USA is great if you are the 10% who gets good pay, good insurance, etc.
It’s a hellhole for everyone else.
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Really? A hellhole? Have you traveled much in the 3rd world? Ever been to Africa, the Mideast or the poor parts of Latin America? US has many problems but your comment is detached from reality.
Is Taiwan paradise? Sure you might have NHI but people with college degrees routinely earn less than $50,000NT/month and the cost of buying a junker of an apartment in even New Taipei City will run you as much if not more than a 3 bedroom house in many parts of the US.
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100,000NT/m in Taiwan allows you to live like a god? Really? Do you know what it costs to rent a “luxury” (read: somewhat close to Western-style/quality apartment) in Taipei?
Buying a place in Taipei can easily run you upwards of $20 million NT. Even on a $100,000NT/m salary you’ll be eating night market stinky tofu for dinner every night just to have a shot.
Most Taiwanese live on less than $30,000 a month because they have to. If you really want to live like a god in Taiwan (nice apartment, eating out, buying decent clothes, nightlife, etc.) $100,000NT/m is nowhere near enough.
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You can live pretty good as a single person in their 20s. But that’s about it.
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Someone had a bad experience in Austin, which is fine.
I lived there for 12 years. It was a good 12 years. There’s lots of opportunities for someone trying to climb the career ladder like yourself. Also, there’s a vibrant community of entrepreneurs (of all types) should you ever want to go that route.
Austin has a lot to offer recreationally too.
I go back quite often for work and the growth always astounds me, bit of a double edged sword I guess. Someone in your position, it would be a pretty good match I’d guess. Taiwan will always be here (probably) and might be a better fit down the road.
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Austin is getting pricer as I’ve heard. I’ve had some friends go to Houston to buy houses there instead. That’s why I mentioned buying one in Houston. Lots of new development. You can build a brand new house that’s cheaper and bigger than in Austin now. The time to get in Austin was maybe 10 years ago.
I would still recommend Austin. Just some insight for the OP to consider.
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Yeah, but it’s Houston. Just kidding, I’m not much of a fan, but I’m pretty ignorant about living there… just don’t like it when I visit.
Austin is getting expensive, but there are areas in the suburbs (just like Houston) that are similar in cost of living for new builds.
If it’s tech you want to work in, I’d say Austin is a no brainer. Pros and cons for sure.
Oh, the time to get in was actually closer to 20 years ago 
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I would prefer Austin as well. More vibrant of a city with lots of culture and young people going on.
Plus @frank_hnd, if you like BBQ, you’ll have a good time. Seafood, not so much. Although you can get some good crawfish.
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They do provide medical care, they said they will tell me all the details when they prepare the offer. I need to find out how good it is and if it covers my family. 120,000 a year would be the number I am aiming for to start. I don’t know what else will be included.
That being said, I am not getting 120,000 NTD a month at the moment but that is the number that we discussed I need to get in order to remain here. So instead they are offering to send me to the US.
What I mean is, you can make less than 50,000nt a month and still have adequate healthcare. Buying a house isn’t mandatory and rent here is low precisely because the cost of buying vs income is too lopsided. So the market can’t afford high rent.
Western style house isn’t mandatory and if you want to you can rent a junker in New Taipei City and transform it into something western. 100,000 a month will give you more than enough to do that.
If you wanted to live like a god in the US you better make more than 300,000 a year. And have creative accounting to make sure you aren’t paying half of that in taxes.
Traffic in Austin is complete shit, but not nearly as bad as Houston. But in both cities you don’t have the option of taking the MRT to sidestep those bad traffic. Mopac has been in construction for over 10 years. And if you think mosquito house is bad in Taiwan (public projects designed to waste taxpayer dollars that serves no useful purpose) the US is full of them. Like the SLS system is one big multi billion dollar mosquito house. SpaceX has already beaten it. The only reason SLS is around is because of politics. But then Taiwan can’t afford to waste billions on useless stuff…
If you are a patriotic American who thinks America is the greatest, then go live in America because no other countries will beat America regardless of what they have objectively.
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Don’t like fried catfish? Lol…the seafood is exceptionally bad outside of a couple Japanese places that fly it in. But the bbq…man you can’t hardly walk down the street without passing an excellent bbq joint.
I’m sure OP can get a decent car with that salary. Cars are cheap in the US. Gas is cheap in Texas. Probably get a killer deal right now with sales down. Financing things is favorable with interest rates right now for everything.
People that have jobs and savings to spend, are going to have a good time this and next year. Companies are strap for cash, they are aiming for cash flow. We are going to see an unprecedented amount of sales and huge sales on every consumer goods imaginable.
How about saving for a proper retirement?
Doing more than 4-5 days holidays around the region?
Etc…
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Its ok. But not my favorite lol. Crawfish I can eat by the bucket.
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This is another good point…401k with company match is certainly better than Taiwan’s pension “plan”.
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I wouldn’t go there this year, any move would potentially be after September 2021. We’ll see what the world looks like in a year’s time.
I just don’t believe that I will ever see any pensions by the time I retire if I go that route. Who will fund it when the birth rate is so low in the developed world. They’ll probably cut it again at least.
401k is much more safe imo.
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I come from Latin America, I was born and raised in a third world country. There is a reason I like it here and when you come from a place like mine you start valuing security in every sense of the word more than anything else. I have been spoiled by Taiwan for the last 14 years.
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If you have kids, check the school district. Makes a big difference in the US unless you go private. In Dallas out in the suburbs, Plano West is one of the best in the state.
But do you really think the US is a hellhole?
The decent socialized healthcare here is appealing to many people but Taiwan is not secure “in every sense of the word.”
Taiwan’s very existence is at risk every single day as the situation with China grows more precarious. We are all living in one of the biggest possible tinderboxes in the world. For a variety of reasons most people here are either ignorant to this fact or choose to pretend everything’s fine.
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