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No meetings, no deadlines, no full-time employees

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Re: No meetings, no deadlines, no full-time employees

#391

Post by zmmmmm »

ryanbrunner wrote: post #333
wolco5 wrote: post #301

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Australia spends 10.5% on health. US 17.5 Is the increased level of care worth 7% In Canada it's 11.5 so 6%,extra. In Canada the waiting lists for mri and other advanced testing can be long where the same tests/operations can be done as a walkin option that day in the US.

I think the waiting lists can be exaggerated sometimes. There are definitely waiting periods, but if something is a priority, things can move pretty fast. As well, I'm basing this off not a lot of evidence other than doctor shows (which I recognize are probably ridiculously inaccurate), but I get the impression that (for those who have the right insurance) in the U.S. that testing and imaging is overprescribed, and d…

> I think the waiting lists can be exaggerated sometimes

In fact, you can view it this way: the waiting lists are long because the important things are prioritized. People who really need treatment fast are being consistently moved to the front of the queue with no option to pay to get ahead of them for people at lower priority.

My reference point is Australia, and it was awe inspiring to see how fast things moved for a relative with breast cancer.

Re: No meetings, no deadlines, no full-time employees

#392

Post by zmmmmm »

philipkiely wrote: post #15

I work at Gumroad, mentioned in this article. Sometimes, I read things by CEOs about how a company works on the inside and I wonder if it really looks like that, or if it is a view from the top that doesn't reflect what it's really like. This article, with its discussions of the upsides and downsides, is accurate to my experience and my understanding of other people's experiences. For many people, Gumroad wouldn't be…

I'm curious how they hold their technical architecture together. Is the architecture mature enough that there are no decisions to be made? I know if I ran my team without syncing up directly on things we'd end up with horrific inconsistencies all over the place and it would become impossible to support. I would guess longer term quality would suffer as well.

Re: No meetings, no deadlines, no full-time employees

#393

Post by skissane »

bash-j wrote: post #365
wolco5 wrote: post #361

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is such a big difference. Is it food suply related or lifestyle? The states with larger cheese production tend to be heavier than hotter states which could mean location might be the cause but it might be genetic.

Food is more expensive in Australia and serving sizes are smaller.

A related factor: US sugar subsidies make sugar expensive, so a lot of manufactured foods in the US contain High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) instead. On a kilojoule-for-kilojoule basis, excessive intake of HFCS is a lot more harmful to health than excessive intake of sugar is. By contrast, Australia has a long history of being anti-agriculture subsidies, and fewer foods here include HFCS (most of those that do are imported from the US)

Re: No meetings, no deadlines, no full-time employees

#394

Post by nikolay »

callmeed wrote: post #280
philipkiely wrote: post #15

I work at Gumroad, mentioned in this article. Sometimes, I read things by CEOs about how a company works on the inside and I wonder if it really looks like that, or if it is a view from the top that doesn't reflect what it's really like. This article, with its discussions of the upsides and downsides, is accurate to my experience and my understanding of other people's experiences. For many people, Gumroad wouldn't be…

> I make more than enough to afford proper health insurance on the open market. Everyone at Gumroad is paid very well and should be able to afford the same. This might be true for everyone at Gumroad , but I wouldn't be so sure. You also seem dismissive (probably unintentionally) of one of the biggest problems we have in the US right now: health care and insurance is ridiculously expensive–especially for people with…

$1,400/month for a family of 4?! Lucky you! The cost greatly depends on the oldest person in the family, not on the health status. I'm 46 and the premiums are nearly $3,000/mo for my family, but, glory to God, we almost never have major issues, but I'm sure there are young people who drain the insurance more with risky lifestyles and unhealthy behaviors. How is this fair? Also, isn't age a protected class to penalize based on it in pricing? Meanwhile, I can't recall seeing a senior citizen discount in many years. I know long ago they removed "free entry" and other benefits for which only women were eligible for. I was finally offered a high deductible plan with HSA so I don't lose all the money when I don't use it.

Re: No meetings, no deadlines, no full-time employees

#395

Post by callmeed »

rconti wrote: post #305
callmeed wrote: post #280

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I make more than enough to afford proper health insurance on the open market. Everyone at Gumroad is paid very well and should be able to afford the same. This might be true for everyone at Gumroad , but I wouldn't be so sure. You also seem dismissive (probably unintentionally) of one of the biggest problems we have in the US right now: health care and insurance is ridiculously expensive–especially for people with…

That $1400 sounds super low. Last time I saw what my employer paid for my health insurance, it was $1500/mo, for just me. And if you're buying insurance on the open market, it's more expensive than it is for an employer.

A quick search gave me that as an average for a family of 4 in California. I agree with you and was trying to give a conservative number.

Re: No meetings, no deadlines, no full-time employees

#396

Post by [deleted] »

baby wrote: post #357
callmeed wrote: post #280

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I make more than enough to afford proper health insurance on the open market. Everyone at Gumroad is paid very well and should be able to afford the same. This might be true for everyone at Gumroad , but I wouldn't be so sure. You also seem dismissive (probably unintentionally) of one of the biggest problems we have in the US right now: health care and insurance is ridiculously expensive–especially for people with…

> This might be true for everyone at Gumroad, but I wouldn't be so sure. You also seem dismissive (probably unintentionally) of one of the biggest problems we have in the US right now: health care and insurance is ridiculously expensive–especially for people with families who want to be self-employed or contractors. I don't want to be dismissive, but with a full remote job why not go live in a country where healthcar…

[deleted]

Re: No meetings, no deadlines, no full-time employees

#397

Post by wreath »

callmeed wrote: post #280
philipkiely wrote: post #15

I work at Gumroad, mentioned in this article. Sometimes, I read things by CEOs about how a company works on the inside and I wonder if it really looks like that, or if it is a view from the top that doesn't reflect what it's really like. This article, with its discussions of the upsides and downsides, is accurate to my experience and my understanding of other people's experiences. For many people, Gumroad wouldn't be…

> I make more than enough to afford proper health insurance on the open market. Everyone at Gumroad is paid very well and should be able to afford the same. This might be true for everyone at Gumroad , but I wouldn't be so sure. You also seem dismissive (probably unintentionally) of one of the biggest problems we have in the US right now: health care and insurance is ridiculously expensive–especially for people with…

> Imagine paying 10%+ of your salary just for health insurance.

In Germany it's 14% that is split between you and your employer, so I guess you'd have to all of that on your own if you are self-employed. Granted, you can also choose to have a private health insurance which will seem cheaper but gets outrageously expensive with ages and it is very very difficult to get back to statutory insurance.

Re: No meetings, no deadlines, no full-time employees

#398

Post by wreath »

rattray wrote: post #346
tharkun__ wrote: post #337

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Replying to this directly because I'd otherwise have to reply to so many other sibling replies individually with overlapping versions of this :) Just for comparison. Disclosure: I no longer live in Germany _but_: In Germany, 90% of people are insured via the mandatory public health insurance system (do a Google translate on https://www.bundesgesundheitsministerium.de/gkv.html , which is the official federal health mi…

Sorry, didn't quite follow - is the summary here that German healthcare is generally affordable?

I'd say it's relatively affordable if you are employed in a company (even though some things like dental care etc you'd have to pay for it yourself if you are doing more than two checkups per year afaik or basic filling) but if you're self employed, you'd have to pay the 14% all by yourself which is a lot!

Re: No meetings, no deadlines, no full-time employees

#399

Post by callmeed »

mkingston wrote: post #281
callmeed wrote: post #280

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I make more than enough to afford proper health insurance on the open market. Everyone at Gumroad is paid very well and should be able to afford the same. This might be true for everyone at Gumroad , but I wouldn't be so sure. You also seem dismissive (probably unintentionally) of one of the biggest problems we have in the US right now: health care and insurance is ridiculously expensive–especially for people with…

In the USA ~17% of GDP appears to be spent on health care. I guess that skews fairly heavily toward elderly people, but 10% on health insurance for a family of four doesn't seem out of the realms of sanity. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_total_h...

By itself maybe not. The problem is I live in California, which means I pay about 40% income tax (state and federal combined). Yet I still don’t get health care/coverage.

Also notice how the gap in that graph is getting wider. It gets worse every year.

Re: No meetings, no deadlines, no full-time employees

#400

Post by callmeed »

philsnow wrote: post #366
DVassallo wrote: post #284

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I lived in Ireland I paid 51% of my income in taxes. Imagine that!

I don't have to imagine it, I live in California. Top federal income tax: 37% Top California income tax: 13.3% Federal Medicare tax: 1.45% Additional federal medicare tax*: 0.9% The "additional" Medicare tax is only on whatever income is over $200k/$250k for single/joint filers. Call it "0.55% effective". Adds up to 52.3%. There's also a sizeable additional capital gains tax for three lucky ones who live in Californi…

Don’t forget almost 10% sales tax on most things you buy, the most expensive gas in the country, and property taxes that–while low compared to other states–are still applied to much more expensive properties.

At least our public schools are ranked 38th.

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