Earlier quoted context omitted.
5.5 Weeks is 28 working days. That's what a begginer gets here in DE ( as engineer)
Right, so "comparable".
5 weeks is not the average though. It is usually around 2 weeks if you are just starting out.
Ask HN: Why is pay so much higher in the US? (or is it?)
101–110 of 175 posts
Re: Ask HN: Why is pay so much higher in the US? (or is it?)
#102Earlier quoted context omitted.
You make a lot of good points. I agree it is a cultural problem but the other half of the problem is _Taxation_. Culturally most workers in EU markets (I am generalizing but lets exclude Executive, Finance, and Consulting positions) see an offer letter as the end of the recruitment process. People are not confident in negotiating an offer up because they are afraid employers will withdraw or walk-way (Which I have ha…
> Pension Systems that at this point are a Ponzi scheme where working taxpayers are paying for retiree income (Privatized Retirement is fairly limited in Europe and mostly optional on top of standard contributions) How is this a Ponzi Scheme ? Currently working people help sustain retired people the same way retired people help the retired people when they were working and the same way young people will sustain the c…
Of course it's a Ponzi scheme since it promotes freeloading.
People without children also expect to receive pension while escaping the effort and time to raise the next generation.
When you did this at family level the result was pretty evident, in your old age you were alone and vulnerable. Doing this on national level hides this effect.
Re: Ask HN: Why is pay so much higher in the US? (or is it?)
#103Earlier quoted context omitted.
Hey french here. You are speaking of raw income, right? I don't think we are content with lower wages. It's just that you cannot really compare EU-US just like that. You need to compare cost of living, entirely. Paid leave. Public holiday. College fees. Working time. But also what I call 'peace of mind'. In Europe, you have retirement from the state. You will never have crazy, 6 figures hospital bills. My employer fi…
Exactly, gross salary. It's true you can't really compare directly like that, but just as an example let's normalize the data on the point of vacation/holidays. EU: 52 wk / yr * 5 day / wk = 260 days / yr 35 holiday / yr = 225 working / yr 260 / 225 * 65 = 75.1k per year normalized vs USA: 10 holiday / yr = 250 days / yr 260 / 250 * 160 = 166.4k per year normalized Here we can see how even when considering something…
Seems US estimate may be low. I work in a large US tech company and I get 14 holidays (and we are typically dismissed 3 hrs early on afternoons before holidays, which adds up to another 5 days) and another 3-4 weeks of vacation I choose when to use during the year. I'm typically off about 35-40 business days a year when all taken together.
Re: Ask HN: Why is pay so much higher in the US? (or is it?)
#104Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Pension Systems that at this point are a Ponzi scheme where working taxpayers are paying for retiree income (Privatized Retirement is fairly limited in Europe and mostly optional on top of standard contributions) How is this a Ponzi Scheme ? Currently working people help sustain retired people the same way retired people help the retired people when they were working and the same way young people will sustain the c…
Of course it's a Ponzi scheme since it promotes freeloading. People without children also expect to receive pension while escaping the effort and time to raise the next generation. When you did this at family level the result was pretty evident, in your old age you were alone and vulnerable. Doing this on national level hides this effect.
You are using a moral vocabulary to describe a social program. You already lost the point.
I encourage you to read about the Capitol Hill Babysitting Co-op [0] which I find enlightening. It's not about pensions but about liquidity yet it is an interesting insight into why assigning moral values to what is basically an "mechanical" system made to improve the life of people is not just wrong but useless.
[0] https://slate.com/business/1998/08/baby-sitting-the-economy....
Re: Ask HN: Why is pay so much higher in the US? (or is it?)
#105Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Pension Systems that at this point are a Ponzi scheme where working taxpayers are paying for retiree income (Privatized Retirement is fairly limited in Europe and mostly optional on top of standard contributions) How is this a Ponzi Scheme ? Currently working people help sustain retired people the same way retired people help the retired people when they were working and the same way young people will sustain the c…
It's a Ponzi scheme when it's not sustainable. Social Security in the US, for example is not financially viable in its current form. Either the retirement age will need to be raised or its obligations will need to be abandoned, probably a bit of both. Some but not all European pension schemes are facing similar problems.
> It's a Ponzi scheme when it's not sustainable.
That's such a general and undeveloped affirmation that you probably don't even believe it yourself.
Here is the real definition from Wikipedia:
> is a form of fraud that lures investors and pays profits to earlier investors with funds from more recent investors.
Pension systems are not a fraud. If you believe so, we do not live in the same reality.
Taxpayers and pensioners are not investors. They are people who want to live a descent life.
Not everything should be viewed as a financial market. Reducing everything in life into a spreadsheet makes you believe in fairy tales. People end up believing they are going to become millionaires by investing their hard earn dollars into actual Ponzi schemes like bitcoins and the like.
Rich countries are producing many times more than what they need. There is plenty for everyone to go around, they just need to organize themselves a little better.
Re: Ask HN: Why is pay so much higher in the US? (or is it?)
#106Earlier quoted context omitted.
I live in London. Developed a persistent headache which goes on for a few months already. Just got appointment to a neurologist for August 2023. Today is September 2022. Although, is UK in Europe?...
Yep, that's how the coveted socialized health care system looks like in practice in many European countries. Sometimes the queue is short and you can use it. Sometimes it's not and you go to a private doctor instead. Sometimes, the nececessary drug is refunded and you get it for nearly free. Other times it's not and you buy it out of pocket. If it happens to be expensive, it will bankrupt your family just the same (o…
Meanwhile my friend here I’m the US has to wait until may 2023 to see a dermatologist.
Long wait times exist in the US as well, we just like to pretend that it’s a socialized medicine thing.
Re: Ask HN: Why is pay so much higher in the US? (or is it?)
#107Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Pension Systems that at this point are a Ponzi scheme where working taxpayers are paying for retiree income (Privatized Retirement is fairly limited in Europe and mostly optional on top of standard contributions) How is this a Ponzi Scheme ? Currently working people help sustain retired people the same way retired people help the retired people when they were working and the same way young people will sustain the c…
Of course it's a Ponzi scheme since it promotes freeloading. People without children also expect to receive pension while escaping the effort and time to raise the next generation. When you did this at family level the result was pretty evident, in your old age you were alone and vulnerable. Doing this on national level hides this effect.
There's no reason people in high energy consumption countries should be encouraged to have children. Immigration is a cleaner ponzi scheme that helps reduce suffering among people who already exist instead of making people for apparently greedy motivations.
Re: Ask HN: Why is pay so much higher in the US? (or is it?)
#108Re: Ask HN: Why is pay so much higher in the US? (or is it?)
#109Earlier quoted context omitted.
Haha pay is higher in the US because, sure, it's the world's largest economy. Though there are more millionares being minted in China than in the US every year. Nevertheless I'd sure as shit not want to build my business in China. I used to think this was because of relatively higher taxes in the EU than in the US but at the top end the highest wage earners are taxed rather heavily. A 500k salary is not 500k takehome…
So, I'll be honest, taxes in the EU are (at the basic levels) near what they are in the US - top-line last-dollar percentage wise anyhow. But in the US there's a massive cottage industry in creating and managing deductions. I'm currently abroad, so while I'm subject to US taxes, the FEIE allows the first 112k to be deducted from income tax (not SS, so not everything but the bulk of it), and while I still expect to to…
I’m an expat here too and I pay a CPA to do my taxes. (1 rental means a biz return and all the deductions… meh) if you can take home 400k from 500k in gross then you’re doing amazingly well.
Re: Ask HN: Why is pay so much higher in the US? (or is it?)
#110Earlier quoted context omitted.
Haha pay is higher in the US because, sure, it's the world's largest economy. Though there are more millionares being minted in China than in the US every year. Nevertheless I'd sure as shit not want to build my business in China. I used to think this was because of relatively higher taxes in the EU than in the US but at the top end the highest wage earners are taxed rather heavily. A 500k salary is not 500k takehome…
>I find the EU (Germany in particular), is hurting for talent enough that my mediocre skills (working on skilling up) are in demand and I'm relatively well paid >80k eur/yr Can I ask where in Germany?
Berlin