4 ms·

Your employer is not allowed to fire you if are in jail for less than 2 years. You also can't evict someone from their home because of jail. And the government

Your employer is not allowed to fire you if are in jail for less than 2 years. You also can't evict someone from their home because of jail. And the government might be paying your landlord for your time in jail as well (depending on the time etc.). It's complicated, but basically, Up to 6 months, all fine on all ends. Germans don't have car payments usually. They pay for the car in cash, if they don't have enough, they buy a smaller car :)

sho_hn 3y ago
> Germans don't have car payments usually. There's a lot of leasing.
- jacquesm 3y ago
  That's corporate, mostly. But this is changing a bit, there are more private lease constructs but they are quite expensive compared to just owning the car.
  - iamthirsty 3y ago
    > That's corporate, mostly. Stats would be nice.
    - dotancohen 3y ago
      You do know that stats are the easiest way to lie, yes?
      - TylerE 3y ago
        No, the easiest way to lie is “just trust me bro”
    - jacquesm 3y ago
      https://bdl.leasingverband.de/en/newsroom/press-releases/single-view/the-german-leasing-market-2020 https://bdl.leasingverband.de/en/newsroom/press-releases/sin... https://www.ibisworld.com/germany/industry/car-rental-leasing/966/ https://www.ibisworld.com/germany/industry/car-rental-leasin... And many other industry publications. Private lease is a very small fraction, but it is growing. Same picture in most of Western Europe, in Eastern Europe it is very variable from one country to another.
- mertbio 3y ago
  Yes but most of the time your company pays and then they deduct from your salary.
  - almostnormal 3y ago
    1% of the purchase value is taxed, regardless of usage (company car could be used only for private purposes). That way the same cost for the employer leads to a bigger car (than if bought with taxed income) for the employee and less money for the government. And a happy car industry, of course, being able to sell bigger cars.
jupp0r 3y ago
47% of new cars are financed in Germany [1] [1] https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/1065113/umfrage/anteil-der-per-kredit-oder-leasing-finanzierten-privaten-pkw-in-deutschland/#:~:text=Rund%2035%20Prozent%20aller%20privaten,27%20Prozent https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/1065113/umfra....
- recvonline 3y ago
  That's new cars. Which is mostly what employers buy for their employees. It's 35% alltogether. Just wanted to highlight the different mindset. I am a German living in Canada with my family. The mindset is very different. Based on feeling, 70% of Canadians I know have car debt, whereas I know one person in my German friend circle who took out a loan. It's just not very common to take on debt for cars.
- beowulfey 3y ago
  My impression of Germany is people are generally very anti-debt. Credit cards were barely used when I visited back in 2019 (although that changed by the time I went back in 2022)
  - Xylakant 3y ago
    The primary reason credit cards were rarely used is because Germany already had an electronic payment system (Maestro, formerly eurocheque), so there was no need and credit cards often came with a fee. Online shopping and a huge push by Visa/Mastercard to replace maestro changed this to some extend.
- onetimeuse92304 3y ago
  I have noticed that in the US people have much more tolerance for debt. Even relatively poor people in the US are much more likely to buy a new car (or even multiple of them!) than in most of the Europe. For example, the proportion of financed new cars to all new cars sold is 84% in US vs 47% in Germany. But that does not say anything how expensive are the cars, how expensive compared to income, how long they are being used or what is the proportion of new cars sold to used cars sold. In Europe people tend to use the cars for longer after they buy them new and then the cars tend to be used for longer after they are sold used. Also, in Europe people tend to buy smaller cars. And, historically, we preferred cars that use less fuel which means a lot of older cars are still very viable compared to older US cars.
gumballindie 3y ago
> Germans don't have car payments usually. They do actually :-) https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/automotive-and-assembly/our-insights/car-leasing-in-europe-managing-residual-value-for-a-12-billion-euro-opportunity https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/automotive-and-assembly/... "In Germany, while customers purchase 50 percent of stock cars through financing, they buy 35 percent via lease-based products and additional services."
cooper_ganglia 3y ago
Well that just sounds like taking a relaxing 6-month vacation from work while the law-abiding taxpayers pay your rent. Meanwhile, your employer and landlord are forced by the government to accept the employment and housing of someone with a criminal history? I'm usually all for protecting the little guy over the corporate entity, but that sounds like n awful deal for everyone involved except the criminal.
- JanSt 3y ago
  Well you prefer punishment, Germany prefers reintegration. Destroying a persons life is a pretty good way to keep a criminal criminal.

sho_hn 3y ago

> Germans don't have car payments usually. There's a lot of leasing.

jacquesm 3y ago
That's corporate, mostly. But this is changing a bit, there are more private lease constructs but they are quite expensive compared to just owning the car.
- iamthirsty 3y ago
  > That's corporate, mostly. Stats would be nice.
  - dotancohen 3y ago
    You do know that stats are the easiest way to lie, yes?
    - TylerE 3y ago
      No, the easiest way to lie is “just trust me bro”
  - jacquesm 3y ago
    https://bdl.leasingverband.de/en/newsroom/press-releases/single-view/the-german-leasing-market-2020 https://bdl.leasingverband.de/en/newsroom/press-releases/sin... https://www.ibisworld.com/germany/industry/car-rental-leasing/966/ https://www.ibisworld.com/germany/industry/car-rental-leasin... And many other industry publications. Private lease is a very small fraction, but it is growing. Same picture in most of Western Europe, in Eastern Europe it is very variable from one country to another.
mertbio 3y ago
Yes but most of the time your company pays and then they deduct from your salary.
- almostnormal 3y ago
  1% of the purchase value is taxed, regardless of usage (company car could be used only for private purposes). That way the same cost for the employer leads to a bigger car (than if bought with taxed income) for the employee and less money for the government. And a happy car industry, of course, being able to sell bigger cars.

jupp0r 3y ago

47% of new cars are financed in Germany [1] [1] https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/1065113/umfrage/anteil-der-per-kredit-oder-leasing-finanzierten-privaten-pkw-in-deutschland/#:~:text=Rund%2035%20Prozent%20aller%20privaten,27%20Prozent https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/1065113/umfra....

recvonline 3y ago
That's new cars. Which is mostly what employers buy for their employees. It's 35% alltogether. Just wanted to highlight the different mindset. I am a German living in Canada with my family. The mindset is very different. Based on feeling, 70% of Canadians I know have car debt, whereas I know one person in my German friend circle who took out a loan. It's just not very common to take on debt for cars.
beowulfey 3y ago
My impression of Germany is people are generally very anti-debt. Credit cards were barely used when I visited back in 2019 (although that changed by the time I went back in 2022)
- Xylakant 3y ago
  The primary reason credit cards were rarely used is because Germany already had an electronic payment system (Maestro, formerly eurocheque), so there was no need and credit cards often came with a fee. Online shopping and a huge push by Visa/Mastercard to replace maestro changed this to some extend.
onetimeuse92304 3y ago
I have noticed that in the US people have much more tolerance for debt. Even relatively poor people in the US are much more likely to buy a new car (or even multiple of them!) than in most of the Europe. For example, the proportion of financed new cars to all new cars sold is 84% in US vs 47% in Germany. But that does not say anything how expensive are the cars, how expensive compared to income, how long they are being used or what is the proportion of new cars sold to used cars sold. In Europe people tend to use the cars for longer after they buy them new and then the cars tend to be used for longer after they are sold used. Also, in Europe people tend to buy smaller cars. And, historically, we preferred cars that use less fuel which means a lot of older cars are still very viable compared to older US cars.

gumballindie 3y ago

> Germans don't have car payments usually. They do actually :-) https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/automotive-and-assembly/our-insights/car-leasing-in-europe-managing-residual-value-for-a-12-billion-euro-opportunity https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/automotive-and-assembly/... "In Germany, while customers purchase 50 percent of stock cars through financing, they buy 35 percent via lease-based products and additional services."

cooper_ganglia 3y ago

Well that just sounds like taking a relaxing 6-month vacation from work while the law-abiding taxpayers pay your rent. Meanwhile, your employer and landlord are forced by the government to accept the employment and housing of someone with a criminal history? I'm usually all for protecting the little guy over the corporate entity, but that sounds like n awful deal for everyone involved except the criminal.

JanSt 3y ago
Well you prefer punishment, Germany prefers reintegration. Destroying a persons life is a pretty good way to keep a criminal criminal.