Mortgage Calculator Makes Freelancers Optimistic, but the Banks Disappoint Them
For many people, the desire to move to a warmer country is high. This is particularly true for freelancers who can work from the comfort of their own laptops. Some of these freelancers even earn a significant amount of money, often six figures and more. They, therefore, become optimistic when they look up how much they can loan with a mortgage calculator.
However, many banks are still refusing to approve their loan applications, because even though these freelancers might earn a lot, their income is often variable, and provide a risk factor for the banks.
This is especially widespread among Norwegian freelancers who want to move to Spain and purchase a home there, given the high GDP in Norway. Nonetheless, while the mortgage calculator (Norway and Spain) may show that they will easily be able to repay the mortgage, the banks are still refusing to provide them with the loan they need.
The Problem with Variable Income
One of the biggest problems with having a variable income is that it makes it difficult for banks to assess your ability to repay a loan. In many cases, banks will simply refuse to approve a loan for a freelancer because they don’t know how much they will earn next month, as this poses a risk that the bank won’t get its money back.
The reason for this is that history has shown that a full-time employee is more likely to have the same job in the next 5 years than someone who does independent projects online. This is a serious problem for freelancers because they often have to resort to specialty banks that have lower requirements but higher interest rates.
The Solution?
There is no easy solution to this problem. However, one possible way out is for freelancers to get creative with their income sources. For example, they could look into getting a part-time job or starting a side business in addition to freelancing. This would give them a more consistent income and make it easier for banks to assess their ability to repay a loan.
Another option is for freelancers to save up enough money so that they can make a large down payment on a home. This would reduce the amount of money they need to borrow and make their loan application more likely to be approved.
Statistics About How Much of the Workforce Freelancers Make Up
Statistics show that a large portion of the workforce in different countries is made up of people who are not employed by traditional means. This is likely due to the rise of technology and the internet, which has made it easier for people to work remotely. For instance:
- In the US, freelancers make up 35% of the workforce
- In the UK, they make up 15%
- In Spain, they make up 10.2%
As you can see, the number of freelancers is growing rapidly all over the world, but banks have yet to adapt to this change and are forced to disappoint optimistic freelancers who want to move to warmer countries.
Amazon Warehouses, and How Warehouse Workers Are Paid
Amazon is a company that operates online retail and cloud computing platforms. The company has over 100 million active users worldwide and it’s the most visited retailer in the world. Needless to say, meeting the demands of all of these clients and customers requires a large work force of warehouse workers. A topic of interest, then, is to know how Amazon’s warehouse workers are paid, and how much they are paid. We will start off by looking at Amazon’s compensation style.
How Warehouse Workers are Paid at Amazon
Warehouse workers at Amazon are called Fulfillment Associates. The commission rates are set by their fulfillment centers, and most Amazon employees find it hard to know what their pay is based on. This is because the packages that come in and leave the warehouse are divided into shipments with different weights, so there isn’t a specific cost-per-unit for each item. The payment rates are based on the number of items an associate sells, how much money they make, their qualifications, and how many hours a week they work.
For Amazon fulfillment associates, the commission rate will be around 1-3% depending on their qualifications and experience level. In other words, Amazon operates by a part fixed, part commission-based salary, where all warehouse workers have a base salary from which they can earn more, based on how well they perform their job. This compensation system is quite normal within the warehouse and storage industry.
How Warehouse and Storage Workers are Paid Outside Amazon
Inside Self-Storage, which has provided effective solutions for facility owners and managers for over 30 years, make the point that the compensation style should be based on a number of different factors. A split between hourly wage and bonuses works for some, whereas others prefer only hourly wage.
An interesting example of providing for this need is found in Norway, where the storage company Flexistore Minilager holds a large part of the country’s market share. To motivate both the achievers and the steady workers, they have made it optional for storage employees to choose either a pure hourly wage-system of compensation, or one that is based on an hourly rate plus bonuses.
What Are the Most Common Amazon Commissions?
Most Amazon fulfillment associates make an average of $16 an hour as of 2021, but the salary ranges from $12-$22. Furthermore, the average order value for a fulfillment center worker in the United States is $1,000. This means, based on the different factors that count into a worker’s pay, that most of them make around $24,000 a year as fulfillment associates. That sum is enough to make most workers live comfortably.
Salary statistics in the private healthcare industry
How much do professionals in the private healthcare industry earn; professionals such as dentists, physiotherapists, or psychologists? What are the salary differences between someone who has been practicing their profession for less than five years, and someone who has been going for more than that? And how much bonus do these professionals earn? We give the answers to these questions with the below salary statistics in the private healthcare industry, comparing US professionals to Chinese, Norwegian, and British practitioners, respectively.
Dental care salary statistics
According to Salary Expert – Dentist Salary in the United States, the average yearly salary for an American dentist is just over $190,000, which translates to about $92 per hour. It’s also possible to get bonuses, and the overall average is just under $7,000 per year. For dentists who have been practicing for less than three years, the average salary is around $131,000, whereas it’s almost a quarter of a million for those who have been practicing for more than eight years.
In comparison, the average yearly salary for a Chinese dentist is around $130,000 per year. Bonuses come in the form of individual performance, company performance, and goal achievement, among other things. In a survey referred to by the salary comparison service Salary Explorer, more than eighty percent answered that they had received monetary bonuses during the last year. Furthermore, dentists with five or fewer years of experience earn about $103,000 per year, while those with five to ten earn an average of $134,000 per year.
Physiotherapy salary statistics
The average yearly salary for an American physiotherapist is just over $150,000. Bonuses seem to generally apply to private healthcare clinics, based on individual and company performance, and this also applies to US physiotherapy clinics. For physiotherapists who have been practicing for five years or less, the average yearly salary is around $122,000, whereas it’s about $160,000 for those who have been practicing for between five to ten.
In comparison, the average yearly salary for a Norwegian physiotherapist is around $132,000 per year. Physiotherapists have good chances for receiving bonuses. In a survey by the Norwegian physiotherapy clinic Salis Fysioklinikk: Fysioterapi i Kristiansand, only fifteen percent of the staff in thirteen clinics answered that they hadn’t received any bonuses during the last year, whereas eighty-five percent confirmed that they had gotten bonuses consisting of five to ten percent of their yearly salary. And whereas physiotherapists who have practiced for less than five years earn an average of $92,000 per year, someone with five to ten years of experience has an average yearly salary of $136,000.
Psychology salary statistics
The average yearly salary for an American psychologist is just over $160,000. For psychologists who have been practicing for five years or less, the average yearly salary is around $123,000, whereas it’s about $170,000 for those who have been practicing for between five to ten.
In comparison, the average yearly salary for a UK psychologist is also about $160,000. For psychologists who have been practicing for five years or less, the average yearly salary is around $111,000, whereas it’s about $164,000 for those who have been practicing for between five to ten.
The above statistics show that, in general, dentists, physiotherapists, and psychologists in the US, China, Norway, and the UK have a healthy yearly salary, and that most of them have good opportunities for earning substantial bonuses. Furthermore, there’s a big difference in salary for those who have been practicing for fewer than five years, and those who have been practicing for more.
Freelance Statistics: Income and Financial Life
What occupation do you think about when you hear the term “commission-paid jobs”? Undoubtedly, freelancing is one of the first things that spring to mind.
The income and financial life – whether it be good or not so good – can vary a great deal from country to country. That is why we have chosen to feature three countries from very different parts of the world, to give you a closer view of how much freelancers work, and what their financial upsides or challenges are.
U.S.
A study by Payoneer discovered that if you take the average income of U.S. freelancers, it comes down to around $30 per hour. The overall average pay, meanwhile, is closer to $26 per hour.
The numbers differ a lot between different professions, though. Whereas a legal services freelancer earns an average of $60 per hour, a customer agent freelancer earns around $30.
According to an article about freelancing on CNBC, skilled freelancers have a higher income than three-fourths of American workers, and are quite opposed to normal jobs. They seem to be hyperaware of the lifestyle benefits they receive from not working the dreaded 9-5 office job. They can stay at home in their bed or couch, or they can go on a vacation, earning good money while doing so. That’s life! And if they can even earn more money than most other workers, then that’s a good bonus.
India
India is one of the countries with the largest freelance workforces, numbering 15 million. Globally, Indian freelancers earn less for the same work than in many other countries. They work for an average hourly rate of $18, while globally the average hourly rate is $21. But since the costs are so low in India, freelancers are quite well off in relation to the rough hourly wage of $2.5 for the country’s citizens in total.
It’s largely because of this disparity in country-to-country expenses that appeals to many people who work online. If they can earn an income that is considered OK in their own country, but they live in a country where things are a lot cheaper – like someone coming to Bali or India from the U.S. or Scandinavia – then they will, as the popular phrase goes, “live like kings.”
On the flipside, Indians working for U.S. and Scandinavian companies will also reap the benefits of this global cooperation, since these businesses are used to paying a lot for freelancing services. What might be considered a very high charge for Indians might feel like a steal for Americans and Scandinavians. Who would, for example, not be surprised that you can get a decent logo tailored for $5 at Fiverr these days?
Norway
Up to the north, Norwegians are also catching onto the freelancing wave. There are not as many statistics to go around regarding their wage; it can be up to 113$ per hour for skilled computer programmers, but in general, it’s “higher” than that of the average worker, which is around $25-35. How much higher, we can’t say for sure, given the limited source material.
When we look at parts of the Norwegian freelancer’s lifestyle, they seem to have much the same mindset as the Americans. “How great isn’t it to be able to work from home, working whenever I want?”
There are also some challenges for freelancers, though. For one, it can be hard to find well-paying jobs, an important detail in one of the most expensive countries in the world. The Norwegian government recently developed new, detailed resource pages to better help freelancers as it’s becoming more and more normal, explaining how sick leave, “sykepenger,” works, and more.
Also, If their income varies a lot, loan opportunities can sometimes be limited for freelancers in Norway. This is unfortunate, but a reality a lot of them have to face, especially in the beginning when their income can be a bit unstable. A result of this is an increase in what the Norwegians call billig forbrukslån på dagen, which essentially is what we in the U.S. know of as cheap consumer loans that can be given quickly.
The reason they are “forced” into these kinds of loans is because the banks deem them as less secure to loan money out to, which depending on how you look at it, freelancers can be. These types of loans have their use, but are generally more expensive as it’s unsecured.
We should point out that a varied income doesn’t have to mean that one can’t take up more regular loans in Norway. But a safe and steady income, and low monthly costs, will often ensure a better interest rate and better opportunities. A low or varied income, on the other hand, might be seen as a greater risk for the bank, and will often make them increase the interest rate.
That’s all we had for today on statistics about the income and financial life of freelancers, from three very different parts of the world.
Government jobs pay stats
Way too many people believe that government jobs don’t pay well. The common belief is that those who work in the government are struggling to pay for their bills, and are living from paycheck to paycheck. Naturally, this discourages great swathes of job seekers from applying for government jobs. The fact is, though, that the underpayment belief simply isn’t true.
For those who are interested in finding a communal job in their town or far away, the average pay for these jobs may be good news to you.
It’s important to keep in mind that government jobs, just like any other profession, have salaries that range from very low to very high. According to ZipRecruiter, state employees in the US earn an average of about $63,000 per year, where the lowest pay is $16,500 and the highest is $143,000. These numbers prove that working for the government might not be such a bad financial choice at all.