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Working for someone vs. doing your own thing

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Re: Working for someone vs. doing your own thing

#171

Post by shoptechmedia »

tannerc wrote: post #2

I like Austin Kleon's insights here [1]: "A day job gives you money, a connection to the world, and a routine. Freedom from financial stress also means freedom in your art. As photographer Bill Cunningham says, 'If you don’t take money, they cant tell you what to do.' Because the real truth is, once you start making money doing what you love, it BECOMES A JOB. And with it comes all the hassle of a job." It's why I've…

I actually did this 3 years ago.. just to be at peace with working with somebody else was nightmare for me having been an entrepreneur for 20 years.. but once I accepted the idea that I can still do the things i love most while working full time for somebody was liberating. Whereas, it used to be work all the time when I was managing my own business.

Re: Working for someone vs. doing your own thing

#172

Post by luckylion »

charlesu wrote: post #65
tempsy wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the difference is probably negligible when you sum up taxes and like others said you would qualify for either free or subsidized insurance if you were low income

I don't think that's the case. $530 is nearly 10% the median household income. And that's just healthcare. Keep in mind countries with higher tax rates aren't just getting socialized medicine but vacation days, parental leave, cheaper education, and usable public transit.

Germany's system is generally liked, and "the public option" is ~15% of income (but we "split" it between employer and employee so it doesn't look as grim, which means you get half of that less in salary, but only pay half yourself). 10% seems reasonable, and is something you'd only achieve in Germany if you have a high income (because the total amount paid is limited) or go for private plans (which you can if you're self-employed or in some special cases, or if you have a high income; caveats apply). The public insurances also provide a much lower level of service than the private entities (e.g. you're paying for glasses yourself unless you're basically unable to function without them). That's on top of having income tax on the higher side and a high VAT, and high rents. From that perspective, 10% seems great.

Re: Working for someone vs. doing your own thing

#173

Post by photonios »

ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #161
simpss wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure how it works in Australia, but if i break down my salary by taxes in Eastern Europe, I'm paying 33% "social tax" which comes out to around 1900€/month. This breaks down further to 2 groups. One for pension and the other for healthcare. Pension is 20% from the total. (used to pay the current pensions) Healthchare is 13% from the total. This comes out at around 990€/month for "health insurance". There are adva…

Wow, you earn a lot for Eastern Europe. What do you do if I may ask?

Probably a software engineer. If you're a little above average, salaries are very high. Most software engineers I know in Romania make at least 5 times the national average. Good ones make up to 10 times the national average.

Re: Working for someone vs. doing your own thing

#174

Post by pinky1417 »

daxfohl wrote: post #4

There's a pretty high correlation between parental wealth and success as a startup founder. I assume it's because of the safety net. My friends who have been successful (and who had blue-collar upbringings like me, and all in mid-40's now) all worked full time jobs until their side projects were self-sustaining. None of them hit unicorn status, but I think all of them have lived healthy, fruitful lives. Also note by…

As a startup founder with wealthy parents, this seems likely. Not only can parental wealth serve as a safety net, but you might also get direct investment from your family, have a safety net if things don’t work out (enabling you to take more risks), not have to exert as much effort taking care of sick, old, etc. family members because you can hire people, get access to powerful family connections, and learn from highly educated parents.

What’s weird to me is that I don’t see more successful founders mentioning that having economically well-off parents being a factor in their success. I’ve long since accepted that any success I’ve had or will have will be, at least partially, a result of my privileged upbringing. I used to be a bit bothered by that, but now I’m happy to give tons of credit for any of my own successes to my parents. And anytime I hear about startup founders achieving success despite coming from poorer families or even hostile environments, I’m super impressed.

Re: Working for someone vs. doing your own thing

#176

Post by qaq »

knocte wrote: post #168
saberdancer wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your insurance is probably heavily subsidized by government from income tax.

Yeah, and? It's not that the US has one of the lowest income tax rates in the world (in fact, it's one of the highest, especially to their citizens that work abroad).

It's prob important to know level of coverage and % of income it costs vs absolute numbers which is fairly meaningless.

Re: Working for someone vs. doing your own thing

#178

Post by ChuckNorris89 »

photonios wrote: post #173
ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow, you earn a lot for Eastern Europe. What do you do if I may ask?

Probably a software engineer. If you're a little above average, salaries are very high. Most software engineers I know in Romania make at least 5 times the national average. Good ones make up to 10 times the national average.

Still, according to his numbers he makes about about €70k/year. That's more than me and my friends make in Germany and Austria. Either Eastern European salaries took off like a rocket or Germany heavily underpais.

Really curious what his job and location is, maybe I move there :)

Re: Working for someone vs. doing your own thing

#179

Post by qaq »

aksss wrote: post #35
overcast wrote: post #5

Probably the biggest hurdle is dealing with healthcare on your own, it's just prohibitively expensive to deal with alone in the US. Multiple incomes is where it's at, at least until one of the projects takes off to cover cost of living and healthcare nonsense.

Speaking from experience, this is true. You should be comfortable with going without insurance for a while if you're going to go out on your own. Or consider alternate programs (health ministry, direct primary care subscription, or use 2020's new ICHRA options to route employer pre-tax expense to employee premiums). Lack of health insurance is a large barrier to starting your own business.

If you don't have a family and have a remote gig lined up move to low cost country for a bit.

Re: Working for someone vs. doing your own thing

#180

Post by aaronax »

rahilb wrote: post #162
wolco wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's do the math. Someone making 100,000 On average you pay 2% of annual salary to health levy which gives you medicare 2000.00 If you are over 90k you pay 1.5 unless you have private insurance On average $2000. Plus on average $800 in extra like someone driving you to the hospital $4800 aus to usd = $3312.41 It looks like you are paying half. But the government is spending 7800 a year per person. So the additional…

I think you are missing the point of the system: you pay the difference in general income tax now so when you are unable to pay such levels the state (and those still paying income tax) take care of you. If you are always able to pay for private health insurance or are always being taxed highly on income you are very lucky and should have no problem kicking in for public health. There is no minimum tax payable before…

And in the US the Affordable Care Act means that if you don't have much income the government will pay for some (maybe all?) of your health insurance premium.
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