As an American with family in Copenhagen, Stockholm, Mexico, parts of Latin America, various parts of Canada, Philippines, Australia, and about a dozen other countries, I simply want to encourage you (and everyone) to list out what you have to buy or get from your taxes. For example you may pay less in taxes but require health insurance out of pocket. You may pay more in taxes but public transit might be free. While it is absolutely painful paying cost of living and seeing chunks of pay come off as taxes, doing the actual line item math will turn many of these recommendations on their head.
As an American with family in Copenhagen, Stockholm, Mexico, parts of Latin America, various parts of Canada, Philippines, Australia, and about a dozen other countries, I simply want to encourage you (and everyone) to list out what you have to buy or get from your taxes. For example you may pay less in taxes but require health insurance out of pocket. You may pay more in taxes but public transit might be free. While it is absolutely painful paying cost of living and seeing chunks of pay come off as taxes, doing the actual line item math will turn many of these recommendations on their head.