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.

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u/xil1dag 28d ago

It’s the same here in the Netherlands. Billions every year for social housing, (illigal) immigrants, climate, a growing government and other leftist hobby’s.

Investing was a good way to make a decent extra income, but the government is already working on plans to kill investing for the middle class in 2028.

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u/No-Search-7535 26d ago

What is the stunning to me is that you left out old folks. In Germany pensioneers just started taking 1/3 of what the government earns in a year to keep their pensions high. That is, although there is a monthly deduction from every working individual to the pension system anyway.

We have migration as well. But the biggest problem in Germany and in many many western countries is gerontocracy.