Romania - the ERE country

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secretwealth
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Post by secretwealth »

Of course there are some things about Kansas that are better than Chicago (to stick with these two--but it'd apply to a rural/urban dichotomy more generally).
However, the poster said he wanted one thing: "the most advance society money can buy". I don't think the most advanced society is defined by lacking litter, a lot of mud, crowds, a lot of cars, etc. For all its virtues (and I won't deny it has some), Kansas is not the most advanced society money can buy. For all its faults, Chicago is.


Seneca
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Post by Seneca »

Austin is probably second to only the Silicon Valley for "high techness".
That place is booming too, and cost of living still isn't as crazy high as the Valley.
Good luck to you in your move!


bulgaria
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Post by bulgaria »

Why not work in Europe for a year, so you have your retirement covered.
And then move to the US; even though expenses are higher, in theory you don't need to save as much since your retirement already is covered.


JohnnyH
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Post by JohnnyH »

Produce is excellent and very inexpensive in post soviet countries (perhaps excluding E. Germany). I'm thinking total food costs would be easily under 50% of what they are in the US, assuming you prepare your own meals.
@secretwealth: You're writing off the state of Kansas because of the actions of one or a few jerk children?... I know you've traveled extensively, but it seems to me you've never spent any time in rural US.
Besides what does "the most advance society money can buy" mean? I think this has more to do with available technology than geographical location... Isn't that the point of the internet boom? That you can remain connected even from the top of a mountain, or beach shack somewhere?


secretwealth
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Post by secretwealth »

@JohnnyH: Spent plenty of time in the rural US, thanks. Are you white and heterosexual? If so, I don't think you can speak much about how easy (or difficult) it is to live in Kansas being gay, black, a foreigner, Asian...


JohnnyH
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Post by JohnnyH »

@sw: Are you not white and heterosexual? But naw, you are right; every person outside of NYC, Chicago, or L.A. is a homophobic, racist xenophobe...


secretwealth
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Post by secretwealth »

Actually, neither my wife nor I are, which is partly why I know about this topic.


JohnnyH
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Post by JohnnyH »

I accept that, but I do not accept that rural areas, or entire states, are dominated by irrational hatred.
Especially in the Rocky Mountain region, there is a lot of libertarian live and let live.


secretwealth
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Post by secretwealth »

Glad to know you accept our racial identities, JohnnyH. That really means a lot.
"I do not accept that rural areas, or entire states, are dominated by irrational hatred."
I'd love to see where anyone suggested this.


JohnnyH
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Location: Rockies

Post by JohnnyH »

Jeez... I accept you might have experience I do not. You should try it sometime.
"If it's in Kansas ... you'll be disappointed with the backwards and unsophisticated culture you're suddenly in."
That statement is so arrogant and ignorant I'm not even sure why I'm engaging you.


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C40
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Post by C40 »

SW - How could you possibly understand how you're treated differently from a heterosexual white guy if you're not one yourself?
(Sorry for helping derail the thread)
Edit- and there's probably no point discussing it further here


prieten
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Joined: Sat Apr 06, 2013 7:37 am

Post by prieten »

RoERE,

Glad to see you back commenting. I would be very reluctant to try to settle your Dilemma by asking others to advise you. No one here can really compare Romania, USAurban or USArural and "Europe." What Europe? there's expensive Europe and there's expensive USA. I live in a relatively "cheap" area of Japan. I was saving about $1000 a month. This month my university hit me with a $400 out of the blue monthly deduction for the "Great Tohoku Earthquake." Supposedly all the teachers have to pay it. It means $4800 less savings this year. My point is that there are so many unexpected variables. Only you can decide what is important to you. Family and friends? House and car free and clear? Stay in Romania. Safety and security? Europe. Cutting edge technology? USA. I think we are all being forced to reassess our ERE plans. My investments have finally recovered from the 2008 collapse and are growing nicely. But now interest rates are collapsing, while stocks are soaring. many of us were counting on a 4% annual withdrawal rate, but that might be too generous. Life is just so unpredictable. Who knows when the next collapse in the market is coming.


djc
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Joined: Fri Jul 23, 2010 1:53 pm

Post by djc »

@secretwealth,
I never thought I would see such overt bigotry on these boards. But then I have to force myself to remember the all important truth that the really smart, open-minded and "fair people" live on the east or west coasts or big cities-- and everyone else lives in hick places like the Midwest and South. Wow.
djc-a proud Midwesterner
PS My area of the midwest has been welcoming immigrants forever.
PPS I'm sorry if this post seems rude but I'm greatly offended by the preposition about the Midwest. I won't be commenting on this thread again.


DanielT
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Joined: Tue Sep 27, 2011 9:34 am

Post by DanielT »

I'm sorry this post has been derailed to something else which I hope has not stopped.
Back to my story.
@secretwealth: that is my dilemma: Should I sacrifice for my kids and hope they will have better lives in US, or should I not? If my dad would've had the change to move the family in US and he wouldn't, I would be pissed off. I think the same would be the case with my daughter who is born in US.
@JonnyH: by "most advanced society money can buy" I just mean that US is leading and shaping the way to the future, technologically, philosophically (James is Danish but his ERE philosophy is US born), agriculturally (anyone has seen Grow?), in education, healthcare, etc. We want to be part of this.
@bulgaria: we want to move this year to US because we have a baby on the way. since we want to settle in US we want to have another american baby as our daughter who is now 3 is also an american. Where from Bulgaria are you?
@Prieten: Thank you for your answer. It is me and my wife who will ultimately make the decision. Wanted to just share my dilemma with the forum and get others perspective on it.


anomie
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Location: midwest, usa

Post by anomie »

Hello,
You say that if you stay in Romania,

1. you say you are close to ERE , within a year.

2. and close to family and friends.
Your daughter would appreciate having a father around and in her life, rather than trying to pay for expenses of living in a new place. She would also appreciate being around her extended family as well.
You work in IT. Surely the Internet can compensate for lost cultural experiences you feel that your family may be missing.
As you grow older, your extended family may be more and more important to you.
You will basically be throwing ERE out of the window if you leave Romania, if I understand what has been written here.
good luck with your decision


bulgaria
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Joined: Sat Jan 26, 2013 5:28 pm

Post by bulgaria »

@RoERE
I live in Varna, so to the black sea:
https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&gs_ ... tQa8zICgBw
But I'm dutch.. I moved to Bulgaria 2 years ago to pay a lot less tax (I don't work for a Bulgarian company btw).


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jennypenny
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Post by jennypenny »

@RoERE--If you want to move to the US, have you looked into working directly for SAP North America? They are always hiring tech support people and they have offices in Dallas and Houston if I'm remembering correctly. There is always travel involved with that kind of job, but SAP is generally a very good employer (especially with a family).
I realize that's still *working* and not ERE, but after few years in Texas (lower taxes) at a company like SAP (good pay and benefits) you should be able to achieve ERE in the US if that's what you want.


DanielT
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Joined: Tue Sep 27, 2011 9:34 am

Re: Romania - the ERE country

Post by DanielT »

2019 - UPDATE
This post requires an update. When I started this thread I was thinking of moving to US from Romania. We had a baby on the way and we planning to move in the US in June - July 2013 time frame. However, things got an unexpected turn.. actually an unbelievable turn but as they say, life beats film.

As I said, we were in Romania expecting our second baby and wanted to move to US in time to have the baby there so he can be born American just like his sister. I got a job offer from a company in US and arranged the work visa. We planned to move to Seattle area where we have lots of friends. Our friends rented a house in our name and furnished it and they were planning to throw a baby shower for us. We bought flight tickets to depart on September 4th. On September 3rd, just 24 hours before our flight, my wife went into labor. I rushed her to the hospital and got there in the middle of the night. I never went to that hospital since we were not planing to have the baby there so it was a struggle to find it in the middle of the night. Eventually I stopped a bicyclist who said follow me and showed me the way to the hospital.
As I got to the hospital with my wife, we entered through a back door so went we went upstairs nobody greeted us. I started knocking on all doors and open them in order to find a doctor or a nurse to help us. Finally after 10 minutes a nurse and doctor woke up and they took my wife in a room for a consultation. Then the doctor came back and told me: "Your wife will give birth in half an hour!" She was 7 months into her pregnancy.

I was in shock. I did not know anything about premature born babies so my mind was rushing into worse case scenario after worse case scenario. Next day I spent a few hours reading a book about preemies (Thanks amazon Kindle, you save me form going nuts!!) and I realized how common it is for children to be born prematurely. We ended up staying 1 months in the hospital with the baby and then took him home.
We ended up not going to the US that year. Because we had enough savings to be almost ERE at that time, I stayed home and took care of wife and baby then eventually got a short contract work in the UK and then eventually started a new job at multinational company that had a office in Romania, taking a big pay cut just to work for this company. The plan is to stay with this company for one year and then try to transfer to the US office.

Things turned out better than that eventually. I worked for this company for a year and a half and it was one of my best times as I got to do a mix of travel and work from home. I used to travel to London and Rome in the same time staying at very nice hotels and enjoying the vibe of these two beautiful cities every week. My usual commute would be : fly to London on Monday, fly to Rome on Tuesday night, fly home on Thursday night.
Then, I met someone on the London project who introduced me to a company in the US. This company was hiring someone with my skill set so I said let me try to see if I can get the job.
After I interviewed with the company and they said they would hire me, I learned that the job was in Honolulu, Hawaii.. Oh well, that settled the deal as one of my dreams was to live and work on an island. I did this briefly in Caribbean a couple of times and I got hooked.

Therefore, since 2015 I live and work in Hawaii, it's the best place I have ever lived and work so far and I hope that this will last at least a few more years. My baby boy is 6 years old now and will start kindergarten in the fall. We come to Romania every year for the summer for at least one month. At the moment I can retire in Romania whenever I want, however we started to love living in Hawaii and as you might expect, this is not the cheapest place on the planet. This is what I call an active ERE :) .
If you read so far, thanks for your patience, I realized I went overboard with my writing.

TheRedHare
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Location: Atlanta, GA

Re:

Post by TheRedHare »

secretwealth wrote:
Mon Apr 22, 2013 8:43 pm
That's an interesting dilemma. Since the socio-cultural advantages of the U.S. appeal to you the most, I'll have to display my urban snobbery and say that it really depends where you'd be going.
If your job is in, say, NYC, Chicago, or L.A., it would definitely be a profound opportunity for your children to have an experience in a cutting-edge culture. If it's in Kansas, on the other hand, your children will probably be miserable due to the bullying and you'll be disappointed with the backwards and unsophisticated culture you're suddenly in.
What are you talking about? You think because people live in the country side, that they are 'backwards and unsophisticated'? You sound like a snob. I laugh at your statement on how you find cultures in NYC, Chicago, and LA have 'cutting-edge' cultures...I hope you don't mean stable, safe, or innovate, because that is not what any of those cultures are. In fact, they have some of the highest crime statistics, as well as poverty levels than any other city.

Just because you read an article about how Kansas is bad because some Asian kid was bullied doesn't mean the whole state is backwards....bullying happens everywhere and to all races (Blacks, Whites, Asians, etc.) and even (*gasp) in your own supposed 'cutting-edge cultures'. And yea...it's the 21st century but there are still terrible things that happen in this world....far worse than you might believe. For instance look at the Epstein scandal and child sex trafficking...


sorry to make comment on a post over 6 years old...but still

sky
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Re: Romania - the ERE country

Post by sky »

Its great to hear that things are going well with you. I would like to be able to visit Romania and the region around it for an extended vacation. I live near Chicago and find it quite nice, and not that expensive, but some parts of "supermodern" civilization are somewhat annoying. To be honest, much of the US seems to be trying to live in the 1960's, so I don't see it as modern.

I think there is more freedom and opportunity in Europe at the moment, but most people can find a satisfying life either here or there.

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