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It is not free, we just pay taxes.

Retirement is the worst. You are basically forced to pay into a unsustainable system ( at least in Germany ). It already has to be subsidized by taxes .

Exactly. State retirement in Europes is not free nor great. We pay extra in taxes for it and it's only great for the present day retirees, not for those paying into the system right now who will retire into the future. It's the same as US social security, it's not some extra perk that Europeans have over Americans.

Top tier scientists aren't gonna be swayed by European state retirement systems.

Free healthcare and retirement ?

It is an universal system but definitely not free . In Germany you pay on average 17.5% of your salary for healthcare insurance and 18.6% for retirement . However contribution caps exists . 70k for healthcare and 100k for retirement .

„free“