Canada isn’t all it’s cracked up to be neither …. ;) the $2100/month for health insurance sounds like it’s a lot of parts involved though…. sounds more like a mixture of health coverage and benefits.
So in Canada, we have provincial and federal healthcare coverage which various from province to province. I didn’t know until Eric mentioned it now about folks in BC having to pay out of their own pockets for provincial health care (a portion). Ontario for example, where I live, and much like other provinces in Canada, have very high taxes in my opinion. For me, here’s what I see: healthcare coverage - included by province for “most” things… doctors visits, hospital coverage if needed (ward coverage only). No out of pocket expenses, however a lot of doctors are fed up with the way they are being treated by the province and coming up with “nickel and dime” fees such as a $30/fee every time they need to write a prescription. This varies wildly amongst areas and doctors offices. Benefits coverage from my employer - upgrades your hospital stays to private room and covers a few more “corner cases” that province won’t cover. Vision coverage of $200/year per household member (glasses/contacts etc). 100% of prescription drugs covered at zero cost (with some exceptions that I’ve never come across). These benefits cost me zero as an employee but cost the company quite an amount - taking a guess of around $400-$600/month per employee. These benefits also include short term and long term disability coverage too…. massage therapy, chiropractor treatment etc… (all with limits though but enough to get some “basic” stuff done) The stuff that really kills me is all the other stuff …. simple stuff like cost of groceries and gasoline … electrical bills, property taxes etc…. income taxes Quick breakdown for me (all averaged prices): $800-$1000/month in automobile gasoline $400/month for home/auto insurance $500/month property taxes (includes water bill @ $100/month) $300/month in highway tolls $80/month for natural gas $350/month for electricity $60/month in bank fees $300/month in cell phone bills (3 phones on plan) $100/month for satellite TV $120/month for Internet service (two providers) $1200/month for food/drink This is for family of 4 and doesn’t include any alcohol, entertainment (movies/dinners) etc… also doesn’t include mortgage if I had one etc… doesn’t include things like savings/retirement planning etc etc…. Total monthly of about $4400 for family of 4 and let’s add a mortgage of $1800/month and that would bring it to roughly $6,200 to live comfortably but not luxury by any means. In my personal case I also have about $1300/month in car payments too ;) To top it all off, 39% of my income immediately goes to various income related taxes Paul > On Jan 13, 2017, at 5:25 PM, Sterling Jacobson <sterl...@avative.net> wrote: > > Then I would have to defect to Canada… > > Seriously though, this is why it’s such a big issue in the USA. > > My middle class-hood is killing me here. > > From: Af [mailto:af-boun...@afmug.com <mailto:af-boun...@afmug.com>] On > Behalf Of Eric Kuhnke > Sent: Friday, January 13, 2017 3:10 PM > To: af@afmug.com <mailto:af@afmug.com> > Subject: Re: [AFMUG] OT Slightly, Cost of Living > > $2100 a month for health insurance??? > > My wife and I pay $150 Canadian a month for both of us for the BC provincial > health insurance... Part of the federally funded system. > > I cannot even fathom the idea of paying $500, $1000 or more for health > insurance for a family of 2 people, or 2 people + children, etc. > > It's true that income taxes and other taxes are higher in Canada, but if you > consider that $2100 as a "tax" on your life and add it up to your federal > payroll deducations for US income tax, you may actually be paying a lot more > in a year than I do. No matter what income bracket you're in. > > On Fri, Jan 13, 2017 at 9:57 AM, Sterling Jacobson <sterl...@avative.net > <mailto:sterl...@avative.net>> wrote: > I'm guessing this information is like a lot of you out there. > > Except maybe my earnings because I am making about double median gross salary > for my city. > > I'm not saying I work double, but I do fulfill many roles as the only salary > employee of my startup ISP. > I don't think I can replace myself for the same cost to the company, so I > feel ok with that. > > I don't live extravagantly, but I do live comfortably. > > I have a 3100 sqr foot rambler I've lived in since 2001 with a house payment > of around $1500 a month. > > But my biggest expense is health/insurance and medical. > > I now pay about $2100 a month for my family health insurance through IHC. > I just signed up for a good Dental Gold plan at $100 a month for my family, > but since it's not company I have to wait 6-12 months for a lot of the > benefits :( > The insurance deductibles are I think around $6000 a year and I have > medications that eat up most of that. > > I just upped my life and disability insurance on myself and my wife to make > sure things don't go bad if I die, that's around $550 a month. > > I think I spend about $1000 a month on eating, groceries and movies/date > nights, at least that's what I came up to in December so that might be a bit > off. > > I've got real estate I'm still trying to sell, but it's not the panica > everyone says it is, lol! > > I just feel like finances don't go as far as they used to a few years ago. > > I'm not sparking a political debate, just wanted to see if everyone see > things in a similar light? > > Or am I just doing the wrong things? >
