General Discussion

I was lucky.

I speak nine European languages and live in Europe
I know the various cultures of Germany, it is not unitary. It has only been one country for a century and a half.
I know much of the history of the country, but German history is vast.
After many years, working contacts and a German wife who I’ve been with for 51 years, yeah, I’ve more than a few friends here.
The health care system is a vast patchwork of agencies and companies. If you don’t get active on your own behalf, even German citizens can fall through the cracks and find themselves without any health insurance. It’s only a few hundred thousand here, compared with tens of millions in the USA, but they exist. To get German legal residence and a work permit, I had to present health insurance. I presented my Blue Cross and they accepted it, not realizing that it was in reality practically worthless. But my only alternative was German “private” insurance at $35,000 a year. I certainly haven’t had $500,000 in EU medical bills (or even a tenth of that) in the years since I got my permit, so I am, so far, well ahead of that game.
Do I have enough money to live here? Despite my rather exorbitant overall tax rate, due to a few minor well-timed investments many years ago, I do have enough to live on here. I have told numerous members of Congress, including my mouthy, supposedly anti-tax Republican, Beth Van Duyne, of the unfair double taxation, but the only answer I get is to “rush $25” to their campaign.

Living expenses are comparable except for gasoline (over double) and income taxes.