Every summer, Volkmar and Vera Kruger spend three weeks vacationing in the south of France or at a cool getaway in Denmark. For the other three weeks of their annual vacation, they garden or travel a few hours away to root for their favorite team in Germany's biggest soccer stadium.
The couple, in their early 50s, aren't retired or well off. They live in a small Tudor-style house in this middle-class town about 30 miles northwest of Frankfurt. He's a foreman at a glass factory; she works part time for a company that tracks inventories for retailers. Their combined income is a modest $40,000. Yet the Krugers have a higher standard of living than many Americans whose incomes are twice as high.
Their secret: little debt, frugal habits and a government that is intensely focused on high production, low inflation and extensive social services.
For more: Germany's American Dream | The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram
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