General Discussion

Most of us have two choices. We can either try to increase our material means to meet our expectations, or else reduce our expectations to the level of our material means.

I was always terrified of having debts in foreign currencies, so I waited until we found a house I could afford to pay off right away. Almost everyone in my outfit either inherited their house or bought their own ten years before I bought mine. I was still a US legal resident, so I wasn’t subject to double taxation yet.

Now, I get whacked for 73% income taxes as well as $9 for gas and a 19% sales tax on everything. However, I have no debts, don’t live beyond my means, and am married to a gourmet chef who knows how to stretch her euros when grocery shopping. Europe does have its downsides, and the Germans want to seize half of my Roth IRA, but for now, we’re making out OK. If I stop working, we may have to reassess our situation, but for now, we’re OK. There are plenty of people who are worse off than we are, so we have no reason to complain.