51–60 of 129 posts
It made me a little sad but ultimately when he said he wants to be his own boss it gave me hope. I believe we're in an age of personal empowerment for developers and others in the industry. The idea of a one man shop isn't so far fetched these days.
Though his risk is offset by being able to find a job if need be rather quickly I would think (being an ex-microsoft engineer).
I thought OBAMACARE is beneficial for those who got laid-off, as low income got a huge discount, is it?
Naturally, he is very disappointed but he should keep things in perspective. It's not that bad of situation to be in. You have 15 years of software development experience at Microsoft and there are going to be a lot of open doors. This could really be blessing in disguise.
Except every interviewer will be wondering why did Microsoft let go someone with so much experience. What did Microsoft know that's not on the resume.
Honest question as a Canadian - what do you do about health insurance when you're 50 and get fired from your lifer job? Should you really have been paying for your own policy in parallel with your employer's so that you can continue with the low premiums post-employment?
I'm from Europe (Germany). Worried about insurance for your kid? Can't happen here, the government will deal with that. Losing your job? Get paid for one or two years by your work insurance. After that you fall back to a free basic income (for as long as you need). And still this system is generally not exploited: People work hard here. And it's not just unemployment. There are people begging for money on HN regularl…
At least in theory, anyway...
Honest question as a Canadian - what do you do about health insurance when you're 50 and get fired from your lifer job? Should you really have been paying for your own policy in parallel with your employer's so that you can continue with the low premiums post-employment?
I'm from Europe (Germany). Worried about insurance for your kid? Can't happen here, the government will deal with that. Losing your job? Get paid for one or two years by your work insurance. After that you fall back to a free basic income (for as long as you need). And still this system is generally not exploited: People work hard here. And it's not just unemployment. There are people begging for money on HN regularl…
http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2013/05/daily-c...
Becoming Germany, Britain or Sweden would probably be a tolerable tradeoff, but a lot of factors go into that, it's not something that happens as a result of a single policy or two. Do note that in Portugal the rich are worse off than the poor in the US, and Italy and even France aren't far off.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
COBRA rates are 3-4x higher than individual plan insurance every time I've heard about them. In a rapid-churn economy like tech, where people often strike out on their own and companies cease to exist etc., the few $K a year it takes to maintain your own individual plan is something everyone should consider. As you age, starting a new private plan becomes frighteningly expensive, and if ACA doesn't stick, it may beco…
At various times, I've used COBRA, I've had individual plans, and I've had group plans for which I've paid the full premium. I've never seen a difference of anywhere remotely close to 3-4x for COBRA versus an equivalent individual plan.
Is it possible you've had individual coverage in a state where such coverage is guaranteed-issue? That would account for a lack of distinction between group and individual rates.
Honest question as a Canadian - what do you do about health insurance when you're 50 and get fired from your lifer job? Should you really have been paying for your own policy in parallel with your employer's so that you can continue with the low premiums post-employment?
I'm from Europe (Germany). Worried about insurance for your kid? Can't happen here, the government will deal with that. Losing your job? Get paid for one or two years by your work insurance. After that you fall back to a free basic income (for as long as you need). And still this system is generally not exploited: People work hard here. And it's not just unemployment. There are people begging for money on HN regularl…
We just have such distrust in our government that we don't want them running the health care system. Witness, for example, the recent VA Hospital scandals. Our government is dysfunctional. And it's already incredibly intrusive, too, and some of us don't want the feds knowing all of our health problems (even though they probably already do).
I would love government health care, just not from this government. The free market doesn't work for health care.
Don't we have Obamacare these days? why COBRA is still mentioned here? is it still relevant as it used to be? I thought OBAMACARE is beneficial for those who got laid-off, as low income got a huge discount, is it?
COBRA is still relevant for health insurance if you employer offers to cover part of health insurance premium for certain duration after being laid off. In this situation, you will come out ahead with COBRA than ACA. Also, ACA doesn't cover vision and dental for which you will need to go through COBRA to get decent coverage with too much restrictions.
Don't we have Obamacare these days? why COBRA is still mentioned here? is it still relevant as it used to be? I thought OBAMACARE is beneficial for those who got laid-off, as low income got a huge discount, is it?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Should be noted that in most cases your employer would cover most of that premium. My insurance went from $10/month (with my employer covering $580) to $590/month on COBRA when I was laid off.
As a mid 20's single male, I had the same experience. My premiums were fully paid by my employer, so it was quite a shock when the COBRA paperwork came stating the monthly cost would be almost $600/month.