Median wealth per capita in the US was $69,000 in 2025, ranked #28 in the world. #1 ranked was Luxembourg at $394K. #2 Belgium at $277K #3-4 Australia/NZ at ~$210K #11 Italy $131K #12 Netherlands $127K #19 Ireland $98K #26 Portugal $77K This all according to the latest annual UBS Global Wealth Report. Yet, the US was ranked #2 on mean wealth (almost $700K per adult) behind #1 Switzerland. One of the most fascinating things about the US vs EU lifestyle/wealth conversation is just how ignorant most folks typically are not just of the facts... but of basic math as well. Also, how the conversation tends to devolve into emotional nationalistic chest beating exercises rather than an honest discussion of why the facts are what they are, the caveats and nuances, and how we might make things better... and how we can all become better and more informed by talking about these things. First, the difference between median and mean. In everyday understanding, "median" means the "typical" person or situation because it simply represents the physical middle of a distribution curve. "Mean" is another word for "average"... but since we're taking about wealth (a number), it doesn't resemble anything even remotely close to the typical person walking up and down the street. It simply means that there are many, many more super-wealthy people in the US relative to other countries... which drags the number up dramatically. If a country has 100 people and 99 people have $1 and one person has $1 billion, then the median wealth is $1. The average wealth is $10 million. Congratulations, but that number isn't "real" in the ways that matters. There is nobody worth $10 million anywhere. It's also just hard for most people to hold these two truths simultaneously... 1) The US is, by far, the most innovative place in the world, with the strongest cultural and social disposition towards risk and failure-forgiveness, and has therefore created and continues to create more wealth than any other place. According to that report, the US created almost 50% of ALL new millionaires in the world in 2025. That's wonderful.. and something to celebrate. But only 7-8% of Americans are millionaires. 2)... but *the typical* American household is not *plugged in* to the modern-day wealth creation machine for a variety of reasons (e.g. skillsets, education, personal philosophy or interests, etc)... are struggling greatly... their wealth is dwarfed by most of the developed world especially the *typical* European family... and there are relatively few safety nets to prop them up as things are likely to get even crazier and unpredictable. VEO out.

The reason we love living in Amsterdam (versus any other city in Europe or the US) is because of the season of life we’re living. My wife and I are late 30s and have two young kids under 10. I own my own business and am the sole income earner. We do not have a trust fund. I still have to work to live. Rent+util is our only major recurring expense. Our rent is high even for Amsterdam standards, but that’s by choice because we want a large apartment to encourage family and friends to visit and stay with us. We enjoy the more chill and less chaotic lifestyle at this life stage. Bike or walk everywhere, beaches and forests nearby, great running routes, trains to other countries very easily with no stress/drama, quick car rental whenever needed for $50-100 a pop, beauty in all directions… but also just being a major global city so it has effectively everything we’d ever want or need. We pay for these extra benefits, but after accounting for private health insurance ($30-50K/year), necessary car payments+maintenance ($10-20K/year), and the property tax and/or higher property values required to live in an equally pleasant/safe/high-qual school district… … we will still save more money in Amsterdam than in the NYC/Philly suburbs for example. My rough spreadsheet math has the effective “true” tax rate living in The Netherlands vs New Jersey or California at ~48% to ~45%. And no I’m not moving to Texas or Idaho. No family in those places and not enough 300+ year old brickworks for my taste. While it’s absolutely true that you can earn more money in the US since it remains and high-individualist “frontier” commercially and socially… …this does not apply to us because I grew up there, have already been steeped in the frontierist culture to the max, and work for myself. In fact most of my clients are US clients. So where I happen to live and raise my family has very little practical impact on how much money I can earn. And actually, the time difference is beneficial to both my productivity and my sanity.