Bulgaria is the world’s fastest-shrinking country • Hacker News Board

Re: Bulgaria is the world’s fastest-shrinking country

#191

Post by omnimus » Wed, Oct 02, 2019, 4:15 PM UTC

pdimitar wrote: post #135

probono322 wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The minimum salary is about 280eu, how do you pay for 75eu?

TL;DR: You can be registered in your own company as a manager on the minimum wage, pay a fixed sum of social insurance every month (~100 EUR), and then basically set aside 15% of your invoices income for tax, and the rest is yours. This is exactly what I do for years, it's not fiction and it's working.

That's very similar to other countries. Slovakia and Czechia. The social insurance is bit higher and scales with income but itsnot like Bulgaria is only cheap eu country.

Re: Bulgaria is the world’s fastest-shrinking country

#192

Post by dpau » Wed, Oct 02, 2019, 4:16 PM UTC

Sir_Vival wrote: post #181

dpau wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That seems steep? What about health insurance? I worked for a few years in The Netherlands and paid a little over 50% of my salary in taxes, however in return I had access to amazing government resources and some of the best health care in the world. At 50% I'd expect the US to provide at least some healthcare :(

That does provide healthcare - Medicare and Medicaid, which I believe covers about half of the US population. One reason some are opposed to going to a government paid system is the fact that we spend so much on that where if the costs were simply doubled it'd be a rediculous expense.

Well, by looking at more advanced countries that do have universal healthcare at fairly reasonable tax rates, there are models for how it can be done without doubling our taxes..

Re: Bulgaria is the world’s fastest-shrinking country

#193

Post by cartofupai » Wed, Oct 02, 2019, 4:16 PM UTC

alipang wrote: post #80

cpursley wrote: post #25

A side effect of a stagnant economy and population shrinkage is that Bulgarian property is really cheap. You can purchase a modern flat starting around $15,000 (or rent for really cheap) in a ski community with a very strong remote worker presence (Bansko). If you do this right, you can also become a resident and benefit from a flat 10% income tax which is lowest in the EU. No affiliation; I just find this type of ar…

I have a company in Bulgaria while working remotely for a high-salary EU country, and it's almost shocking to realise how much you spend on taxes in most European countries when you see the difference in your bank account. It's quite a good deal if you want to be a digital nomad since it's an EU country and you can get a really small apartment for almost nothing to use as your official address while travelling. (You'…

There's downsides too, for example Stripe is not available in Bulgaria.

Re: Bulgaria is the world’s fastest-shrinking country

#194

Post by cpursley » Wed, Oct 02, 2019, 4:19 PM UTC

qwtel wrote: post #151

joyjoyjoy wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

" (and am currently doing something similar on the Black Sea coast of a different non-eu country)." Would you mind naming the country? Thx

Not OP, but probably referring to Georgia

Close. Southern Russia, actually (Krasnodar Krai). It's a neat place off of most peoples radar.

Re: Bulgaria is the world’s fastest-shrinking country

#195

Post by 99052882514569 » Wed, Oct 02, 2019, 4:20 PM UTC

joyjoyjoy wrote: post #148

dsfyu404ed wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And assuming the EU's freedom of movement holds eventually people and business will realize this and move there. Then they'll do what everyone else does shoot themselves in the foot by making everything expensive. Eventually the new growth will happen elsewhere and the cycle will repeat.

You don't know much about Europeans. You don't know much about businesses either. What sense would it make for a plumber business or restaurant to move there? None. What sense would it make for a high tech business to move there? None. No VC, no subsidiaries, and most important, no other business that you need. A hardware start up need tons of expertise from highly skilled suppliers. Yes, for digital nomads it might…

Being in an EU country is a definite advantage over Panama.

Re: Bulgaria is the world’s fastest-shrinking country

#196

Post by krastanov » Wed, Oct 02, 2019, 4:20 PM UTC

lostmsu wrote: post #158

_hao wrote: post #12

As a Bulgarian living and working in London for more than a year now, I have no intention of going back. The IT sector in the country is booming and the money you can make relative to the cost of living is insane - you can live like a king. To me that is not enough. Money are not enough to make me go back, even though I miss my friends and family. One of the biggest problems for me is that the country is stuck in thi…

Do people speak Russian a lot in Bulgaria in everyday lifes?

No. Russian used to be a popular second language to know for the generation that is now in their 50s. People under 40 that know a second language would most probably know English, not Russian. However, there is a significant Russian diaspora in Bulgaria (and it seems to be growing), and they do speak Russian at home.

Re: Bulgaria is the world’s fastest-shrinking country

#197

Post by amerkhalid » Wed, Oct 02, 2019, 4:21 PM UTC

helpPeople wrote: post #150

alipang wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a company in Bulgaria while working remotely for a high-salary EU country, and it's almost shocking to realise how much you spend on taxes in most European countries when you see the difference in your bank account. It's quite a good deal if you want to be a digital nomad since it's an EU country and you can get a really small apartment for almost nothing to use as your official address while travelling. (You'…

How bad is it? I pay more than 50 percent of my income in various taxes in the United States. Before anyone asks, federal income, Medicare, Medicaid, social security, state income, state sales tax, local property tax, and lesser- luxury and gas tax.

You have to make more than $2M a year to pay 50% or more of your income in taxes in California: https://smartasset.com/taxes/income-taxes#nJbFzkKePY

Of course, above calculator doesn't include sales, property, luxury or gas taxes.

Re: Bulgaria is the world’s fastest-shrinking country

#198

Post by AtlasBarfed » Wed, Oct 02, 2019, 4:24 PM UTC

zarro wrote: post #87

The problem of the countries in eastern Europe is primarily political corruption, rooted from the old soviet system and slowing dying off. But, this is being resolved by: People moving to other countries resulting in a decrease in government tax revenue, giving less incentive to extort money through corruption and forces efficiency on government services (out of necessity), and in the end, it makes it a competitive m…

Yes, great, the free market way: let everything go to shit and everyone suffers needlessly.

Reform through other means? Blasphemy.

Re: Bulgaria is the world’s fastest-shrinking country

#199

Post by pdimitar » Wed, Oct 02, 2019, 4:24 PM UTC

omnimus wrote: post #191

pdimitar wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

TL;DR: You can be registered in your own company as a manager on the minimum wage, pay a fixed sum of social insurance every month (~100 EUR), and then basically set aside 15% of your invoices income for tax, and the rest is yours. This is exactly what I do for years, it's not fiction and it's working.

That's very similar to other countries. Slovakia and Czechia. The social insurance is bit higher and scales with income but itsnot like Bulgaria is only cheap eu country.

Never claimed it was, was answering a question with facts to clear confusion. :)

Re: Bulgaria is the world’s fastest-shrinking country

#200

Post by dragandj » Wed, Oct 02, 2019, 4:24 PM UTC

arafa wrote: post #114

I had a professor years ago that emigrated from Bulgaria. He said he could've lived like a king there with relatives in the corrupt train sector/mafia, but came to the US to teach as an adjunct instead. That about sums it up. Corruption is mentioned in the comments here but I'm disappointed it wasn't mentioned in the article.

That's the main reason why people leave, and the main reason why some country/ies are not desirable. Here in the neighboring Serbia corruption is insane, and yet, Bulgaria is a synonym for a corrupted country here.