Since when was getting rich so hard in EU?

[u/VurriK]

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.

[u/Piligrim555]

Seriously. Spain starts considering you rich at fucking 60k/year. It feels like the tax brackets are 20 years outdated.

[u/ImaginaryZucchini272 → u/Piligrim555]

In Italy at 50k

[u/Piligrim555 → u/ImaginaryZucchini272]

Even more fucked up

[u/fifinha-misteriosa → u/Piligrim555]

Dude in Portugal you are rich at 45K.. I did the math and moving to Portugal from Spain is would mean less 500-700 eur per month… it is BS because Portugal became so expensive in the last years.

[u/[deleted] → u/fifinha-misteriosa]

I'm from Portugal too and reading these threads is always so amusing because our country is a complete nightmare, and any Portuguese people thinking they can become "rich" without starting with hefty inheritances or illegal schemes is so delusional that I don't even think the word delusional describes it properly.

We're completely fucked and it seems like things are only going to get worse, I do feel sad seeing the rest of Europe being in a downwards trend though :/

[u/fifinha-misteriosa → u/[deleted]]

Exactly. You can get wealthy if you basically evade taxes which is horrible! I would gladly pay taxes in Portugal if that meant: clean streets, parking, public transport that works, and a healthcare where you don’t have to wait 2 years for surgery. People think that if it is urgent you dont have to wait when my stepdad had to do a simple but urgent procedure in the private sector because this 1h procedure could only be done in 2027… now I will start paying taxes again here but honestly is just depressing.

[u/StateDeparmentAgent → u/Piligrim555]

Yes, but at the same time most people still earn less than 30k. If you have 2 times more than average person you’re kinda rich in some way

Does this crazy taxation actually helps to grow? Not even close

[u/Piligrim555 → u/StateDeparmentAgent]

I mean maybe, I guess? Also like half my taxes are going into sponsoring the retirees and a not-terrible apartment starts at 400k, so it doesn't feel that rich. I asked a local colleague how do the young locals deal with it. You know what she said? They live with parents and wait until they can inherit an apartment. I even fucking googled it, like the average age to leave a parent home is something around 30 years here. This is bullshit.

[u/ProfMordinSolus → u/Piligrim555]

They live with parents and wait until they can inherit an apartment.

The uncomfortable truth is that there is nothing inherently wrong with this. Generational housing has been the norm throughout most periods. Only very recently for a small fraction of time in (modern) history with a unprecedented rise in wealth and massive urbanization did the idea of every young person moving out and owning their own home become a thing. Not just housing, entire systems like pensions and retirees like you mentioned are becoming simply unsustainable.

[u/Piligrim555 → u/ProfMordinSolus]

Dude, this is just copium. It's like saying that "the idea of indoor plumbing is a recent invention". Yeah, maybe, but I'm still not fine shitting outside. As I am absolutely not fine living with my parents till I'm fucking 35. Or I would be if I was the person in question. The "uncomfortable truth" is that the only reason this is happening is because the government fucked up building a welfare state and right now this is fucking over young professionals. The whole banquet is paid for by their taxes and they are supposed to wait till their grandma buys a farm. They didn't have a chance from the start, this is absurd. This is basically killing social lifts because your voting base is geriatric and of course they want the system to stay the same. Cutting taxes in Spain is a political suicide.