Which programming language will pay the highest rates?

The Corinthian wrote: »

Ireland has unfortunately inherited a culture and economy that predates the Celtic Tiger, where living off the fat of the land (Dole and social welfare) was considered an acceptable lifestyle, and where inevitably the cost of maintaining a significant proportion of the population who are permanently in receipt of such payments ends up being left to anyone who earns even above a modest salary by Western standards. We're kind of trapped in this situation, I'm afraid, as it is seen as a basic right by some to be maintained indefinitely by the state, with some families literally never having held down a job for multiple generations.

Overall, if you consider tax, cost of living and salary, Ireland does not have a very attractive long-term package to offer (before we consider value for money for those taxes we would pay). A good rule of thumb is to consider how much you'd theoretically save as a percentage of your salary, taking into account costs, taxation and salary. If you do you'll find Ireland comes pretty low on the list of OECD countries.

Not entirely true. When contracting, most are directors of the contracting umbrella companies that they use to facilitate their activities and may elect not to pay PRSI - if going through a contracting service or accountant, this is the default position as it saves you tax and makes them look good, but you can choose to pay your contributions, and thus be eligible for unemployment benefit, if you wish.

Whether you would bother is another thing. Unlike most of Europe, unemployment insurance in Ireland does not reflect what your lost income was. You just get the same as some scumbag who's never worked a day in their life. And if you have less that 20k in the bank it makes no difference anyway.

Indeed, if you're on 100k p.a. as a contractor, you'll have to pay 4k to qualify for a maximum 9 months of benefit - which means you'll get the full 7.3k p.a. (presuming single with no kids) without deductions. Even if your assets were such that you'd not get a penny without contributions, you'll have paid double what you'd get back within two years. In short, you're better off putting what you'd pay in PRSI into a rainy day fund in most cases.

Pensions are even worse, as you can easily fail to qualify for a contributory one if you don't pay stamps or work abroad for a few years. Even if you do qualify, the way things are going you simply cannot count on a state pension in 20 or 30 years time - if viewed from the cold perspective of an investment, they qualify as frankly little more as junk status - without a particularly high return. Not that a private pension is much better as this will undoubtedly end up raided too, if not eventually nationalized.

Regrettably, I came to the conclusion in my mid thirties that Ireland is a great country to live in when you're starting your career and on a low salary. Or if you're unemployed. But once you reach a certain level, there's few options for either career advancement and you end up penalized for any financial success.

So I left.