I've enjoyed lurking here on MMM for a couple months and am now in a position to hopefully receive some of your insight.
I'm a single mid-20s American who will be graduating with an M.Sc. degree from a Swedish university within the next few months (did BSE in the US). I'm currently trying to make the very difficult decision of whether to stay in Sweden or Norway or to move back to the US and start my career there.
Just for some perspective, I've been living quite frugally in Sweden off around 6500 SEK/month ($1000/month, which includes budgeting for vacations and an annual trip to the US) for the past two years. I would definitely bump up my spending a little bit after becoming employed full-time though. I don't have any debt at all, $25k liquid savings, and about $5k in an IRA from an old internship. I think not having any debt provides with me a little more flexibility.
My expected earnings in each prospective place would be: $55-65k in the US (really depends on location, would probably be in a larger city though), 375k SEK (in Göteborg, $55-60k), and 490k NOK (in Oslo, $85k). From gross salary alone, Oslo obviously looks the most attractive but I've visited Norway enough to know that the cost of living is insanely high. I think the tax rates in Sweden and Norway would be around ~35% of my income, if not more.
The benefits in Scandinavia are generally much more enticing though. I love not owning - or even needing - a car, the beautiful parks and nature, cooking my meals, and leading a rather intentional life in general. I also love the shorter working hours (strictly 9-5, including an hour lunch) and a minimum of 5 weeks of vacation (probably more with any overtime compensation) which would still allow me to visit family in the US every summer for significant periods of time. Yes, I do miss my family and friends at times, and I do feel a little guilty that I'm so far away from my (healthy, mid-50's) parents in particular.
Most of my financial concerns are related to contributing to American investment accounts (Vanguard probably) with a foreign stream of income. I'm wondering how hard it would be to wire money directly to the investment account or back to an American back account and then to the investment account.
I believe that Norway has a 1% annual worldwide wealth tax and Sweden has a relatively high capital gains tax. Do any locals or ex-pats have any thoughts or experiences with building wealth in these countries? I honestly don't mind the high income taxes because I can see the benefits in healthcare, education, etc., but I'm still having a hard time coming to terms with the idea of a wealth tax.
I would like to be in a position to be FI/RE in 15-ish years, and I'm a little worried that if I decide to stay in Scandinavia for only a few years and then move back to the US to continue my career that my American retirement accounts will have suffered since I won't have benefited from a 401k or other tax-advantaged investments.
On a related note, I believe the US foreign income tax exclusion is currently around $100k. If I lived in Norway, it's possible that I could reach this limit in a good year. Say I earned $105k in a year... could I then take the foreign income tax exclusion and then contribute the remaining $5k to an IRA?
Native Swedes/Norwegians and ex-pats: is there anything else I should be aware of? As a non-citizen in Sweden and Norway, does anyone know if would I be eligible for any type of insurance or pension tax breaks? I'm not really sure how the pension system works and if I have any control over where that money goes.
Jag kan tala/läsa lite svenska, men jag skulle behöva förbättras efter jag avsluta mitt exjobb. Tyvärr är mitt program allt på engelska så jag är inte flytande (fluent - är det rätt?). Jag är beredd att lära dock.
Anyone else: how would you all go about making this decision? What factors would go into your thought process? I would like to have a family someday, but not in the immediate future.
Sorry for the long, rambling post. I have a lot of other thoughts running through my head, so let me know if you need more information and I'll do my best to provide it.
P.S. Glad syttende mai to the Norwegians. I was in Oslo last weekend for the celebration and had an amazing time!