Interesting discussion, thanks for the lively participation!
I can gladly give a bit more context regarding our finances. The income comes from one person alone (me); my wife takes care of the children since they are still quite young. That might change eventually when both go to school, but we don’t plan that firmly and even then it would definitely not be to a comparable extent.
The $10,000 net is after taxes, health insurance, and all other direct deductions. The monthly pension fund contribution and the contribution to a stock program from my employer are already included. The $40,000 savings per year come solely from this pension and the stock program, so it is quite stable and reliable that the amount is achievable. For those who want to know exactly: with a US pension (401k), income tax and a penalty tax (10%) apply when withdrawn before retirement age. However, that is already accounted for here. At the moment, I see the piggy bank grow every month, which is a pretty good feeling.
Basically, one could assume that we could save even more from the remaining money each month, but we calculate more conservatively as we are not particularly avid savers.
The question why we “only” have about $70,000 in the account despite these figures is understandable. A few factors come together: 1) Recently there was a major promotion which resulted in a 15% increase with hardly any extra costs; and 2) we have fully paid off both cars, which burned through some cash reserves; 3) we had several moves across the country which were very expensive. We certainly do not lead an extremely frugal lifestyle and don’t want to change that, but the assumed monthly savings already take that into account.
By the way, we live here in Southern California, which is quite an expensive area. $4,000 monthly rent is at the upper middle level, but the house is “only” relatively new and not particularly large or luxurious. Still, it hurts even with my income to pay such an amount every month. We can imagine staying here, but a comparable house in this region easily costs $1.5M-$2M, and that is a hefty chunk even with my US salary.
In Germany, we would probably go to Baden Württemberg, Karlsruhe region, since we have family there. Rather expensive, but not Munich. Tendentially more suburban than super close to the city.
Regarding the topic USA vs. Germany vs. Switzerland etc. We have lived in several places in the USA, grew up in Germany (and as mentioned briefly lived there again), and also spent a few years in Switzerland... There really is no “best” country. Preferably everywhere and nowhere.