161–170 of 248 posts
I suspect using the median net assets instead of the average would lead to vastly different results.
Actually the 20% poorest in the US has it better than the average EU middle class. Ref: https://www.google.com/amp/s/fee.org/articles/the-poorest-20...
EU has absorbed many eastern countries that where under USSR influence
Earlier quoted context omitted.
And you still have plenty of homesless and destitute. Pretty sad that you can't look after the most vunerable.
I saw a ton of people sleeping on mattresses and blankets in German train stations last time I went. Were they just enjoying their freedom from the pressures of society? Maybe we should look at this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_homeless_... So what are you talking about exactly?
When?
City name?
Station name?
Did you call an ambulance?
Why not?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
A house is a nearly guaranteed asset. The value will likely steadily rise throughout the years, and with good homeowners insurance you'll get paid even if the house is destroyed. An education guarantees nothing. The neurosurgeon could die, or suffer an injury preventing them from performing surgery, or just plain quit and decide to pursue art instead. Of course the neurosurgeon has a significantly higher potential fu…
So without the insurance, then the house would be similar to the neurosurgeon? A natural disaster could wipe it out. And can't a Neurosurgeon take out equivalent insurance to cover the worst case scenarios that you described? I am sure I have heard of famous singers insuring their voices.
A house can be liquidated and potential profit realized rather quickly. Education, not so much. You can insure yourself (and should, if you could lose your work by getting in an accident), so that you get a set amount paid out each month in case you end up in a wheelchair or similar state that would keep you from working.
> But debts in the Alpine country are far higher than in the US... Debts make this comparison difficult to make meaningful. A few cases: - Minimum wage earner barely scrapes by but does not seek any credit. - Someone in a high cost of living area takes out a mortgage. - A young neurosurgeon with fresh educational debt takes on a very high paying job. - A billionaire borrows to finance a major real estate project The…
An important detail here is that in Switzerland it's somewhat normal to simply never pay back your mortgage, so many people will keep around a bunch of debt because it doesn't make financial sense to eliminate it. When you get a mortgage it's usually broken into two amounts: an amount that you have to pay back (~30% if I remember right) and an amount that you don't (the rest). You can simply pay back the first amount…
“If you are a homeowner in Switzerland, you have to pay income tax on what is known as its ‘rental value’. The rental value theoretically represents what you as owner would receive if you rented the property to someone else, i.e. what that tenant would pay you in rent. At the same time, you can deduct mortgage interest payments and other costs for the upkeep of the property from your taxable income.” https://www.ch.ch/en/rental-value/
Earlier quoted context omitted.
A house is a nearly guaranteed asset. The value will likely steadily rise throughout the years, and with good homeowners insurance you'll get paid even if the house is destroyed. An education guarantees nothing. The neurosurgeon could die, or suffer an injury preventing them from performing surgery, or just plain quit and decide to pursue art instead. Of course the neurosurgeon has a significantly higher potential fu…
I see how a house can be considered an asset but if you sell your house where do you live? Sure you can downsize but it's still not purely an asset, you are using it at least in part to fulfill a basic human need.
Give the house for rent and live in a smaller house.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why is a house an asset but an education isn't? Do you think a potential spouse would pass over the neurosurgeon?
A house is a nearly guaranteed asset. The value will likely steadily rise throughout the years, and with good homeowners insurance you'll get paid even if the house is destroyed. An education guarantees nothing. The neurosurgeon could die, or suffer an injury preventing them from performing surgery, or just plain quit and decide to pursue art instead. Of course the neurosurgeon has a significantly higher potential fu…
This is a beautiful point. I feel in a country where the Government is stable most of the people would go for higher education thinking it is an asset. The real asset is tangible resources like a house, land, farm etc.
In a country where the Government is unstable it is better to have an education so that you emigrate to a better country with your education as the ticket.
I suspect using the median net assets instead of the average would lead to vastly different results.
Actually the 20% poorest in the US has it better than the average EU middle class. Ref: https://www.google.com/amp/s/fee.org/articles/the-poorest-20...
US has high average net wealth per capita but is not close to top in median net wealth. Switzerland is close to top in both measures. Median tells how rich the typical person is. United States ranks #22 in median wealth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_wealth_pe...
It's off-topic, but could someone explain how is Ukraine last on that list? 40$ for median wealth and ~1.5k$ for mean wealth sounds incredibly low.
I knew Ukraine is in not great economic shape, but completely last sounds insane.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
That’s also consistent with the pattern. 75% of Americans have either employer paid insurance or Medicare. For those people, premiums and out of pocket costs are on average less than the extra taxes they’d pay in Europe for health insurance: https://www.assembly.ca.gov/sites/assembly.ca.gov/files/Arch... (page 18, showing 5.2% of household income spent on premiums and out of pocket costs). (Note that France doesn’t h…
> Over a career, the value of tuition free college for the average American comes nowhere near the extra taxes and lower income they’d have in France That's so bullshit. What matter is of course not the difference between tuitions fees than taxes. What's matter is that everybody, even the ones that can't afford the tuitions fees can access university. Which you can in France, which you can not in Europe. I am the liv…
Here is the more fixed one :
> Over a career, the value of tuition free college for the average American comes nowhere near the extra taxes and lower income they’d have in France
That is so bullshit.
What matter is not, of course, the difference of cost between tuition fees and taxes.
What matter is that everybody, even the ones that can not afford the tuition fees can access University and proper education. Which you can in France and most of European countries, and which you cannot in USA.
I am the living example of that. I come from a family what would never have been able to afford to pay US schools fees. And still I am engineer, thanks to the European system.