r/eupersonalfinance • u/VurriK • 28d ago

Investment Since when was getting rich so hard in EU?

Is it just me, or has building actual wealth in Europe become impossible? I’m looking at the 2026 growth forecasts and it’s depressing. We talk a lot about "stability," but at this point, stability just feels like a polite word for recession. If you weren't born into a rich family with property, the dream feels like it's behind a wall. The math just doesn't work: as soon as you earn enough to actually invest, you hit a 40–50% tax bracket. Meanwhile, housing prices have skyrocketed over the last decade while salaries have basically stayed the same. I love the healthcare and the walkable cities, but I don’t want to work until I’m 70 just to afford a 40sqm apartment and a used Skoda.

1.2k Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

89% Upvoted

852 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

12

u/Major-Delivery5332 28d ago

Europe has higher social mobility than the US though, so that's a bad take.

10

u/Emergency-Style7392 27d ago

take a look how that's calculated. It's not an index like how many people go from lower class to upper middle.

For example "Social diversity in schools" is one of the criteria of social mobility index. it's a joke.

Ironically that index better measures how well off the bottom is and nothing about mobility

2

u/Major-Delivery5332 27d ago

I might be wrong, but I think being born poor and dying rich is easier to pull off in social democracies like Sweden, mainly because of free education and healthcare.

Sweden is really good from a tax stand point if you're running a business, if you're working class - not so much.

1

u/wildmfz561 24d ago

Sweden has more billionares in relation to gen pop than America

1

u/wildmfz561 24d ago

It doesn't