The Worst Perk at Google • Hacker News Board

Re: The Worst Perk at Google

#71

Post by aabhay » Wed, Jun 08, 2022, 1:22 PM UTC

hervature wrote: post #47

aabhay wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I could just as easily alter the variables for various mortalities to make $150/month seem expensive by that logic. Paying $150 vs $300 per month for life insurance doesn’t suddenly make it “worth it”

What? Of course there is a dollar amount where people switch from "worth it" to "not worth it". Here is a thought exercise. Would you buy the same insurance plan for $0. Of course, it is free. Would you buy the same insurance plan for $500,000. No of course not, that's the payout. Everyone has a different dollar amount in between based on the risk aversion, their own valuation of "peace of mind", and their perceived…

Yes of course there is a dollar amount where it stops becoming worth it, but the primary rule is simply whether the amount is sufficiently negligible. It is not whether the amortized return on investment beats the specific dollar amount.

As a thought experiment, would you pay $500,000 a month if the payoff was $5B?

Re: The Worst Perk at Google

#72

Post by beojan » Wed, Jun 08, 2022, 2:06 PM UTC

yongjik wrote: post #17

> What it costs you > The tax cost paid by the employee = $200 (additional tax) > Google paid the insurer $450; without the policy, that cash could be directly paid to the employee = $350 (post-tax) > Total cost for the insurance: $550 Wait, isn't it like saying "The lunch is free, but if the employer didn't provide lunch they could give me $20 dollars per day instead!"?

Also, how is it that you'd pay $200 in tax on a $450 taxable benefit but only $100 if you were just paid the $450?

Re: The Worst Perk at Google

#73

Post by gibb0n » Wed, Jun 08, 2022, 10:19 PM UTC

dirtyid wrote: post #59

carabiner wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

China doesn't have good Mexican food. But they really are a remarkable country. Building high speed rail over their entire country in a few years, shiny new hospitals in days during a pandemic. Sometimes I wish they would occupy California and shut down our racist concentration camps (sorry, for-profit prisons), then ship the homeless to dorms in the Central Valley. Of course, they would also build out our high speed…

Sadly, most countries don't have good Mexican food. Pet theory is easy for undocumented/labour Mexicans to sneak into US who absorbs 98% of the diasphora. Rest of world has dearth of Mexicans who opens restaurants because that's not a skill set they look for in economic migrants. Lucky to have some good Mexican joints in major Canadian city, but most places don't. That extra border hop filters out a lot.

Yeah I feel you, I'm in Australia and it ain't great. Tex Mex

Re: The Worst Perk at Google

#74

Post by chrismcb » Thu, Jun 09, 2022, 4:01 AM UTC

aabhay wrote: post #32

This is a complete misunderstanding of probability, payoff, and return on investment. The value of a life insurance policy isn’t in its amortized yearly returns. This policy is not an investment. The policy allows you to pay a negligible amount of money to avoid a devastating situation — family pain and debt that might arise from your death. Anybody who uses this article as justification to end their life insurance p…

The problem outlined in the article is that Google is paying to much... So buying it yourself is the entire point of the article. I don't know how it doesn't solve the problem. I am guessing the math in the article is wrong and/or the insurance pays for is better than both of the barrel insurance the article suggests you get.