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I am a US citizen who works in healthcare who lived in the UK for 7 years.Absolutely I think the healthcare system is better in the UK. There is room for improvement though.The UK spends less than half GDP per capita on healthcare compared to the USA and health outcomes for the population are better in the UK. The United States has the highest costs for health care of any industrialized nation and some of the worst health outcomes.I had a GP office about a 5 minute walk from my old flat in London. Whenever I got even the slightest bit sick I just walked around the corner during office hours and was always seen right away by a doctor or nurse. All of this care was free and no co-pay. I pray for a GP office like this in the USA.In the USA I am always changing jobs because of what I do. I work a lot of travel/ short-term contracts. My health insurance is tied to my job. Therefore oftentimes I don't know what's covered or who my doctor is, if they will see me with the insurance I have. It's always complicated. It's no longer just a five minute walk away to get help. I am often put on hold, told to go every which way and this past weekend I ended up in an emergency department for something that my old London GP would have seen me immediately for without an ED visit. Now I am worried about the cost of my ED visit because I am in between health insurance plans. I just stopped one job, started another and haven't seen my cobra application yet. I wonder if the visit will be covered and how much it would be. I imagine it could reach hundreds of dollars. In the UK I wouldn't be bothered much if I changed jobs and needed to see a doctor. My healthcare coverage wouldn't change. It would still be free.And I work in healthcare as a social worker. It was much easier to navigate the system when it's just the NHS. As an NHS social worker I was the gate keeper of services. I knew what was available and how to arrange funding. No outside insurance problems. Or a vast number of health care plans. With just one way of arranging needed care, it wasn't like I went on a wild goose chase with every new insurance plan I work with, which is how it can feel arranging care, medical appointments, short-term and long-term nursing home placements now. Things are more streamlined & efficient when healthcare is just one entity as it is in the UK.The very best healthcare is reserved for those who can pay for it in the USA. This creates a very inequitable situation. If you're rich yes you can get the very best care. For the rest of us, it's a crap shoot. And if you're poor you will likely have the worst healthcare. In the UK it's more equal across the board.In terms of long-term disability, or a long-term disabling psychiatric diagnosis, I know for sure I'd rather be in the UK because of their social care. When you're ill and unable to work due to long-term disabling medical reasons, there are better options for supportive income, housing, and community support in the UK. Yes it needs to improve, but it's better there. In the USA if you are diagnosed with a disabling psychiatric diagnosis, unless you have a supportive family, you are very likely going to end up wandering the streets homeless for an extended amount of time and no one might care or be bothered about it. This just doesn't happen in the UK. Yes there are a few psychotic homeless people out in London who just refuse the housing options offered, but it's nothing like a US city with massive homeless populations that keep growing.The other thing is that in London I wasn't earning a ton. My rate of taxation was just about what it is now and my taxes paid for my healthcare. If I were to add the cost of health insurance to what I pay for taxes in the USA, what I pay for in health insurance & taxes is higher in the US than what I paid in the UK for taxes. So I am spending more and getting less in the US just as an individual, too.So the bottom line, healthcare is cheaper and better for all across the board in the UK versus the US.

As Matthew Daneman's answer to Why doesn't the U.S. offer the same amount of work leave for new fathers as for new mothers? Shouldn't men have equality here? properly observes, the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) Guarantees 12 weeks of leave. What it doesn't guarantee is paid leave. The question, as always, is one of who should pay for it.Women who have jobs wind up with paid leave because pregnancy is treated as a medical condition – a disability, in fact. Therefore the condition of pregnancy and recent childbirth gets time to recover that is generally paid for by an employer's long term disability insurance. Specific states may have different applicable laws and specific employers may offer more benefits.

You must have heard the saying Rome wasn’t built in a day. Same theory is applicable to habits : Deeds are not turned into habits in one night OR one month. It's a continuous process. In my opinion what can you do in one month is Planning and making yourself determined for the financial freedom.Building wealth doesn’t happen by accident. You need to plan things meticulously and implement those systematically. Financial Freedom is available to those who learn about it and work for it.What is Financial Freedom?Financial Freedom is that state of mind which can be felt when you are totally worry free about your finances. You stop thinking frequently about money matters in back of your mind.What is benefit of Financial Freedom?Every one’s dream is to have high paid but stress free job. In reality, it is next to rare. But if you make yourself financially free by following proper financial plan your dependency on job will be minimal, and you can achieve FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early) stage in your late forties.What steps you need to take for Financial Freedom?Set your goals: This step is the starting point of Financial planning. You should know what are your long term goals as well as your short term goal. Long term goal may include retirement planning and buying a house. Short term goals may include foreign/domestic vacation, buying a car, setting aside some money for higher education, etc.Save before you spend. Create a separate account where you can transfer stipulated saving amount on the first day of the month from your salary account.Before starting investing fix these 3 thingsSet aside 3 to 6 months expenses including EMIs as an emergency fund in liquid funds, bank FD or bank RD. Always keep it updated as your expenses increases. Consider Emergency fund as your expense, not your InvestmentBuy online term insurance plan with maximum cover possible till you retire or you have dependents. Buy disability rider and accident benefit raider of equal sum assured along with the term plan or separately.Go for standalone (for you and spouse) or family floater health insurance plan as your base plan and buy a top up health plan apart from the one your employer provides. This arrangement will save your premium outgo.Decide your saving rate and be firm in implementing it every month. You should invest at least 40% of your salary. According to your age and risk profile you can have an asset allocation of 80% equity and 20% debt if you are young or 60% equity and 40% debt if you are in the mid-40s.Expenses can also be categorized as Needs and Wants. But for a healthy financial life, one must understand how to segregate needs and wants. Learning and understanding the difference between Need and Want makes things simple. We can easily come to know where we spend unnecessarily. This exercise helps us to alter our spending pattern and ultimately increases our saving.Make your monthly budget. Once you have an idea of what you spend in a month, you can begin to organized your recorded expenses into a workable budget. The budget will help you to plan your spending and limit overspending.Start investing for your retirement since your first pay cheque. Then allocate your investible surplus to your other goals.Never get into the debt trap. Please never take any expensive loans to fulfill your aspiration. The debt will hamper your saving.If you don't have enough fundamental and technical knowledge of direct equity stock please refrain from investing in direct equity blindly. Instead, take the Mutual fund route. Map each SIP in equity or debt mutual fund for each short and long term goal. If you are new in the market start investing in Nifty ETFs, Index funds or balanced funds.Tax planning needs to be done wisely. Try to invest 70% of 150000 in equity ELSS and remaining in PPF. Never invest for the sake of saving tax in unproductive financial products.Keep reviewing your portfolio once in a year and alter your asset allocation as per major changes in your life. Wealth creation is a long term phenomenon.Stick to your asset allocation for the long term. Don't get panic about the short term volatility in equity markets. Stick to our SIP.Please keep in mind : Wealth creation is a long term phenomenon. Stick to your asset allocation for the long term. Don't get panic about the short term volatility in equity markets. Stick to our SIP.So in one month train your mind to walk towards achieving Financial Freedom early in life.