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Helsinki Relocation Package: City as a Service

helsinkibusinesshub.fi

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Re: Helsinki Relocation Package: City as a Service

#151

Post by eru »

freehunter wrote: post #100
wolfram74 wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"We will provide selected applicants with a free 90-day relocation package for the entire family. We’ll arrange your ||housing||, daycare, schooling, everything you need – the real deal, just like a Finn." It looks like quite the package.

In other links here it looks like they just give you housing for 90 days until you’ve bought your own house/apartment. Which, at the average cost of an apartment in Helsinki, would save you about $3000-$7000. It helps a bit, but not super significant if you’re used to SV housing prices. https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/in/Helsinki

Don't underestimate the convenience factor. It can save a lot of hassle, if you know that your first 90 days of accommodation in a foreign country with a strange language is taken care of.

Re: Helsinki Relocation Package: City as a Service

#152

Post by sgustard »

hervature wrote: post #68
elevenoh wrote: post #4

This is neat. Some things I like about finland/helsinki: Happy down to earth citizens, socially liberal with far less echochamber/signalling/two-faced bs than california for instance, tons of Finnish sauna, & great air quality for a big city.

Helsinki is 600,000 people and 400/km^2. That's essentially the same as Oklahoma City. I know OKC has a basketball team and city is in the name, but most people wouldn't call OKC a big city and wouldn't be surprised by better air quality compared to places with millions of people.

Oklahoma City is a huge sprawling area on an essentially infinite two-dimensional plane. Population density of Helsinki is 8x that of OKC, plus it has natural features, so it's really going to have a different feel.

Re: Helsinki Relocation Package: City as a Service

#153

Post by conanbatt »

markdown wrote: post #49
Devils-Avocado wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also: 24% VAT (sales tax) 18% employer payroll taxes 10% employee payroll taxes 20-30% typical income tax Take your American disposable income and cut it in half. Still worth it for 'free' education and 'free' healthcare? Also a lot of cold and darkness.

> Take your American disposable income and cut it in half. All that disposable income but no vacation time to spend it.

You can take all the vacations you want if you have money

Re: Helsinki Relocation Package: City as a Service

#154

Post by refurb »

usr1106 wrote: post #148
Devils-Avocado wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also: 24% VAT (sales tax) 18% employer payroll taxes 10% employee payroll taxes 20-30% typical income tax Take your American disposable income and cut it in half. Still worth it for 'free' education and 'free' healthcare? Also a lot of cold and darkness.

Having lived in several European countries I'd say Finland has probably one of the weaker health care systems. * every legal resident has access to basic health care in their own municipality. A visit costs around 30 euros, max 700 euros a year (Which is a lot compared to Germany, cheap compared to the US). Queues can be long, several weeks. Negotiation skills help, but as a foreigner you might get blocked completely…

Thanks for sharing these details. It’s always interesting to read what the system is like on a day to day basis versus talking about “universal care” as if every system is identical.

Re: Helsinki Relocation Package: City as a Service

#155

Post by [deleted] »

zeckalpha wrote: post #104
howlgarnish wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What they don't mention is the length of those seasons, which in Finland consist of winter, winter, winter and construction. Even in Helsinki snow can fall as early as September and as late as May.

Here in Minnesota, I’ve seen snow every month except August. We had 10 inches two weeks ago. On the other hand, it was 87 degrees on my porch yesterday.

[deleted]

Re: Helsinki Relocation Package: City as a Service

#156

Post by Mediterraneo10 »

emteycz wrote: post #121
purerandomness wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a working-age expat, you might still have an ambulance called after an accident or a drug overdose after partying, having cancer surgery, a flu shot, a pregnancy or an IVF, all for free.

They have ambulances in the US too. Also, isn't Finland a country where you pay health insurance? If that is free, a lot of things in the US suddenly are free as well.

> Also, isn't Finland a country where you pay health insurance?

Not really. You pay income taxes in general, and some portion of that funds the public healthcare system, but healthcare isn’t something you ever have to think about in particular.

Re: Helsinki Relocation Package: City as a Service

#157

Post by refurb »

jjav wrote: post #57
Devils-Avocado wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also: 24% VAT (sales tax) 18% employer payroll taxes 10% employee payroll taxes 20-30% typical income tax Take your American disposable income and cut it in half. Still worth it for 'free' education and 'free' healthcare? Also a lot of cold and darkness.

> Still worth it for 'free' education and 'free' healthcare? No brainer, absolutely worth it. Even making good money in Silicon Valley I'm perpetually afraid of medical bankruptcy if something were to happen. And the cost of education here takes another 15% off my salary for schools far lower quality than in Finland.

You work in Silicon Valley, have good insurance and you’re worried about medical bankruptcy?

I was in the same shoes as you and had zero concerns about it (yes I realized that a very lucky position to be in). Even if I had something horrible happen my max out of pocket was like $4k for the year with no limit to coverage.

If I lost my job, had zero income and no insurance I’d qualify for Medi-cal.

Re: Helsinki Relocation Package: City as a Service

#158

Post by geofft »

siavosh wrote: post #112
xyzzy_plugh wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the point is that you can choose to go live somewhere that is not the USA and you continue reap the benefits you describe, all the while paying a different countries taxes and personally benefitting much much more. If I was an American, I wouldn't want to be footing the bill for Global Security either.

That's a valid strategy, akin to geo-politicial arbitrage. But with trends as they are arbitrages don't last forever.

Yes, but I won't last forever either. I have, if I try very hard, 40 years of useful employment left in me. It's possible that the Holy Karelian Empire will displace US hegemony in the next 40 years, but it's not that likely. It's also possible - and much more likely - that Finland will end up on the wrong side of the US and maybe be a site of a hot proxy war between the US and some upstart superpower within the next 40 years, but that also seems fairly unlikely.

Forty years ago the world was not too different - the USSR and East Germany existed and China was not so strong, but the shape of the rest of it was otherwise broadly similar. There are very few countries that were prosperous and peaceful and lightly-armed in 1980 that are bad choices today.

Re: Helsinki Relocation Package: City as a Service

#159

Post by seanmcdirmid »

emteycz wrote: post #121
purerandomness wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a working-age expat, you might still have an ambulance called after an accident or a drug overdose after partying, having cancer surgery, a flu shot, a pregnancy or an IVF, all for free.

They have ambulances in the US too. Also, isn't Finland a country where you pay health insurance? If that is free, a lot of things in the US suddenly are free as well.

You don’t have to pay to use most roads in the USA, on a usage basis at least. The use of the word free but not really isn’t foreign to Americans.

Re: Helsinki Relocation Package: City as a Service

#160

Post by refurb »

misterpigs wrote: post #83
ciarannolan wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're "making good money in Silicon Valley" and don't have health insurance? Are you freelancing and choosing not to purchase insurance?

You're assuming that whatever you're stricken with leaves you in good enough health to continue working.

But that’s true in Canada as well. The medical expenses might not bankrupt you, but not being able to work will.

https://bankruptcy-canada.com/bankruptcy/causes-of-bankruptc...

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