if you're an american software engineer.

Yeah with a European salary, you don’t meet the requirements.

You work less with more flexibility and benefits, you get half or so the salary — seems straightforward.

Well there are people questioning that a 66k/year salary is “rich”. They are delusional if they think it isn’t.

Depends on where you live.

You would not be able to buy a house, support a family, have some hobbies, with a 66k/year salary in most of the major cities of the world nowadays.

(You could buy a house with a 30 year mortgage sure, but does not exactly scream rich.)

> in most of the major cities of the world nowadays

Uh I can think of quite a few where you would. Just on the top of my mind: Lisbon, Mexico City, Milano, Saigon,Bangalore, Madrid, I mean I can go on for quite a while. But sure, you’d struggle in Zurich, Monaco, London, Silicon Valley or Singapore, IE some of the most expensive places in the world.

I have lived in Bangalore and know a bit about Mexico City.

You’d have to struggle to buy a house with a 66k USD equivalent income in these places unless you are okay with living far away from your workplace.

Doesn’t seem very rich.

Ah you mean all those countries I can't actually live in. Yeah, helpful.

My point is not to say that you can't struggle with 66k a year. I imagine it can very much be so in the US, or Monaco, or Switzerland. It's just that

> You would not be able to buy a house, support a family, have some hobbies, with a 66k/year salary in most of the major cities of the world nowadays.

Someone who can work fully remote globally with a 66k year salary will def. not be short of places where they can live extremely comfortably. Since we are talking about digital nomads, who can work from everywhere, I do think they constitute as very very rich in this context. When we think of those who would be able to apply for a digital nomad visa, in a global context, would be only those who are in the global top 1%.

Try supporting a family on $66k in or within reach of a major US city. You certainly can't afford to buy an apartment, let alone a house.

Purchasing power is what matters. Much less purchasing power today than people did in the 1950s (when a working class man could support a wife and children on his salary alone) and even boomers.

$66k certainly isn't poverty, even in a place like NYC or SF, but it is not rich.

But US is one of the richest country of the world. In a global context, where you have the ability to work from anywhere (I.E. can apply for digital nomad visa), then if you earn 66k year salary you are super rich.

Ok, but the trade off of that is that we are not super rich in benefits. Europeans may not earn much or get to be digital nomads easily, but at least they have good healthcare and social services. Isn’t that usually seen as a fair trade off?

> Well there are people questioning that a 66k/year salary is “rich”. They are delusional if they think it isn’t.

This is officially “low income” in my area, and I think it qualifies someone for low income housing.

For reference, I’m in California, but not in or near a big city.

I work outside of London in the UK and my salary was $91k, way above the visa requirement. I think most senior UK engineers could meet it.

Depends where in Europe. In the UK software engineers can make more than $66k.

Well, all of Asia (Middle east included) wants White engineers and see other people as second class. They figured out Europeans won't leave their living standards for Korea anyway.

Just ask any random non-white engineer working in UAE, China, and Japan. People are getting Western European passports and working in Dubai to receive first-class treatment.

Well, yea. :D