One of the biggest mistakes people make while considering Aliyah from the US is this:

One of the biggest mistakes people make while considering Aliyah from the US is this:

Not hiring an Israeli accountant to put together a projection of what their gross income and take-home pay will truly be after switching to an Israeli job. 

Here are some of the surprises that come up:

First of all, depending on the industry, your paycheck may be cut by 25%--75%, mostly depending on the industry. 

Next, while most people know generally that there is a much higher income tax rates in Israel, most don't realize how much it really is. 

For instance, a high-level doctor who earned $500k per year in the US had previously paid $171,850 in Federal+ NJ income taxes. 

In Israel, with his paycheck going down to about $250k, the Israeli income taxes are about $83,000. We're down to $167,000.

Israeli social security taxes (Bituach Leumi): As opposed to US social security of 7.65% withheld from paychecks, in Israel the salary portion over about $1,925 per month is taxed at a 12% rate. In this case, about $17k, so he's down to $150,000. 

Some more little-known things to be taken out of his paycheck:

Pension: 6% of gross salary (unlike in the US where employee contributions are optional with 401k etc.)

Keren Hishtalmut (required by many employers): 2.5%

That's 8.5% total, about $21,200 USD. We're down to $128,800 USD take home pay. So that's $10,733 per month. 

That's respectable, but a high-income earner with a growing family, accustomed to a very comfortable lifestyle in the US may be shocked that they won't be able to make it through the month if they move to an area in Israel with high-priced real estate. 

Take off student debt repayments of estimated $2-3k per month, and you realize that they may get into deep trouble without prior planning. Not to mention not having any leeway to build up any liquid savings besides for pensions. 

I've seen people in this situation quickly spiral into disaster, taking early IRA distributions with huge penalties or falling into credit card debt just to stay temporarily afloat. 

Prior planning is essential to avoid pitfalls like this. Planned adjustments to a lower level lifestyle may be inevitable.