5 ms·

It might work for some people. Many people don't have a spouse providing health insurance - without that it's drastically different. Probably your spouse has a

It might work for some people. Many people don't have a spouse providing health insurance - without that it's drastically different. Probably your spouse has a reliable job so you can weather the danger of not having work when a contract ends. You are fortunate, good for you. But if you got hurt, and were single, you'd be much more vulnerable. I'm lucky, I work in a full time job with all the benefits, but not everyone is that lucky.

Consultant32452 9y ago
I consulted for 5 years. I bought my own health insurance, and short and long term disability. I budgeted properly so that I could easily weather periods of time between contracts. This is all while being a single father. It's really not difficult, the hardest part for most people seems to be being responsible with your money. It's certainly not a matter of luck though. The only reason I stopped is because someone offered me significantly more than I was able to make on my own.
- jxramos 9y ago
  Last time I contracted I got into a individual market Blue Shield Silver Plan PPO for around $1100 a month. This was for family coverage. It is a matter of budgeting asking for a higher rate if need be. At the end of the day we all need to be aware of some form of budget to know how much we need and how much we can set aside and what not.
- ryandrake 9y ago
  Did you ever require care that was not covered by insurance or maxed out your coverage? Or have an expensive pre-existing condition? There's certainly an element of luck involved, especially when it comes to the US healthcare system!
  - Consultant32452 9y ago
    >Did you ever require care that was not covered by insurance or maxed out your coverage? Not that I recall, but that situation could happen to you if you had employer or government provided coverage. >Or have an expensive pre-existing condition? No, but there are other options like health-shares. These are usually tied to religious organizations and works almost exactly like health insurance, pooling costs. Obamacare grandfathered in existing health shares but made it illegal to start new ones. >There's certainly an element of luck involved, especially when it comes to the US healthcare system! There's a certain element of luck to life in general. I'm certainly not dismissing the unfortunate souls you're referring to, but we equally should not pretend like these things are all that difficult for the average person to do.
  - notyourday 9y ago
    There's an element of luck involved in absolutely everything. Not specifically to you but this conversation is highly interesting because it demonstrates the two different attitudes - one from the person you were replying to and one from pretty much everyone else. In software engineering it is the attitude of people who come up with a solution to their problem as compared to the attitude of the people who are complaining that the solution is not general enough and therefore should not be considered a solution.
    - Consultant32452 9y ago
      That's a really interesting comment. I had taken it a little differently. It feels to me that our minds have been atrophied by generations of being told that we can't do anything. Forget budgeting a small business, we can't even budget for our own family. Someone else, be it the government or our employer, has to provide some universal solution to all my problems like saving for retirement or being able to buy an antibiotic for my kid. So someone presents a solution, and rather than being able to take that, adjust it to our individual needs, our psyche is so weak that we just sit back and try to figure out all the ways we can avoid taking agency in our own lives, we need big brother to solve it for us. Ultimately it's perhaps the same thing though. In your scenario people want to pick apart the solution so they can return back to deciding that their employer or the government has to provide a solution for them.
    - bomb199 9y ago
      To me, this conversation represents the two classes. One guy is living life probably pulling in upwards of $150,000 a year (or living in a lower cost of living place with six figures income). Simply budgeting well will cover all these things. And another thinks that "budgeting" means you don't get to eat on Mondays so you can keep on bills.
      - Consultant32452 9y ago
        Person 1: Life is easier if you budget properly Person 2: But what if you're a diabetic blind one legged cancer patient?

Consultant32452 9y ago

I consulted for 5 years. I bought my own health insurance, and short and long term disability. I budgeted properly so that I could easily weather periods of time between contracts. This is all while being a single father. It's really not difficult, the hardest part for most people seems to be being responsible with your money. It's certainly not a matter of luck though. The only reason I stopped is because someone offered me significantly more than I was able to make on my own.

jxramos 9y ago
Last time I contracted I got into a individual market Blue Shield Silver Plan PPO for around $1100 a month. This was for family coverage. It is a matter of budgeting asking for a higher rate if need be. At the end of the day we all need to be aware of some form of budget to know how much we need and how much we can set aside and what not.
ryandrake 9y ago
Did you ever require care that was not covered by insurance or maxed out your coverage? Or have an expensive pre-existing condition? There's certainly an element of luck involved, especially when it comes to the US healthcare system!
- Consultant32452 9y ago
  >Did you ever require care that was not covered by insurance or maxed out your coverage? Not that I recall, but that situation could happen to you if you had employer or government provided coverage. >Or have an expensive pre-existing condition? No, but there are other options like health-shares. These are usually tied to religious organizations and works almost exactly like health insurance, pooling costs. Obamacare grandfathered in existing health shares but made it illegal to start new ones. >There's certainly an element of luck involved, especially when it comes to the US healthcare system! There's a certain element of luck to life in general. I'm certainly not dismissing the unfortunate souls you're referring to, but we equally should not pretend like these things are all that difficult for the average person to do.
- notyourday 9y ago
  There's an element of luck involved in absolutely everything. Not specifically to you but this conversation is highly interesting because it demonstrates the two different attitudes - one from the person you were replying to and one from pretty much everyone else. In software engineering it is the attitude of people who come up with a solution to their problem as compared to the attitude of the people who are complaining that the solution is not general enough and therefore should not be considered a solution.
  - Consultant32452 9y ago
    That's a really interesting comment. I had taken it a little differently. It feels to me that our minds have been atrophied by generations of being told that we can't do anything. Forget budgeting a small business, we can't even budget for our own family. Someone else, be it the government or our employer, has to provide some universal solution to all my problems like saving for retirement or being able to buy an antibiotic for my kid. So someone presents a solution, and rather than being able to take that, adjust it to our individual needs, our psyche is so weak that we just sit back and try to figure out all the ways we can avoid taking agency in our own lives, we need big brother to solve it for us. Ultimately it's perhaps the same thing though. In your scenario people want to pick apart the solution so they can return back to deciding that their employer or the government has to provide a solution for them.
  - bomb199 9y ago
    To me, this conversation represents the two classes. One guy is living life probably pulling in upwards of $150,000 a year (or living in a lower cost of living place with six figures income). Simply budgeting well will cover all these things. And another thinks that "budgeting" means you don't get to eat on Mondays so you can keep on bills.
    - Consultant32452 9y ago
      Person 1: Life is easier if you budget properly Person 2: But what if you're a diabetic blind one legged cancer patient?