What Dreams May Come • Hacker News Board

Re: What Dreams May Come

#321

Post by woobar » Thu, Mar 13, 2014, 7:28 PM UTC

tungwaiyip wrote: post #278

woobar wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of US employers do same. But it is not a good idea to put all your eggs in one basket. Any case similar to OP will become problematic. When you get terminally ill you will eventually lose your job. Thanks to COBRA you can keep health insurance, but not the life, disability and long-term care insurance plans. And getting new term life policy at this stage is not really an option.

I was wonder about this. Does employer life insurance do anything to terminal illness? I pay extra to supplement my term life. But if I get too sick to work and lost my job, what good is the employer life insurance?

I would check with employer and insurance policy. But I believe legally they don't have to keep this policy active after you quit.

Re: What Dreams May Come

#322

Post by stefantalpalaru » Thu, Mar 13, 2014, 7:33 PM UTC

refurb wrote: post #287

Florin_Andrei wrote: post #250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> America is the largest welfare state in history. Welfare for the rich. Naked social darwinism for the poor.

More than 50% of the federal budget is for social programs. You're saying those only go to the rich?

That's not the amount that trickles down to those needing the social programs. Most of it is lost in the skimming off the top done at each of the many layers along the way.

Re: What Dreams May Come

#323

Post by khafra » Thu, Mar 13, 2014, 7:35 PM UTC

300bps wrote: post #312

franl wrote: post #299

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Great points all around, thank you for making them! Please don't help perpetuate this myth about whole life being a "rip off" though. Your statement is semi-accurate, but a bit misleading. Don't get whole life - it's generally a rip off Yes, if purchased from a non-mutual, financially shaky insurance company, it's quite likely a bad idea. However, when purchased from a financially strong mutual insurance company (Nor…

I'm in IT but I am also a CFA charter holder (Chartered Financial Analyst). I disagree wholeheartedly on your assertions on whole life. I have only seen whole life be an appropriate investment vehicle for very wealthy families that are doing estate planning. There may be other times where whole life is appropriate but I don't know what they are. In almost all circumstances someone would be better off buying term insu…

> There may be other times where whole life is appropriate but I don't know what they are.

$80,000 for cryonic suspension, which is most likely to be successful if you die of a terminal illness; which is most likely to happen when you're old enough that term life insurance is ridiculously expensive (but could happen when you're young, which is why to go whole life instead of just investing and then paying up front for the suspension).

Re: What Dreams May Come

#324

Post by dllthomas » Thu, Mar 13, 2014, 7:45 PM UTC

gnaritas wrote: post #309

thro1237 wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A question about insurance. If you join a new job, typically you can have yourself insured without answering medical questions upto 2-3x your salary. I don't know how your health is right now, but it might be something to keep in your mind.

What does that matter at all; it's no longer legal to discriminate based on pre-existing conditions. He can simply sign up with any insurance company, they cannot turn him down because he has cancer. Obamacare solved this problem.

I have no idea if the parent is accurate, but I understand them to be talking about life insurance, not health insurance.

Re: What Dreams May Come

#325

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Mar 13, 2014, 7:51 PM UTC

fasteo wrote: post #55

Blahah wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really quite a huge number of people are asking that question already. And a massively disproportionate amount of science funding goes towards cancer research. Far more people in the world die of communicable and vector-borne diseases or illness related to malnourishment. These issues get much less research attention and funding because so many people in the western world are focussed on cancer. So while my heart goe…

You are right for the wrong reason. The problem with cancer research is that we are trying to solve an unsolvable problem, wasting disproportionate amounts of money. In some sense, cancer is a symptom of a body gone havoc. Research should be targeted upstream, to really tackle the root cause. It is like trying to fix a hardware issue by patching software. Yes, you can get some results by implementing better error cor…

[deleted]

Re: What Dreams May Come

#326

Post by Double_Cast » Thu, Mar 13, 2014, 8:11 PM UTC

brownbat wrote: post #93

theknown99 wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Without sounding unfeeling, do we really want to add to the overcrowding and population explosion problem that much? Earth is full. Our population has doubled in the short time I've been alive. Doesn't that scare the shit out of anyone else? Imagine what would happen if you suddenly cured all forms of cancer. People would live even longer. Population would shoot up. Lack of housing, lack of jobs. More pensioners... e…

Malthus was wrong. Hans Rosling, "What Stops Population Growth?" http://www.gapminder.org/videos/what-stops-population-growth... In Malthus's model, new people only consume food and breed. But we do this other cool thing, too, we also think about human problems and how to solve them. We all add resources to the computer of humanity. Some really cool, like Norman Borlaug, go around the world and teach people how to gr…

> and increasing efficiency, maybe even lowering the strain on the planet.

You might find Jevon's paradox interesting.

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

Re: What Dreams May Come

#327

Post by Double_Cast » Thu, Mar 13, 2014, 8:18 PM UTC

aestra wrote: post #151

lnanek2 wrote: post #125

Kind of bizarre seeing someone else's value system which is completely alien to my own. If I was leaving my wife and kids with mortgage and car loan debt, I wouldn't spend $10-20k on a graveyard plot, that's for sure. I don't think I would in any case, I'd just get cremated or whatever the cheapest option is.

Thank you for posting this. It is sad that we all think we are entitled to a piece of the earth for eternity. Not only is it a huge waste of money but a huge waste of land. If everyone who ever lived had a marked grave reserved for them forever, there would be no land left for the people who are living right now. It is the ultimate sense of entitlement. By the way caskets cost like 5 grand or something too. I was the…

I feel that wanting to be preserved in a casket & grave is sort of morbid anyway. I'd rather decompose under a tree or something, in keeping with the "circle of life" meme.

Re: What Dreams May Come

#328

Post by Double_Cast » Thu, Mar 13, 2014, 8:32 PM UTC

galactus wrote: post #90

Houshalter wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It wasn't and many people do argue that whenever the subject comes up.

I know, my point is that both "real" capitalism (the libertarian kind) and "real" communism are fantasies.

Whenever I hear the word "capitalism", I interpret it as "private ownership" by default. I have to remind myself they probably mean the "Laissez Faire" flavor of capitalism. It screws with me sometimes.

Re: What Dreams May Come

#329

Post by lafar6502 » Thu, Mar 13, 2014, 8:34 PM UTC

vishnugupta wrote: post #308

lafar6502 wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It certainly makes you confident that insurance company will take care of everything when you die. But are you really sure? Did you check the fine print? What if your death is 'because of age' or 'because riding a bicycle is a dangerous activity'?

Life insurance business in India is very tightly regulated. In fact till very recently there was just one player, LIC (Life Insurance Corporation of India), which is essentially backed by the state. And LIC, being the oldest player in India, is profitable and has the highest claim settlement ratio, about 98%. Even though I haven't really checked the complete fine print I'm more or less certain, looking at the settlem…

Well, i'm relying on maths, not on government regulations. All the data is there, you can calculate the expected payout value for current mortality data and compare it with your yearly insurance cost. I don't know how much you pay but my calculations showed that insurance companies must seriously reduce the payout amount and/or exclude a majority of 'payable' illnesses or death causes, or they would lose money on every life insurance sold. That's why i don't believe in life insurances and prefer other solutions.

Re: What Dreams May Come

#330

Post by snarfy » Thu, Mar 13, 2014, 8:36 PM UTC

Skip the resting place costs. Get a dirt cheap cremation. Do the funeral at home. It really doesn't matter. My mother passed not too long ago and I inherited half a dozen dead relative's ashes to go throw away. Your family will be much better off with the $20k than with memories of a church and possibly a tombstone to go visit maybe once or twice in their lives.