Why you shouldn't move to the Netherlands // Americans moving to the Netherlands

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- You'll be looked at really funny. If you hate vacation, don't come to the Netherlands. So leave your guns at home. Welcome to A Wanderlust For Life. I'm Jessica, and this is my expat life series where I talk about different tips or just things that you may want to know if you are thinking about moving to the Netherlands. it's based on my life in Amsterdam since 2014. And yeah, I'm just gonna kind of give you a bunch of tips. So this is specifically for Americans, just because it's a comparison kind of between expectations in life there versus here. But obviously if you're from anywhere else, you're welcome to watch the video and see if it relates to you. You'll hate the Netherlands if you're American if you think it's a 24 hour party. First of all, Amsterdam, which is where a lot of the nightlife happens, is not the entirety of the Netherlands. So I just wanna, first of all, say that. Amsterdam is the capital of the Netherlands, but actually there are other cities, surprisingly. Said sarcastically. We have Rotterdam and The Hague, both of which I'm sure you'll find nightlife. I've just lived in Amsterdam since 2014. So this is like what I can relate it to. You can certainly find raves and nightlife and all kinds of stuff here, but it's not a 24 hour party. It's a pretty quiet city, actually. If you don't like big brother, the Netherlands may not be for you. So everything's kind of interconnected through your numbers. So we have a BSN here, which is your social security number. I went to the physiotherapist, and I gave them my BSN and my address. And they had my insurance information that just popped up, which I love. I know some people won't like that. They don't like that things are connected, but I think it is absolutely perfect. So all your medical stuff, all your tax stuff and everything is just in one system. I think you can opt out of some things, but I find it to make life a lot easier. So weapons are not such a big thing here. You may or may not know that. We don't really have a gun violence problem. Do we have guns? Yes, we do have some. And it is taken so seriously. If you commit a crime with a weapon here, it's a big deal. Like it makes national news, it's crazy. You can probably get a hunting license, but it takes time and effort. It is not as easy as in the US, and handguns, I don't even know if you can purchase them here. If you're Dutch, because I know some of you are watching this, you seem to love watching my expat videos to see what I'm gonna say. But if you know the specific rules when it comes to guns, please leave them down below or link something for people to check out. But yeah, they're not such a big thing here because we don't really fear for our safety. So the whole I need personal protection thing doesn't really fly here. So yeah, so leave your guns at home. Before we keep going, I want to remind you to go ahead and hit subscribe if you want to see more expat life videos, Amsterdam videos, and we'll be traveling soon videos. And if you like the video, hit the like button and leave me a comment down below if you have any other questions related to expat life, because I will keep doing these kinds of videos throughout the year. All right, politics time. If you love your two party system, it's not that way here. We have a king and we also have a parliament. So that connection is still a bit fuzzy for me. My understanding is the king typically goes with what the parliament says, unless he's like really, really against it, but I think he's like in talks. But generally speaking, the parliament makes the rules and the laws and enforces them. But it's not a two party system. There are so many parties, and at election time, you really have to take your time if you're allowed to vote, I am not allowed to vote as a permanent resident, I am not a citizen of the Netherlands. But you have to take your time and really figure out what your interests are. And we have parties that cover all the interests. And yes, we do have super, super conservative. But my understanding is even the conservative parties here are more liberal than like, the center parties are in the US, so take with that way you will. And moving to that, another thing people don't like to talk about is taxes. If you're not willing to pay your fair share of taxes in a society that uses taxes to make a better society, then just stay in the US because here you can pay 40 to 50% in income taxes and our like sales tax is called VAT, value added tax is 21%. And all of that goes to making, I don't know, a society that doesn't worry as much about everything. We're not worried about roads being bad or getting in an accident or, I mean, just like, it's like a weight lifted off your shoulders. So we've always been willing to pay more to have that peace of mind and to have the infrastructure where it's like the kind of infrastructure where you don't even think about infrastructure. Does that make sense? You're not like, oh, that's really crumbling. You just kind of expect it to be okay. And if you see something wrong or if like the trash wasn't picked up, you call and stuff gets done. That's my experience. Again, somebody may have another experience, but generally speaking, stuff just gets done here and it gets done fairly quickly, which is kind of amazing in my opinion. Be prepared to file at least, at least two sets of taxes. You will need to file taxes in the United States if you live in the Netherlands. And because I'm from a Commonwealth state, we actually have to file three sets. So we have to file state tax as well because they don't let you leave. I don't understand this system. Almost every other country in the world except two or four lets you deregister and therefore you don't pay taxes or you don't file taxes. Now there is a limit. I don't know what it is. It's like a hundred thousand dollars or something a year. If you make over that, it's about that, you can check the tax code yourself, then you may owe taxes in the United States. But you still have to file, so don't try to get around it. And if you use an expat service to file your taxes, it's expensive, it's like ridiculous. But if you do want a company that we've been using for five years now I think, it's called Taxes for Expats, I'll leave an affiliate link in the description, so I will get a commission for it, but you pay the same price. If you hate vacation, don't come to the Netherlands. Because we get so many days, I think federally, it's 20 or 21 and then most companies add to that. And then if you're sick, you just take time to get the healthy. There's those sick day this. Again, my personal experience, and I believe that is the law. If you are sick, you just take time off. You are not docked for that. And if you have, if you need a long-term or even a short term disability, that is doable here. People understand that if you're sick, you need time off because you're not gonna be your best self. And not to mention, you have more of a, you have a more positive view of your employer because they take care of people generally speaking. So, yeah, and if you don't ever wanna take your vacations, you'll be looked at really funny and you may be forced to or you'll lose them. So those are kind of your options. If you love your car and you're moving to Amsterdam, maybe don't live in the center of Amsterdam, like live in north. Hey, come to north, I have videos on it. I'll leave the link up there. Yeah, you'll wanna live in an area where you can actually park your car, but most of us will cycle or take the bus, the Metro, the ferry, trams, you know, like normal people. We do a parking garage around the city. They are expensive. Cars are expensive here. The taxes are high on them. Parking, you have to pay for parking, things like that. So if you love to drive, maybe Amsterdam was not the right city, maybe in other place is, but you can always, we have plenty of those kind of like pick up on the street kind of cars with apps. So if you're interested in that and you wanna be sure that you could have cars for the weekend and stuff like that, that is definitely an option. One I would consider if I were you actually, because then he don't have to pay for all the insurance and stuff and parking. You don't pay for any of that, you just pay for when you use it. And then if you wanna go out of the country, then you just rent a car like normal. This should be super obvious, as some of these are, but if you don't like diversity, don't leave your bubble. And I'm saying that like pretty forcefully too because Americans, there are many Americans who are kind of known for living in their own bubble and they just don't want anything else. They don't like change. They don't wanna see anybody that doesn't look like them or they feel threatened by anybody that doesn't look like them. And that's a reality. And it's kind of disturbing to me, but I won't get into that today. Amsterdam is one of the most diverse cities in the world. There are many languages spoken. And if you can't handle that, you won't like it. If you need your Americanized society, you won't like it. And like I said, that's probably pretty obvious. But even though Amsterdam has a lot, a lot of foreigners to the point where a lot of the Dutch who live here get quite frustrated with it because they don't even try to assimilate. It's still not an American city, and you can't expect it to be, that's not fair, and you're not gonna get that experience. So if you're not willing to embrace diversity, embrace hearing other languages and eating other foods, that's some of the reasons that people move here, then don't because you won't enjoy it, and you probably won't make friends, and it'll be a really hard time for you until you moved back home. And I'm saying that as genuinely as I can, because you have to want to move to a new country. And I want you to do it with eyes wide open. And along with that, if you don't wanna hear another language every day, don't move here. 'Cause Dutch obviously is the most spoken language. Can you get around with English? Yes, but it's so much better if you know some Dutch and it's just, to me, I love hearing Dutch when I'm other places. Dutch are such travelers, they always have been, they have a history of it. And so no matter where we go, we always find the Dutch people, and I love hearing it. And finally, if you are not prepared for a cut throat rental market, don't even bother. There are different companies that can help you with this, but it is rough. And I tell you this because I really feel like you have to want to be here. You have to want to go through the immigration process, you have to want to go through the finding a home process. And I mean, it's one of the reasons we bought. It's as simple as that because it's so frustrating to look for a new place. And just to give you an idea, even buying, we would run into, in an open house, like 20 to 30 other people. And that's when you've actually had a time slot just to be looking at it. And when it comes to the rental market, a lot of times you have to prove that you make five times the amount. There's a lot that goes into that. That's not everybody, but it's just, do a lot of research before you move here so that you know what you're getting into as far as the rental market's concerned. Well, I hope that was enlightening and eye opening for you. I don't wanna be negative because you know how much I love Amsterdam. So if you want to move here and these things don't bother you, I encourage you to. If you can move here legally, absolutely give it a try because it is the most amazing place I have ever been. And I hope that you found this helpful. If you did, please go ahead and click the like button and subscribe if you aren't already, and I will see you in the next video. Bye!
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Channel: A Wanderlust For Life
Views: 80,173
Rating: undefined out of 5
Keywords: european travel, travel vlog, americans in amsterdam, expats in the netherlands, expats in amsterdam, american expats, living abroad, tips for moving abroad, moving to the netherlands, life in holland, life in the netherlands, amsterdam expat life, is the netherlands a good place to live, moving to holland
Id: zn0QWDLuQd8
Channel Id: undefined
Length: 12min 29sec (749 seconds)
Published: Sun Jul 04 2021
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