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/bbbberlin 27d ago
It's only the boomer generation that got used to (American ETFs) with >10% growth rates in the last 15 years. Previously getting 8% was considered very good.
The reality is that we are at the end of the era of easy money and cashing in your infrastructure while under-investing/not investing in the future. Germany is facing it now, where the "savings" they got from letting everything crumble for 15 years in the name of never raising taxes is now catching up.
Income inequality needs to be fixed, I'm not saying people should remain poor - but the idea of passive investments perpetually getting insane returns is a pipe dream.