Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Update to Ask HN: What to do if I’m about to lose my job to mental health issues

pastebin.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 95 posts

Re: Update to Ask HN: What to do if I’m about to lose my job to mental health issues

#41

Post by hef19898 »

ApolloFortyNine wrote: post #34
fromthestart wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Nation-wide solidarity costs little to each person Federal income tax in France is greater than 45%[1]. There's nothing cheap about that. I much prefer the freedom of saving my own money, especially when working in something as lucrative as tech. 1. https://tradingeconomics.com/france/personal-income-tax-rate

France also has a 20% VAT.

Like a lot of European countries. For Germany the (very) rough rule of thumb is net salary equals 50% of gross salary (please refer to your German tax adiver or accountant for more details). That is after taxes, social security, health insurance and unemployment insurance.

Re: Update to Ask HN: What to do if I’m about to lose my job to mental health issues

#42

Post by chad_strategic »

> Fortunately, I had been searching for work before that day, my therapist had helped me realize, part of my depression was from feeling the job was inadequate. It involved minimal effort and had failed to fulfill what I was looking for when I left my last position.

This is part of my issue as well.

But most importantly, thank you for your story. (It seems that someone is cutting some onions at my desk, either that or a lot of dust in my office.)

Never underestimate the power of sharing your story.

Thank you.

Re: Update to Ask HN: What to do if I’m about to lose my job to mental health issues

#43

Post by dsfyu404ed »

arcticbull wrote: post #23
fromthestart wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Nation-wide solidarity costs little to each person Federal income tax in France is greater than 45%[1]. There's nothing cheap about that. I much prefer the freedom of saving my own money, especially when working in something as lucrative as tech. 1. https://tradingeconomics.com/france/personal-income-tax-rate

Wow, that's actually a great deal. The top marginal tax rate in the state of California this year is roughly 65% (and that's excluding employer contributions). 13.3% of all income (State) + 39.6% of all income (Federal) + 5.3% of all income (Federal double tax on State Tax - thanks, Donny) + 6.2% of all income (Social Security - Individual) ===== 64.4% Then of course your employer pays another 6.2% of gross earnings…

California is an outlier!

After taxes, insurance and maxing out my 401k (i.e. all the stuff that comes out of my paycheck) I take home 56% on the East coast (in a high tax state no less). I also pay less sales tax and transportation costs than I would in CA and I can afford a house with less than six figures (gross) household income.

Re: Update to Ask HN: What to do if I’m about to lose my job to mental health issues

#44

Post by briandear »

p4bl0 wrote: post #16

When I read stuff like this I'm so glad to live in a country (France) that doesn't let people without any money when they're fired or have serious medical issues. Nation-wide solidarity costs little to each person but gives a lot to those who need it. So sad that our public unemployment and health systems are getting destroyed piece by piece by successive governments (the current one is particularly agressive).

> Nation-wide solidarity costs little to each person but gives a lot to those who need it.

The money I save from French taxes (I left this year) I can easily afford all manner of insurance plus I get paid a heck of a lot more to save quite a bit of money.

French employment is over 10% and the economy is stagnant. Could it be if you incentivize unemployment you get more of it? It sure seems like that in France. Chronic and intentional unemployment is not unusual in France. And everyone gets to pay for it. Disposable income in France is also significantly less than in the US.

Re: Update to Ask HN: What to do if I’m about to lose my job to mental health issues

#45

Post by briandear »

arcticbull wrote: post #23
fromthestart wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Nation-wide solidarity costs little to each person Federal income tax in France is greater than 45%[1]. There's nothing cheap about that. I much prefer the freedom of saving my own money, especially when working in something as lucrative as tech. 1. https://tradingeconomics.com/france/personal-income-tax-rate

Wow, that's actually a great deal. The top marginal tax rate in the state of California this year is roughly 65% (and that's excluding employer contributions). 13.3% of all income (State) + 39.6% of all income (Federal) + 5.3% of all income (Federal double tax on State Tax - thanks, Donny) + 6.2% of all income (Social Security - Individual) ===== 64.4% Then of course your employer pays another 6.2% of gross earnings…

You aren’t paying the top marginal rate unless you make over $600k as a couple or $500k as a single.

Also the top marginal rate is 37%, not 39.5 (Thanks Donny.)

And SALT? Rather than “thanking” Donnie for the reduced deductibility, perhaps complain that they are so high as to exceed the allowable cap in the first place?

Re: Update to Ask HN: What to do if I’m about to lose my job to mental health issues

#46

Post by tomatocracy »

walshemj wrote: post #38
ac29 wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The top marginal tax bracket in CA is for single people making $1M+, and higher if married. That's a lot, even for software engineers. A more realistic total combined tax for most people is well under 50%.

For the UK with the NHS that figure would be 32% for most single people and less for those with kids.

You've excluded employers national insurance contributions here, which is 13.8% of total pay. That makes the true "main" marginal rate c.44% (20% tax + 12% employee national insurance + 13.8% employers NI / 113.8%).

Most higher earners in e.g. tech or professions will be in the 40% band at least, where the true marginal rate is c.49% (40%+2%+13.8% / 113.8%).

The "top" marginal rate is c.53% (45% tax+2% employee NI+13.8% employer NI / 113.8%) although the highest marginal rate comes between £100k and c.£123k as the personal allowance (bottom 0% band) gets withdrawn making the effective rate (40%+50%x40%+2%+13.8% / 113.8%) = c.65%. (And at the very low end of the scale, as benefits get withdrawn the marginal combined rate of tax and benefit withdrawal is also extremely high).

We don't allow joint filing for married couples which is a significant benefit, especially for single earner couples with high earnings, in the USA.

Then we have mandatory minimum private pension contributions (given these all go into a defined contribution scheme, it's just pay by another name), the apprenticeship levy, etc etc.

Overall, I'd say the UK and "high-tax" parts of the USA (California, New York etc) are similarly taxed at least as far as income is concerned.

Re: Update to Ask HN: What to do if I’m about to lose my job to mental health issues

#47

Post by tomatocracy »

briandear wrote: post #44
p4bl0 wrote: post #16

When I read stuff like this I'm so glad to live in a country (France) that doesn't let people without any money when they're fired or have serious medical issues. Nation-wide solidarity costs little to each person but gives a lot to those who need it. So sad that our public unemployment and health systems are getting destroyed piece by piece by successive governments (the current one is particularly agressive).

> Nation-wide solidarity costs little to each person but gives a lot to those who need it. The money I save from French taxes (I left this year) I can easily afford all manner of insurance plus I get paid a heck of a lot more to save quite a bit of money. French employment is over 10% and the economy is stagnant. Could it be if you incentivize unemployment you get more of it? It sure seems like that in France. Chroni…

The reasons for high unemployment in France are, I would suggest, more to do with how hard it is to fire people in France than taxes. If you know you'll be stuck with someone forever, you take the decision to hire much more seriously and you'd much rather ask an existing employee who's a known quantity to do more work instead (potentially even if you pay them more in raises than it would have cost to hire someone else).

Contrast that to e.g. Denmark where taxes are arguably higher but making redundancies/reducing workforce is not anything close to as hard or expensive for the employer.

Re: Update to Ask HN: What to do if I’m about to lose my job to mental health issues

#48

Post by tomatocracy »

m-i-l wrote: post #35
woofyman wrote: post #18

When I’ve been depressed, here’s what worked for me. 1) long walks in nature 2) eat well 3) sleep (If necessary get a prescription for trazodone, they’re cheap $7.50 for 90 pills) 4) antidepressant meds

> "When I’ve been depressed, here’s what worked for me. 1) long walks in nature" Interestingly "Doctors in Shetland are to start prescribing birdwatching, rambling and beach walks in the Atlantic winds to help treat chronic and debilitating illnesses for the first time. From Friday [5 Oct 2018], doctors working in the 10 GP surgeries on the islands will be authorised by the archipelago’s health board, NHS Shetland, t…

Yes. I would add that it's not just "in nature" that's important (and it is) but also "walks" - physical activity, even light physical activity like walking, can be a huge help to some people in combating stress and depression (but of course, everyone's different so these aren't completely universal).

Re: Update to Ask HN: What to do if I’m about to lose my job to mental health issues

#49

Post by itwrangler »

Well done.. Transitions out of mental illness are personal and difficult - telling your story may help. If you are still suffering you are right you need to get more talking help as that, IMO, will be the key to long term recovery. And I mean long term.

'Shoring up' for the long term is the best you can do for yourself on a practical level now - work, earn, save, clear debts, that's the practical steps.

Medically get all the help you can - be it meds, therapy, new ideas..

Maybe get some new ideas happening for you too? On a philosophical front I mean, I find episodes of depression come with a big slab of "what's the point" and have thus sometimes found (but this is very individual I guess) that exposure to new stuff - meditation, buddhism, books/reflections on philosophy etc helped in the sense of 'seeing a bigger picture'. Getting 'out of oneself' type activities are helpful during episodes IMO as it reduces (a little) that introversion which seems to happen and be quite damaging when in the depth of depression.

I had two years out of work after depression and substance abuse treatment (I managed to keep my job during this period whilst barely functioning for a couple of years, more due to bad HR management than anything I did, i.e. inertia/incompetence on their part). It took 12 months of the out of work time just to get recovery up to a level where I felt I'd be capable of working again, and then another 9 months to actually get a gig..

It's a long road, without light sometimes it feels.. but it will pass if you ensure you keep the minimal practicals together and ensure you get outside help to deal with what's going on in your head. You are absolutely not alone. Take care and good luck! S

Re: Update to Ask HN: What to do if I’m about to lose my job to mental health issues

#50

Post by briandear »

tomatocracy wrote: post #47
briandear wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Nation-wide solidarity costs little to each person but gives a lot to those who need it. The money I save from French taxes (I left this year) I can easily afford all manner of insurance plus I get paid a heck of a lot more to save quite a bit of money. French employment is over 10% and the economy is stagnant. Could it be if you incentivize unemployment you get more of it? It sure seems like that in France. Chroni…

The reasons for high unemployment in France are, I would suggest, more to do with how hard it is to fire people in France than taxes. If you know you'll be stuck with someone forever, you take the decision to hire much more seriously and you'd much rather ask an existing employee who's a known quantity to do more work instead (potentially even if you pay them more in raises than it would have cost to hire someone els…

Fair point; the French labor code is the problem, however taxes are related; the high cost of being stuck with someone is higher due to social charges and taxes. Reforming the labor code and lowering taxes would both make the employment market more liquid.
Post reply on HN