[MarkJ]

No debt and low property taxes help, eh.

No debt, low property taxes, plus rents and leases help as well.

Other things like sale of timber, firewood, topsoil or sand can help as well.

The icing on the cake is when they provide you with new water/sewer lines, new roads, new sidewalks, block grants, home improvement subsidies.

Let the renters pay....

[thor]

This just doesn't seem fair.

Who said life is fair, mate? I just got fired today. Just playing my part in this god d**n recession.

What kind of support is available to you in the Netherlands?

In my state in the US, the maximum unemployment comp is $275 per week (good luck paying your bills with that). If you want to keep your employer's healthcare for a limited period of time, expect to pay anywhere from $450 to $850 per month.

You get unemployment for a minimum of 3 months up to a maximum of 38 months, provided you were employed for at least 26 weeks in the 36 weeks prior to the date of your unemployment. For the first two months you get 75% of your wage after which it drops to 70%. The duration of unemployment benefits depends on the number of years you worked. If you happen to remain unemployed after this period you will drop to a special sort of unemployment which is €615 a month (net), which is not enough to pay the bills in this country.

In my case I will only get 3 months of unemployment. I was making €3850 a month (gross), so I expect roughly €2888 (gross) for the first two months and then €2695 (gross) for the third. Then it is game over and I'll get €615 a month (net). The latter scares me to death, so I'll have to find a job very very quick.

[Sixstrings]

This just doesn't seem fair.

Who said life is fair, mate? I just got fired today. Just playing my part in this god d**n recession.

What kind of support is available to you in the Netherlands?

In my state in the US, the maximum unemployment comp is $275 per week (good luck paying your bills with that). If you want to keep your employer's healthcare for a limited period of time, expect to pay anywhere from $450 to $850 per month.

You get unemployment for a minimum of 3 months up to a maximum of 38 months, provided you were employed for at least 26 weeks in the 36 weeks prior to the date of your unemployment. For the first two months you get 75% of your wage after which it drops to 70%. The duration of unemployment benefits depends on the number of years you worked. If you happen to remain unemployed after this period you will drop to a special sort of unemployment which is €615 a month (net), which is not enough to pay the bills in this country.

In my case I will only get 3 months of unemployment. I was making €3850 a month (gross), so I expect roughly €2888 (gross) for the first two months and then €2695 (gross) for the third. Then it is game over and I'll get €615 a month (net). The latter scares me to death, so I'll have to find a job very very quick.

Hm, those benefits are less that what I would have thought for a European country.

Best of luck to you..

[vision-master]

€3850 a month (gross),

That's a good pile of pounds, over $6,000 Month here.

[thor]

Hm, those benefits are less that what I would have thought for a European country.

Best of luck to you..

Thanks, gonna need it. Perhaps France skewed the image of Europe's benefits, but in Holland things have changed quite a lot over the decades, especially the duration for which you are eligible to receive any government support. Things get tighter and tighter, shorter and shorter, but it is always better than nothing. I think the "social net" in Holland will be minimal within a decade, just symbolic figures. With the current crisis the government is already thinking about lowering various entitlements. Things get really interesting from now on.

[thor]

€3850 a month (gross),

That's a good pile of pounds, over $6,000 Month here.

Actually, it is nothing stellar if you look at living expenses over here. From the figure above, my net income was €2237, so you see how much is taken from it for taxes, pension and other costs, a whopping 42%... I don't believe you guys pay so much in the US?

[Sixstrings]

€3850 a month (gross),

That's a good pile of pounds, over $6,000 Month here.

Actually, it is nothing stellar if you look at living expenses over here. From the figure above, my net income was €2237, so you see how much is taken from it for taxes, pension and other costs, a whopping 42%... I don't believe you guys pay so much in the US?

It should also be pointed out that euros don't necessarily go any further than dollars. What costs a dollar here costs a euro over there.. if anything, I think a lot of goods are more expensive than in the US (even if you assumed 1 dollar equaled 1 euro).

[emersonbiggins]

Short, your state/country economic equivalency map link is from June 2007. "Living it up as well as the Danes" might not apply right at this moment.

[shortonsense]

Short, your state/country economic equivalency map link is from June 2007. "Living it up as well as the Danes" might not apply right at this moment.

In this particular recession, which has a global nature to it, it seems reasonable that everyone will drop a little, so it might still be reasonable. I used it because I thought it was a cool measure of how states compare to countries.

[vision-master]

€3850 a month (gross),

That's a good pile of pounds, over $6,000 Month here.

Actually, it is nothing stellar if you look at living expenses over here. From the figure above, my net income was €2237, so you see how much is taken from it for taxes, pension and other costs, a whopping 42%... I don't believe you guys pay so much in the US?

But you don't have to worry about health care costs.