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Decoupling your employment

jonathanconway.net

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Re: Decoupling your employment

#41

Post by capisce »

tomjen3 wrote: post #40
georgemcbay wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"According to the source above, family is around $4000, and individual is around $3000" Additionally, I think the average listed there is a misleadingly low self-selector in that most anyone who has a pre-existing condition is likely to get quotes so expensive that getting an individual or family plan outside of the workplace is simply not a financially viable option. There are many, many Americans for whom health in…

As somebody who is not an american, why would it be cheaper to get a health insurance through work if I had a preexisting condition - other than the obvious tax savings?

Presumably the employer has more bargaining power than a single individual.

Re: Decoupling your employment

#42

Post by locopati »

tomjen3 wrote: post #40
georgemcbay wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"According to the source above, family is around $4000, and individual is around $3000" Additionally, I think the average listed there is a misleadingly low self-selector in that most anyone who has a pre-existing condition is likely to get quotes so expensive that getting an individual or family plan outside of the workplace is simply not a financially viable option. There are many, many Americans for whom health in…

As somebody who is not an american, why would it be cheaper to get a health insurance through work if I had a preexisting condition - other than the obvious tax savings?

Your individual pre-existing condition does not bubble up to the group. However, when negotiating as an individual, then each pre-existing condition does get considered and factored into the cost. There's power in groups.

Re: Decoupling your employment

#43

Post by tomjen3 »

locopati wrote: post #42
tomjen3 wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As somebody who is not an american, why would it be cheaper to get a health insurance through work if I had a preexisting condition - other than the obvious tax savings?

Your individual pre-existing condition does not bubble up to the group. However, when negotiating as an individual, then each pre-existing condition does get considered and factored into the cost. There's power in groups.

Thank you.

So at the same time, if one has no health conditions, one could expect to get a cheaper rate on an individual plan?

Re: Decoupling your employment

#44

Post by nicholassmith »

A lot of the time the benefits are there to 'sweeten the deal', their monetary value to a business is low. Turning them down won't net you their perceived value on top of your wages, they're also not a lock in to a single employer as for the most part most employers offer the same benefits, more often than not sold from the same group.

Plus I can't imagine anything more soulless than going to work every day and thinking that I'm there til I'm gone. Almost like getting into a relationship and thinking its just for the moment. Our jobs shouldn't rule our lives but it almost sounds like the author is just grinding it out, rather than throwing yourself in and revelling in the joy of the work you get to do.

Maybe I'm weird though.

Re: Decoupling your employment

#45

Post by ucee054 »

charlieflowers wrote: post #12

What is with all the Rand hate? I myself don't know that much about her beyond the big picture (books she authored, something called Objectivism, etc.) There seems to be a large group that detests her. Where is that coming from? (Honest question looking for facts, not to start a pointless debate).

Why you might want to detest Rand personally may include her "saying European colonists had the right to take land from American Indians" (see wikipedia) or her hypocritical cult-of-personality/adultery (google for Nathanial Branden).

Re: Decoupling your employment

#46

Post by ucee054 »

jonathanconway wrote: post #34
charlieflowers wrote: post #12

What is with all the Rand hate? I myself don't know that much about her beyond the big picture (books she authored, something called Objectivism, etc.) There seems to be a large group that detests her. Where is that coming from? (Honest question looking for facts, not to start a pointless debate).

I agree with you that there are a lot of people who simply refuse to engage with Rand's ideas. No matter how much one dislikes an idea, I think one should be willing to understand and engage with it, especially if it's an important idea that has had influence (as some of Rand's ideas have, for example, her concept of "force"). I personally agree with most of Rand's philosophy, but that doesn't prevent me from being w…

"If someone really thinks their ideas are true and right, then they should have the confidence to see those ideas tried and tested in the real world, against all the alternatives."

My idea is that dropping a bomb on you would immeasurably improve the world. Care for me to try that, or are you ready to admit that some ideas shouldn't be tested?

Re: Decoupling your employment

#47

Post by mememememememe »

tomjen3 wrote: post #43
locopati wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your individual pre-existing condition does not bubble up to the group. However, when negotiating as an individual, then each pre-existing condition does get considered and factored into the cost. There's power in groups.

Thank you. So at the same time, if one has no health conditions, one could expect to get a cheaper rate on an individual plan?

Well, in most situation yes. You as an individual. There other problem with pre-condition, it's very broad. They can make up all kinds of BS and claim your application must be filed different because of some "magical" precondition.

Re: Decoupling your employment

#48

Post by mememememememe »

jonathanconway wrote: post #36
eaurouge wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“A rational man never leaves his interests at the mercy of any one person or single, specific concrete. He may need clients, but not any one particular client — he may need a job, but not any one particular job.” I included the Ayn Rand quote because it's simply the most straight-forward and succinct summary of what my blog post was all about. In the context of your blog post, the Ayn Rand quote is arguing for MULTIP…

I think you misunderstand my intentions. What I meant is that one SHOULD have multiple clients/multiple jobs, and that doing so will be easier if one doesn't become too dependent on any one employer due to benefits, etc.

SHOULD is still a strong word. I don't mean to say nasty things to a consultant. But consultant work isn't for every single developer. In fact, I don't like working with contractors. I want to work with the team that works for my company. I don't want to go outside and speak someone who doesn't understand our company's culture and how we work. Besides, consultant work DEPENDS on the market. You are tied to the market. Your value is depending on the market, not YOU as an individual. If your skill is no longer special because there are tons of people doing the same thing, your value will be lowered. It is a lot secure to work for a company. As a consultant, you need to either find a client yourself because you are starting, or you need to work your ass off just to make enough. I don't know about you, but most of us here can't make enough these days. consultant is freelancer, if you really think about it.

Moreover, I choose a job based on the role and the culture there. I can expect $80k ~ $100k on average for a software engineer nowadays in the city. I can keep myself comfortable with one single task, not multiple task.

Re: Decoupling your employment

#49

Post by cperciva »

rogerbinns wrote: post #14
cperciva wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can see the theoretical argument for universal healthcare making people more willing to leave their jobs in search of better opportunities, but I'm having trouble squaring the theory with the reality I see today: I can't think of any country where job-hopping is more commonplace or more accepted than the USA. The only explanation I can think of right now is that people in the USA tend to be more self-centered and t…

I don't know what the job mobility statistics are, but remember that the US workforce is about one hundred and fifty million people and the European one is a similar order of magnitude. You need to scale comparisons accordingly (eg comparing the US to Canada where the latter has a workforce under 20 million). Additionally it is far easier to move in the US. There are no immigration requirements, language barriers, ma…

I don't think job hopping is due to being self centred (in the pejorative sense).

I didn't mean it in the pejorative sense -- just that in Canada I hear people say they're staying in jobs they don't like because they don't want to "let down" their friends who are working at the same company... and I don't think I've ever heard that from people working in the US (startup co-founders excepted).

Re: Decoupling your employment

#50

Post by rogerbinns »

cperciva wrote: post #49
rogerbinns wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know what the job mobility statistics are, but remember that the US workforce is about one hundred and fifty million people and the European one is a similar order of magnitude. You need to scale comparisons accordingly (eg comparing the US to Canada where the latter has a workforce under 20 million). Additionally it is far easier to move in the US. There are no immigration requirements, language barriers, ma…

I don't think job hopping is due to being self centred (in the pejorative sense). I didn't mean it in the pejorative sense -- just that in Canada I hear people say they're staying in jobs they don't like because they don't want to "let down" their friends who are working at the same company... and I don't think I've ever heard that from people working in the US (startup co-founders excepted).

I worked for several years for a company just outside Silicon Valley where people said they stayed because they liked their colleagues so much, but otherwise would have left. Two anecdotes don't make data :-)
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