Making a living is so much easier here than back home…

July 5, 2007 in Income, Jobs, Opinion

So, I’m from the states.  While the move here wasn’t a planned out one, I’m realizing more and more it was a great one. 

Back home, I used to pay about 30% or so in taxes.  Even when I was paying less, it always was about that in general.  Here, it’s a flat 3.3% for basically everyone.  So, if you calculate it, you would basically see these type of returns:

Income made in Korea                                 The income value in the U.S. inflated b/c of the higher taxes

2,000,000 won/mo = $25k                         $34,535

3,000,000 won/mo = $37.5k                      $51,803

4,000,000 won/mo = $50k                         $69,071

5,000,000 won/mo = $62.5k                      $86,339

Just consider yourself getting a raise by moving here.  I don’t see myself leaving for quite a while.  I was offered a job back in Oregon this past week & did the quick calculations and they basically offered me $36k less a year based on these numbers.  It’s silly…

I’ve been able to save $500/mo (still) after sending 70% of my income to my wife and kids every month & only keeping 30% to myself.  I didn’t save a penny while back in the U.S. and I had made anything from $63k to $150k over the past 5 years.  It’s really, really interesting…