Are you in France? Doesn't sound so bad to me. Others that I've spoken to
had quite a different story to tell, so it must vary a lot country by
country I'd say. Using your 1.3 ratio BTW, my wife and I have a joint
income of $130K Euros and this is not unusual ...but our combined tax rate
(fed plus state) is around 35%. Our social security will dissolve before we
get there (or will reduce in benefits, increase in age requirement, etc
....same thing as 'going away'). If our retirement keeps on like it has (it
includes world wide investments for diversity and growth), then our income
will remain unchanged when we retire and we'll have medical at the same
rate. Sounds like you and I are doing very much the same, maybe you are
doing a bit better. In this country, I'd say we are middle to upper-middle
class. Not tooo upper though. Just OK. We don't drive Mercedes... Dodge
and Chevy is more like it.

Yes, there is no paradise for sure, but freedom to succeed on your own is a
huge factor that should never be taken away from people.

Brian


"Bateaubois" wrote in message
...

You prefer Europe? What do you have to come up with as a down payment
for a real house on a real piece of land? 50%? More? And how much does
that house cost? How long, at your current income and tax rate does it
take to save that much money? What is your current tax rate? Over 50%?
That's not success...

Yes I do.. I have a 50K (Euros, 1.3US$) income, My wife has a 30K, I own a
lovely house among pinetrees on the riviera, etc.. AND I have social
security a 100%, Unemployment protection (57% on 3 years in case), Only
VAT on merchandises (no local sales taxes), and my tax rate is 19.61 % (I
paid it 2 days ago..).. not a penny more..
And I'm only an upper middle class man.. not a "happy few"...
Many people here earn that much and taxes are lowering from year to year
due to the willing of our goverment (It prefers to overtax foreign
companies ;-) I won't learn to a US citizen what protectionism is ;-) )
Of course there is poverty too, but the rate of people living under the
UNO minimal vital income is far lower than in the US..
Of course You may love your country which is your absolute right (I should
say is even almost a duty),as much as I love mine, but keep an eye open,
paradise is not your country neither is it mine.. ;-) All this is
propaganda stuff..

Cheers,
Phil.