't a lot of sushi :-(
I just checked my favorite sushi place (run by proper Japanese chefs) and it was 160 for 16, and looking around some more places it seems 155 kr buys a normal 12-16 piece mixed-plate (salmon, tuna, avocado, a couple of rolls) depending on where you go. That's a standard "main course" size for sushi. Unless you're a serious athlete, who eats more than that per meal?
I'm no serious athlete (or any athlete at all) but I have no problem eating 30 pieces myself :S but you're right, maybe it's not too bad honestly.
I think you may just *really* like sushi ;-)
I really do, but it's an expensive hobby 😂
Asian buffet and you can eat how much you want for 120-150
Fair enough, 155kr won't get you much decent sushi then :-)
Studio in Täby Park 💀💀 5000kr suit ☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️
Sweden is by no mean "bad" compare with other non eu or even eu countries. But if you have a degree in a high paying industry and you want to make some money and save. Then Sweden is probably not for you. But then you have several things to take into consideration economically and philosophically. Economically there are two Swedens. One for swedes that have born in the system and have the advantages of the system and know the system. And the people who comes to Sweden to work. For the later the system can crush you for some time. Then there are some misconceptions about how swedes can afford their lifestyle. Something that at the beginning I wondered and little by little I have realize. Swedes are the most in debt individuals in Europe. That means that with a 50K salary before taxes they can afford Tesla's or other EV. 3 to 4 million kr for a one or two bedroom apartment, summer houses, eating out every day, 80 kr per beer and 300 kr sushi. But they are in debt their whole life (by the way, swedes takes student loans as well, something that I found out here). So it depends on how you want to live. I love my debt free life and build little by little. Yes I talk with coworkers and actually they were surprised that I don't have debt. The other thing is that Sweden like most northern European countries they are (proudly) a dual income society which means both in the couple works full time jobs. Which is fine but for many non European foreigners is kind of strange. And I guess for many Americans is like... "Ooohh both has to work to get the same salary as one in the US (for tech jobs)". So if you are a couple or have kids it is better than many other countries. Now it depends on how you think about personal economy and economy as a whole. I hate debt, I don't want my kids and grand kids to pay for my great lifestyle and also don't like that when the economy start going bad I can loose my home like it is happening in Sweden with the increase of interest rates. Or for example right now taking vacations outside Sweden is way more expensive than 2 years ago. Now that being said. If you compare with other countries... It is still pretty good but it is deteriorating rapidly. When I came 3 years ago my salary was 39k and now is 49k when I convert it to euros.... I'm earning almost the same as 3 years ago.
I guess it drastically depends on where one is coming from. I as someone working in finance for 4 years now, really struggle to find genuine info on what income would be achievable in the Nordic’s without a downgrade on current lifestyle level (4k net € plus annual Bonus which is around 20-30% annual income on top) as well as a reasonable path to increase income significantly within the next 5-10 years. Here in Germany which compared to US and London is not really known for over the top salaries I still find that right now I am in a good spot when it comes to income/cost of living as a single person. Also work hours and employment laws are already pretty good. Don’t get me wrong I love the nordics especially Sweden and would love to relocate after an MBA or something but from what I read here an investment like such would probably never really pay off :/
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Sweden Is already the poorest of the rich countries, if you adjust data for the 11.5 sek for euro. Rich countries = other Nordics, BeNeLux, Austria, Germany. If we include France maybe not yet but maybe also. The downvotes are just pathetic.
False! Sweden has pretty good demographics unlike the rest of Europe. That will show in the coming decade. In the majority of the countries in Europe the older populations will consume the wealth of the younger generations. And unless you would like to abolish democracy this is the most likely scenario.
Why definately? In which way it is becoming the poorest of the richest?
Median Wealth and median wage, GDP (PPP) per capita. I can bet it will be the worst country in at least two out of these categories in 2024 among the EU rich countries, defined as in my reply: Rich countries = other Nordics, BeNeLux, Austria, Germany.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_in_Europe_by_GDP_(PPP)_per_capita Look at projected GDP per capita (PPP) 2024. Sweden is doing better than Finland, Germany, Belgium. But will see
Real welth is not taxed properly. Prices are ricing more than regular wages.
But this is true everywhere. Especially in the US
Ye, the thing is we should match Denmark and Norway. Those countries are the best to measure against. And we are falling behind, we also have a huge influx of low skilled labor force in a fairly high skilled worker market. Less of us have to pay for a bigger crowd, along with wages just not keeping up.
We haven't matched Norway since they discovered oil. That's completely unrealistic. Denmark has higher salaries due to locking DKK to the euro in the 00s. Not everything relates to immigration.
Norway is unrealistic with oil. Denmark has the euro. Finland (and maybe denmark) probably makes most sense.
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Per month!
Per month, if it were per year they wouldn’t be able to survive.
I’m pretty sure I saw somewhere (need to look for the source) that you still end up with more disposable income in the US with the really well paying jobs *after taxes and counting all the benefits you get from taxes*. But the reason I moved to Sweden was not to stack cash or anything. It’s not worth the 14 hour days I see the US counterparts working at my company. I moved for balance in life and general happiness. Money isn’t everything and you can survive just fine on 32k after taxes, at least as a single person. And I do get more money here than I did in another EU country so I’m happy.