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Why is America the 'no-vacation nation'?

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Re: Why is America the 'no-vacation nation'?

#281

Post by mahyarm »

chrisaycock wrote: post #186
mapgrep wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The reason American workers say they can barely survive on $60k a year is that they pay out of pocket for things German workers can take for granted: * Comfortable retirement - 401k contributions. Yes America has social security but it's not a ton of money compared to other national pensions and if you're young you worry about it not being around at all by the time you need it. * Unemployment - You should probably ha…

And not to mention: * Healthcare - Health insurance is often a luxury in America. The elderly have Medicare, but there is (currently) no safety for most citizens. * Public transportation - Many US cities don't have adequate bus service. Just anyone who lives outside NYC or a college town will need a car.

Seeing how caltrain is pretty much a once an hour service (23 service runs per weekday) made me realize unless you live in downtown SF or any other area of the US where car usage is extremely painful, you pretty much need a car if you want to get out of your neighborhood.

Re: Why is America the 'no-vacation nation'?

#282

Post by camiller »

artmageddon wrote: post #250
wheels wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You guys are doing it again -- idealizing the other side of the fence as if everything was all rainbows and unicorns in Europe. In Germany and many European countries, you pay for healthcare and it costs a lot -- you simply don't have the option of not having healthcare and the cost is proportional to your income rather than your health condition. Also note that the employee caries the full cost of health insurance a…

"Americans also have a weird fetish that you don't find other places about buying homes in their 20s." This is fueled by the social taboo of living at home with your parents/family and the availability of mortgages.

And the fact that at the end of 20 years of paying a mortgage I own a piece of property while at the end of 20 years of paying rent I own nothing.

Re: Why is America the 'no-vacation nation'?

#283

Post by madeinindia »

All you folks must seriously consider moving to India. Its a vibrant country with a lot of energy. Software Engineers get above than average market salaries. With a decent salary one can afford a great life style here. It also servers as an excellent laboratory where you can test/prototype and implement your ideas.

Re: Why is America the 'no-vacation nation'?

#285

Post by mahyarm »

chrisaycock wrote: post #210
wheels wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You guys are doing it again -- idealizing the other side of the fence as if everything was all rainbows and unicorns in Europe. In Germany and many European countries, you pay for healthcare and it costs a lot -- you simply don't have the option of not having healthcare and the cost is proportional to your income rather than your health condition. Also note that the employee caries the full cost of health insurance a…

You guys are doing it again -- idealizing the other side of the fence as if everything was all rainbows and unicorns in Europe. I used to live in Britain. After having gone to doctor a few times there, I'd rather have the customer-pays model of America. I was just pointing-out that it's (obviously) expensive over here.

I was just talking to an elderly person who had a heart attack 2 months ago. Before insurance cost was around $200'000 and if she went with the more invasive option, it could of been $500'000. For one bloody heart attack.

Re: Why is America the 'no-vacation nation'?

#286

Post by marshray »

gaius wrote: post #179
marshray wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know about SV in particular, but I've worked a several tech companies over the years. Yes, usually HR can make exceptions. But you need a good reason, like "at my current job I have 3 weeks of leave accrued, I want to not lose that if I come work for you". But having an engineer who accrues vacation at a different rate than other employees hired under the same circumstances would be quite exceptional. It woul…

On the contrary, there is no better time to negotiate than post offer, pre acceptance.

I didn't mean to imply he shouldn't negotiate or that it wasn't a good time for it, only that some things are easier to negotiate than others.

Re: Why is America the 'no-vacation nation'?

#287

Post by KirinDave »

thomasgerbe wrote: post #242
david927 wrote: post #233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We're not idealizing: European take home less pay and pay more in taxes -- but get huge social benefits. If you're honestly trying to argue an equivalence in US and Europe in terms of such benefits, you're crazy. Europe is a big word as each country varies. That said... In Germany and many European countries, you pay for healthcare and it costs a lot But, from the studies I've seen, Europeans on average spend about h…

"No, they simply have public transit -- it's not great by any means. You often have to supplement with taxi in both places." Citation needed. 99.9% of the time I was lived in NY, I used public transit instead of taxis. London and France? Underground stops running close to one and so anytime I tried staying out late I needed to walk, take a night bus, or hail a cab (which is near impossible on a Friday night).

I love BART, but it's a fairly unreliable system with very few stops in San Francisco. MUNI is actually several connected systems, but the majority of them are unreliable, expensive, and not implemented well.

I would not say the Bay Area has great public transit. It just has some public transit, which is more than you can say for a lot of California.

Re: Why is America the 'no-vacation nation'?

#288

Post by marshray »

canadiancreed wrote: post #278
richcollins wrote: post #232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or you could be a contract developer in the US, make 2x US employee salary and take vacation whenever you don't have an active project (months if you want).

With the only caveat being to get that next contract. Not that I'm disagreeing with you, it is the way to go. You just need the constant stream of work, which is easier said then done.

...and the other caveat of trying to obtain medical coverage.

Re: Why is America the 'no-vacation nation'?

#289

Post by camiller »

cmurdock wrote: post #159
enjo wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no point in your life that you can more easily take 3 months off to do whatever you want than when you are a "recent college grad". My biggest life regret was not realizing this at the time. I jumped into the workforce and pursued my career at 95 mph. I should have spent a year travelling.

Unless you have college loans that you start paying on immediately after leaving college... which is bordering on most people these days.

Usually (or at least back when I graduated from college the first time) there was a six-month window before you had to start re-paying the college loan.

Re: Why is America the 'no-vacation nation'?

#290

Post by chrisaycock »

Mz wrote: post #255
chrisaycock wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And not to mention: * Healthcare - Health insurance is often a luxury in America. The elderly have Medicare, but there is (currently) no safety for most citizens. * Public transportation - Many US cities don't have adequate bus service. Just anyone who lives outside NYC or a college town will need a car.

Healthcare - Health insurance is often a luxury in America. The elderly have Medicare, but there is (currently) no safety for most citizens. I get a little tired of hearing this. Study after study after study indicates that diet and lifestyle play a major role in all major deadly diseases. I was an American military wife for a couple of decades. Even after my divorce, I was entitled to free medical care at tax-payer…

Why are you bringing up lifestyle? The discussion is insurance.

And my point is that, beyond the elderly, most citizens don't qualify for any of America's public insurance plans (I certainly don't):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_insurance_in_the_United_...

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