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

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

#241

Post by dimitar » Wed, Oct 02, 2019, 6:04 PM UTC

axegon_ wrote: post #74

Bulgarian here, there are a lot of aspects the article does not cover. First one is that up until 1989, Bulgaria was largely an agriculture state with the soviet union being the only market. A heavily controlled market at that. Some might argue that Bulgaria used to produce computers but it was mostly a small assembly line using Intel chips, so no, not really. Mind you the math education was on a good level, hence th…

Bulgaria in 1989 had only 19% of the population working in Agriculture, about the average for the region:

https://books.google.bg/books?id=Bg3aBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA145&lpg=P...

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

#242

Post by jsweojtj » Wed, Oct 02, 2019, 6:09 PM UTC

pergadad wrote: post #223

helpPeople wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

If you pay taxes abroad the US will still haunt you to show that you paid - and if it's lower than you would have paid back home claim the difference. Many American expats in Europe that have acquired the right for local nationality give up their nationality for that reason.

I doubted that "many" expats give up their US citizenship so I tried to find some numbers. Found some secondary sources like: https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2018/05/14/fewer-ame...

which states that, worldwide, just over 5,000 Americans renounced citizenship in 2017. There are also about 9 million Americans living abroad and ~1 million living in Europe. So, no, I don't think that even if all 5,000 were in Europe that 0.5% renounced their citizenship would count as "many".

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

#243

Post by krastanov » Wed, Oct 02, 2019, 6:22 PM UTC

malandrew wrote: post #225

cpursley wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're cheap because of the population decline, lack of local jobs and overbuilding / speculation leading up to 2008. The flats are fine and many have never even been occupied. In Bansko, most are within walking distance to the main ski lift, the old downtown area, coworking and other public spaces. It's really a unique opportunity for those who work remotely and want to live in an outdoors-oriented place in Europe…

How does Bansko compare to well-known US ski towns?

It compares favorably to most New England ski resorts I have been to, but I have been told that West Coast ski resorts are much better than New England ones.

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

#244

Post by whamlastxmas » Wed, Oct 02, 2019, 6:22 PM UTC

jsweojtj wrote: post #242

pergadad wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you pay taxes abroad the US will still haunt you to show that you paid - and if it's lower than you would have paid back home claim the difference. Many American expats in Europe that have acquired the right for local nationality give up their nationality for that reason.

I doubted that "many" expats give up their US citizenship so I tried to find some numbers. Found some secondary sources like: https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2018/05/14/fewer-ame... which states that, worldwide, just over 5,000 Americans renounced citizenship in 2017. There are also about 9 million Americans living abroad and ~1 million living in Europe. So, no, I don't think that even if all 5,000 were in Eu…

Additionally, you still owe the US tax for ten years after renouncing

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

#245

Post by adventured » Wed, Oct 02, 2019, 6:23 PM UTC

totalrobe wrote: post #220

helpPeople wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Plus EU taxes often cover healthcare so there's another huge chunk of change gone for US residents when comparing.

That's incorrect. Essentially all decent paying jobs in the US take care of most or all of the healthcare cost you're referring to. That is especially true for eg software developers who earn six figures at the median.

To balance a proper comparison if you're going to include the EU taxes re healthcare, you would have to inflate US wages even higher to account for the benefit that employees receive (money that otherwise would be available for labor competition in the form of salary), which is often a large sum of money given the cost of US healthcare.

US healthcare per capita is typically 100% (double) more expensive than in Western Europe. It's about 130% more expensive versus Britain. It's 200%+ more expensive versus Italy.

A software developer earning $125,000 - $150,000 per year is receiving a minimum of an additional 10% equivalent of their salary in the form of healthcare coverage. More likely 15-20% these days. The cost to put a small family on a good health plan will easily run you $20,000+ per year.

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

#246

Post by davidivadavid » Wed, Oct 02, 2019, 6:25 PM UTC

njarboe wrote: post #202

blaser-waffle wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> At 50% I'd expect the US to provide at least some healthcare :( So would many Americans. But those defense contractors need their cut. And non-US projects tend to be more expensive than other countries as well.

Surprising to most, the US governments spend a higher percent of GDP on healthcare than most European countries[1]. Then we also have high private sector spending on healthcare. Its pretty crazy. [1] https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/chart-collection/health-...

Those comparisons aren't very enlightening if you don't compare the quality of services provided.

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

#247

Post by throwaway_law » Wed, Oct 02, 2019, 6:28 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.

>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.

Or maybe people would realize a County like Germany is able to cover the entire County (2x as many people as Medicare) while spending half the Medicare budget. Then, questions of waste and fraud might pop up, which no one involved wants to happen.

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

#248

Post by yardie » Wed, Oct 02, 2019, 6:29 PM UTC

pergadad wrote: post #223

helpPeople wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

If you pay taxes abroad the US will still haunt you to show that you paid - and if it's lower than you would have paid back home claim the difference. Many American expats in Europe that have acquired the right for local nationality give up their nationality for that reason.

Look mate, I know a lot of American expats and in my circle not a single one has relinquished citizenship. The few that are aware of our dumb tax laws just see it as another cost of being american. Except for the extremely rich, the cost to return the passport is much higher than simply keeping and renewing it.

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

#249

Post by baby » Wed, Oct 02, 2019, 6:38 PM UTC

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…

What’s the situation with romania and bucharest? I’ve been eyeing buying an apartment there, you can get really nice places at good locations for 50k

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

#250

Post by agota » Wed, Oct 02, 2019, 6:42 PM UTC

ltnublet wrote: post #221

agota wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where is the story from?

Not the original commenter, but it sounds like the manga “Jumyou wo Kaitotte Moratta. Ichinen ni Tsuki, Ichimanen de.”

Thank you!