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Originally Posted by Joshua Grasso
I'm sure you're not having a mid-life crisis, but in America, where you're expected to graduate college by 22, have a $100K job by 24 with a house and kids, and be well on your way to retirement by 35, I think a mid-life crisis is inevitable in one's 30's!
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Maybe you're right about that for the Netherlands, though the wages are lower. A $100K job would mean a salary of around €75.000. If one has a normal working life, nobody expects to ever reach a €75K per year income, except if you're lucky enough to become some sort of very important manager somewhere, or a politician. The reference income the Dutch government uses for calculations is €34K at this time, which is enough to live a normal life with a family of 4. You'll not be rich, but you won't have any problems either, provided you don't do weird things like buy an €80K car on a whim. €75K is a huge income by anyone's standards over here. Many people would actually mark you as being quite rich.
For the rest, the pattern is about the same though; graduate college at 22-23, go to work, marry the girlfriend you got to know in college, buy a house, have kids, and be "done" around 30. Then work trying to earn more money all the time, retire at 65/67, and then go please die before you become too expensive with regard to pensions and health care. (Yes, there's indeed an "Old people are expensive" vibe around these parts for some time; probably caused by all the cutbacks and the euro-crisis.)
Having no kids at my age (and actually wanting and choosing to stay single) is often seen as a "strange choice" for men, and if you're a woman, the sentiment is "avoid that one, there must be something wrong", more often than not.
I don't really like that.
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When do people get to enjoy life and express themselves beyond mowing their lawns or buying a new tie for the Christmas mixer?
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I don't know. Many people I've met over the last few years seem to be of the opinion that if something does not get you any money or increase your salary, then it's not worth doing, but the Euro-crisis may have something to do with that. Everyone everywhere seems to be concerned with "Must have more money!" all the time. Nobody ever seems satisfied with having enough money.
Question: "What amount of money do you need to earn to live comfortably?"
Answer: "More."
But maybe that's just me and I'm meeting the wrong people.
If you get the feeling that I'm being quite cynical and don't like the current sentiment and opinions of people in the Netherlands, then you're quite right.