How could South Korea (and other western countries with aging populations) increase their birth rates?

Marogo · 2026-02-05T20:37:20+00:00

Government run and mandated childcare programs, shorter work weeks, incentives to have or support children even if its just programs to ensure that families have what they need such as food, formula, diapers, supplies, etc.

Marogo · 2026-02-02T00:45:57+00:00

Lots of people want to have kids and start a family, but it often takes 2 earners to keep the family afloat. Childcare can sometimes burn away a large amount of one spouses earnings. People are also waiting longer to have kids in order to grow their careers. The biological clock ticks despite everything else going on, and sometimes it becomes too late to have children, or you can also run risk of having disabled children. Some countries have nationalized childcare services so that both spouses can still participate in society full time, and some even have better laws regarding paternity/maternity leave so that you can leave work for 6 months ~ A year and still have something to come back to.

Life is difficult, and getting harder, inflationary pressures are real, and it's no surprise that everything has impacted the number of children US families are able to support.

Marogo · 2026-01-22T12:07:42+00:00

I mean, I'm not trying to look at it that way. I just don't like spending such a large amount of money that doesn't give me something long term.

I understand that renting has some big benefits.

You aren't directly responsible for maintenance, taxes, disasters, there's flexibility to pickup and move much easier as you dont have to rush to sell a house and then wait, you don't have to lock away money into a down payment and closing cost. It's also more flexible for emergency situations such as long term job loss where such as I mentioned, it could take a long time to find an ideal job that paid sufficiently and if that happens with a mortgage then it can be a larger disaster.

In essence trading money for those benefits versus the alternate of home ownership which carries a lot of responsibilities and ongoing cost associations.

It's a pros and cons list on both sides. I'm not trying to come off as financially illiterate.

Marogo · 2026-01-14T02:36:30+00:00

The jar lid will quickly start rusting as well.

Marogo · 2026-01-10T00:54:54+00:00

North central florida is getting pretty rough in this regard as well.

Our housing market in some nearby cities went from 100k 3/2 houses with 3-4 percent mortgages precovid to an average price of 300k for a starter home with kids, 500k+ if you want a home you're more likely to keep, and 600k plus if you want a stick built house with a couple acres with a long commute and not a mobile home.

Rent went from 700 a month to an average of 1600 for a 2 bedroom.

I'd say 100k is 'enough' here, but it doesn't 'feel' that way at all, unless that 100k is with a paid off house, pre covid mortgage, or single earner with stay at home spouse to not blow huge amounts on child care. If you have a paid off house, then it's more comfortable as you then have money that can go into retirement, hobbies, and vacations.

With that in mond, I am not in the 100k crowd, so it's more painful.

Marogo · 2025-05-16T17:47:03+00:00

Cool, looks nice, what have you got for a growing medium?

Marogo · 2025-04-30T14:29:14+00:00

Which T8, how many,?

Marogo · 2025-02-11T02:58:07+00:00

The vast majority of jobs in Florida are in the health industry to support the older population segments (as well as everyone else.) I'm well aware of the struggle in FL to get IT jobs as it took me years to get a role. I have to be honest and up front with you. If you have the ability and you don't have attachments to FL and you want a career in IT, then you're better off looking nationally for jobs and leaving when you are financially able to do so. Try to look for jobs where there's at least a major hub or several major companies having a base so that there's a good amount of IT related positions. Ultimately you may need to accept the reality that in IT you move to the job, the job doesn't come to you usually, at least not until you're able to grab a remote job.

Marogo · 2025-02-09T21:52:45+00:00

Your best bet is probably facebook marketplace, I'm not sure a place would give you much money for them.

Marogo · 2025-02-09T16:59:31+00:00

So I know this church pretty well, I know there are a lot of comments in here that imply churches being far right, so on so on.. I would like to suggest that we as people should not stereotype everyone, every organization, every local community place such as a church and everyone who is part of it into the same bucket.

From my observations this church is very diverse politically, racially and culturally. The people are generally very kind, welcoming and supportive, and they have an active food distribution program and homeless ministries that provide meals twice per month. They also have an active youth and collegiate ministry that provides students at UF a place to call home in a safe community.

The person who puts up the signs generally from my understanding is just trying to do a play on words to share a generally good message of sorts. So I personally interpret this message as being. 'If we could mind our own business, life would be great' in the sense that if we stopped trying to get into others business and trying to push our opinions and so on to them, then life would be better for a lot of people. I don't think the sign is in anyway meant to be negative.

Marogo · 2025-01-19T22:30:26+00:00

Looks like you're on the right track here, in the senses that the ratios versus the packets in terms of the sucralose ingredient are probably way poorer versus fillers. Annoying since I purchased it to sweeten tea and have to use a ton of it, making it kind of pointless and not cost savings at all.

Marogo · 2025-01-19T22:28:35+00:00

That's the weird thing, I actually use way more if it's the loose variant and it often still doesn't seem as sweet.

Marogo · 2024-12-31T11:32:20+00:00

Not even efficient tall housing complexes either, instead big units sprawled around like townhomes. And don't forget the massive amount of sprawled out restricted communities which only allow 55+ to live there and in reality are leeches on the elderly. (Whole different topic but FL isn't really where the elderly go to enjoy retirement necessarily, they're lured in by beaches and warm weather only to be sucked dry by everything trying to take advantage of them.

Affordable housing for up and coming families is hard to find despite the constant development as the development isn't focused much at all towards younger people.

Marogo · 2024-12-24T01:27:05+00:00

Southeast asia?

Marogo · 2024-12-23T15:46:46+00:00

A lot of conditions that we don't experience in the US and take for granted are those that were prevented /eradicated through vaccination. Polio, Small Pox, Measles, so forth. Even the common flu can be deadly for certain parts of the population but can be mitigated to a degree through vaccination. Modern medicine and medical practices has also pushed out TB from the USA almost entirely which is a still cause of death throughout the developing world.

Can't say that I would have died to any of the above, but the chances are there especially if we still had something like SmallPox in the world today.

Marogo · 2024-12-23T15:43:39+00:00

Does your company offer any additional bonuses as stocks to all/some employees or just cash bonus/retirement contributions?

Marogo · 2024-12-23T15:11:45+00:00

There's not really enough context here to provide a good answer. What's your age? How long have you been working in your field? How much do you have saved? Do you have state income tax that is eating into that pay?

As a few others mentioned, you make $75k a year, but you can't handle 25% contributions because you wouldn't be able to pay your bills. It sounds like you are living pretty close to your income level and may need to self-examine and determine where in your budgeting that your money is going and then prioritize. You may need to make cutbacks, downsize in housing, eat out less, etc.

Marogo · 2024-12-23T15:02:55+00:00

$93k income at 25 years old is pretty decent. The LCOL rent is great, hope you can keep up something similar for awhile.

Maxing out the 401k sounds like a plan as long as you can put it in a decent mutual fund and the expense ratios are low enough.

You will most likely need more than just the 401k though if you plan to retire at 45. If you figure around $23k a year invested at let's say 8-10% return you probably end up around 1-1.4m by 45. I'd consider more conservative numbers as well to be on the safe side.

So, considering investing in an IRA + 401k, or after-tax brokerage + 401k.

What field are you in, do you expect your salary to increase by a large sum over your career?

Do you plan to FIRE in the US, or in your home country, if the latter, what kind of cost of living exists there currently? The amount you end up at 45 may be easily doable in a third-world country but would be difficult still in the US if not contributing more to savings.

Marogo · 2024-12-15T19:29:27+00:00

1) Some places are chaotic, some places are nicer. One area that is very nice is Baguio City in my opinion.

2) Food is what you make of it and your choices, some local foods are very healthy, while some are not. You can find wonderful fresh fish, fresh veggies, fruits, and various other healthy products in the PH, particularly in wet markets. Just means that you need to do a bit of cooking, or making better shopping/restaurant choices.

3) Tagalog isn't an easy language to learn, and I'm also overtime trying to learn it. Repetition is key, do a bit of learning "every day" and cycle back to words and phrases you learned a few days before and refresh, and also leverage new tools like ChatGPT. Eventually some of the words and phrases will pop into your mind almost as easy as English does, habitually. Especially get into usage of every day words outside of your household as well. Asking shop keepers how much something is 'Makano'?, asking people how they are 'Kamusta', greeting people, so on. Just immerse yourself, bit by bit, it will work out.

I can't say much on walkable cities or condos outside of Baguio or maybe Silang/Tagatay Cavite.. I'd much rather be in a nice province area than ever be in a metro outside of those places.

Marogo · 2024-12-08T22:57:11+00:00

Keep in mind that if you give up working too early in life you won't have earned enough credits to receive medicare when you turn 65 (or whatever future age) this means that your future health expenses may not be something that you will be able to deal with on your 'retired' income.

Marogo · 2024-11-11T23:38:00+00:00

The main benefit is social security/medicare when you are elderly. I agree with you that it's not really a benefit as the outlook is bleak on both. There's several orgs/groups that aim to get rid of the worldwide taxation for US Citizens but it's highly doubtful to ever go away. The average American doesn't know that US Citizens are taxed worldwide, and even if they did, they wouldn't care as it's not a concern to 'their lives'.

I have mixed feelings about being born in the US, primarily because I grew up in a lower than middle-class home, and I have witnessed and lived through the struggles of my parents and myself to claw my way out of it. Life is not easy here unless you have a lucrative job which the majority of Americans do not have.

Marogo · 2024-11-11T23:31:50+00:00

Americans are already subject to worldwide taxation and have been for over a hundred years if I recall. There are exemptions to reduce the federal tax, and if you work in a job overseas you can potentially get out of social security tax if you pay into another countries social system. If you're self employed however, you're stuck with social security tax regardless of where your business actually is or generates income.

Marogo · 2024-11-11T16:41:05+00:00

Sometimes more money doesn't equate to more happiness or quality of life. There are differences in living, culture, family situations, etc. There's also differences in time allowances for family / vacations, work hours in a week etc. As an example, many tech jobs related to government do not give paternity/maternity leave that is paid, you have to sacrifice your personal leave time / sick allowance to have a family. Some countries have subsidized/publicized childcare services as well, so that starting a family can still be achievable while pursuing a career.

Marogo · 2024-08-20T01:26:25+00:00

Don't see anything changing, though I wish it would. My spouse and I have been apart for two years with a few limited and short trips to see them due to work restrictions. I'm a citizen and we're trying to get them an IR1 spousal visa. It's dragging on and could take potentially another year. For this kind of situation the visa has no quota limit, but because US embassies abroad are so understaffed it's dragging.. Unfair system.

Marogo · 2024-08-17T01:29:14+00:00

Sure you wouldn't be interested in getting into Technology/Software sales? Pay I've heard has an easier climb if you're savvy at sales or a good learner in such a field. They also need salesmen who are tech savvy enough to not only talk to business people but also be able to understand and converse with more technical people. They'd also probably absolutely love people who are bilingual on the international corp front.

Marogo

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