Yahoo Finance This DC woman moved from US to Belgium with her family — here's why she says it's worth the higher taxes
The nation’s capital may be a great place for politicians. But for one former Marine, Washington, D.C., couldn’t compare to Brussels, Belgium.
Jessica van Dop DeJesus, 45, told CNBC Make It that she’d had enough of the U.S. after watching prices skyrocket and violence increase during the COVID-19 pandemic.
So, in 2021, she packed her bags and moved to Brussels with her Dutch husband and seven-year-old daughter — a city she knew well after living there for six years following her military career. Her family’s monthly spending, on average, comes out to $4,236 (USD), which includes mortgage payments ($2,931), utilities ($261) and child care costs ($60).
Don't miss
Commercial real estate has beaten the stock market for 25 years — but only the super rich could buy in. Here's how even ordinary investors can become the landlord of Walmart, Whole Foods or Kroger
Cost-of-living in America is still out of control — use these 3 'real assets' to protect your wealth today, no matter what the US Fed does or says
These 5 magic money moves will boost you up America's net worth ladder in 2024 — and you can complete each step within minutes. Here's how
Van Dop DeJesus doesn’t even mind the trade-off of the high tax rate in Belgium because of the social and physical safety nets in the country.
“Are we going to become rich living here?” she said in a CNBC Make It video. “Probably not,” but she says living in Europe puts her “more at ease.”
Van Dop DeJesus is one of a growing number of Americans who are seeking a lower cost of living by moving abroad.
Here’s what you gain — and lose — by living in Belgium.
Taxes
Van Dop DeJesus is a freelance food and travel content creator with almost 17,000 Instagram followers. In her CNBC interview she doesn’t reveal what her husband does for a living, but she does say he gets a company car and private health insurance.
She said that the two of them spend 55% of their combined incomes on taxes. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) reported that Belgium taxes the average single worker at 52.7%. This is the highest rate of all 38 OECD countries.
This is also significantly higher than American tax rates, which taxes its citizens at an average rate of 29.9%. The US currently ranks lower than the average tax rate of 38 OECD countries, putting it in 29th place for lowest tax wedge.
Although van Dop DeJesus loses her income up-top because of the high taxes in Belgium, she’s more than happy to access their universal healthcare.
Americans pay the most for healthcare of all 38 OECD countries, according to health policy research group Peterson-KFF. They spend, on average, $12,555 per person annually, whereas Belgians spend half of that sum at $6,600 per year.
Read more: Jeff Bezos and Oprah Winfrey invest in this asset to keep their wealth safe — you may want to do the same in 2024
Social safety nets
Another thing that van Dop DeJesus loves about Belgium is the social safety net. In 2020, she was working as a military reservationist and in a marketing role at a private company in D.C.
Suddenly, the company fired her. Van Dop DeJesus said that the person who fired her didn’t even turn on her laptop camera to deliver the news. The company also tried to avoid paying van Dop DeJesus two weeks’ worth of severance pay.
After that negative experience, she and her husband decided to move to Europe. Belgium had universal healthcare, as well as robust government support (thanks to those high taxes).
“It’s nice to be able to have that kind of safety net if you get laid off, if you lose work,” DeJesus said. “You’re able to make ends meet.”
Because of this, Belgium currently ranks as the 16th happiest country in the world, according to the 2024 World Happiness Report. The U.S., on other hand, ranks 23rd.
Although the happiness of their citizens can’t be directly correlated to having a robust social safety net, it’s a major factor in other “happy countries”, such as Finland, Denmark and Iceland.
What to read next
Car insurance premiums in America are through the roof — and only getting worse. But 5 minutes could have you paying as little as $29/month
‘Baby boomers bust': Robert Kiyosaki warns that older Americans will get crushed in the 'biggest bubble in history' — 3 shockproof assets for instant insurance now
The 5 most expensive mistakes in options trading and how to avoid them
This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
