I've always considered "competitive" to be a signal of "as close as possible to our average competitor". It doesn't mean good or high. When a job offer says "competitive salary", it's not a good sign. I assume they mean around average, maybe a little bit below average. If the job offer was offering a significantly great salary, the company would boast about it as more than "competitive."

"Competitive" is job listing filler IMO. Everybody is "competitive". I've seen "competitive" salaries wanting me to take a >30% pay cut.

Yes, absolutely - though it's a difference from colloquial English, where it does normally mean "good"/"better than average". Businesses just use it as a weasel-word.

It is also not going to be the easiest, emigrating to a country with a robust healthcare and social safety net as a retiree in your 40s.

A lot of cheap countries provide good healthcare for a fraction of american costs. Also, not sure why one need a safety net when they already have a stable income which is multiple of what any such net can provide.

Very true. This is a very big reason I left the US in my 40s, while I'm still working and can acquire permanent residency and later citizenship by having a job with a local company. I didn't want to be stuck in the US when I'm at retirement age and healthcare costs are unaffordable even with a decent nest egg, where a major procedure could wipe out all my savings.

> "Competitive" means we are talking about higher percentile within the field.

This is not a standard usage of the term in this context.

[EDIT] If you don't believe me, I'd encourage searching "competitive salary definition"