Ask HN: What is your story of immigrating to another country?
Met my now wife playing online games back in 1999. Moved to The Netherlands from the UK in 2006. Learnt the language, integrated and settled here.<p>We&#x27;re absolutely killing it here - it was the best decision of my life. We live in a safe stable country which isn&#x27;t dominated by the wishes of the selfish elderly. We have a fairly well functioning state with a strong social safety net. We&#x27;re both business owners, have a nice home and three happy and healthy kids.<p>The UK in comparison feels like a third world country - everything seems to be falling down, and working-age people - particularly those under 40-45 have been absolutely screwed by the last 10-15 years of policy. Basically, if you were 25 in 2000 and bought property then, you have a huge amount of equity. It was very common for people a little older at the time (30-35) who had the means to buy a second property, for rental. Policy in the last years has been about protecting (mainly final-income based!!) pensions, protecting property prices and indulging in the racist fantasies of the retired at the cost of the working age.<p>In The Netherlands housing is also an issue for anyone under 50 - thanks to the &quot;free market&quot; being allowed to buy up all of the housing stock. Particularly the foreign investors who operate with schemes that ensure that they basically don&#x27;t pay any tax are the biggest problem. It&#x27;s impossible to compete with an American corporation who pays $0 on every $100 they earn, whereas you have to pay $40 of every $100 you earn in tax.