(...cont'd) On the surface, the US looks better—more money and opportunity for growing wealth and investment, private health insurance meaning top specialists are only a phone call away, much larger houses and land, cheaper nicer cars and car ownership, generally cheaper consumer goods, and better variety of food and entertainment.

But the lifestyle here is more relaxed, simpler (if you allow it to be), far, far more human working culture, healthier, food is pretty boring but there is lots to love and you can still get creative, transport and infrastructure is stellar, houses—though small—are better quality and more modern from a materials and energy management standpoint unless you’re getting an old place that hasn’t been renovated in decades. Kids’ healthcare is free until 18, childcare is cheaper, you can choose what school they go to and most will be walkable/bikeable when they’re old enough (like 7-9 depending), and university tuition and costs is a couple grand a year rather than requiring a lifetime of debt. And while I’m sometimes frustrated by the Dutch approach to healthcare administration, it is high quality first-world healthcare that does not change because you’re a millionaire or because you lost your job or because you’re retired and geriatric. It’s the same for everyone, and it’s guaranteed by law, and growing old here doesn’t terrify me like it does in the US after watching what my parents went through. You do still have to pay health insurance premiums, but it's in the ballpark of €200/month per adult with annual out of pocket max of €300 instead of $1400/month for a family plan with $15k out of pocket annually.

Look, it’s a beautiful, charming, boring, rainy, relaxed, friendly, cold, healthy, temperate, little home of a place, and most people speak OK-to-excellent English which helps you stumble through your early years. It’s not perfect. Some things you will love, some things you will miss about the US. Even being quite familiar with NL for a decade before moving here (wife is Dutch), in retrospect I still had rose-tinted glasses on when we made the decision. But even now after settling down and living with the reality of things, I still prefer it to the US without hesitation. Of course, this is extremely subjective, and YMMV. Do note that the various NL subreddits and expat/immigrant posts are ridiculously negative for whatever reason--my experience is vastly different IRL. It's a great place, and it's a great jumping-off point for travel.

The one thing I would caution you on is don’t take the housing crisis lightly—it’s very real here, far worse than anywhere in the US. Look around on Funda.nl to get an idea of the kind of house you can afford in the area(s) you're considering, and then consider that (especially in the larger towns and cities) you will probably lose your first few house bids to people putting in ridiculous emotional €20-100k bids over market value, or cash offers.

I'm writing a book, DM me if you have any questions. Cheers