The Social Insurance Institution of Finland (KELA)
The Social Insurance Institution of Finland (KELA) is a familiar institution to me however I am not currently using their services that much. I am doing my master’s studies so I have combined work and study and there for I am not getting any student benefits from KELA. However, I do have one underaged child and for that reason I am getting child benefit still for couple of years. This is a huge benefit in Finland as it is given to every family with underaged children despite the family incomes. When I was younger and was doing my bachelor’s studies I received student benefit from Kela (before I started to work along of school) and KELA also secured my student loan. When my child was born I also received parental benefits from Kela before I returned to my day job.
I do pay healthcare fee to KELA twice a year as a higher education student. I have a lot of opinions about this and not all of them are good. I understand the reason for this but in reality, it is not as good as in paper. Everyone is forced to pay this healthcare fee even if they cannot or do not need to use it. I for example live quite far from my school (my studies are performed 100 % remotely) so it is not reasonable for me to use healthcare services at the city where my school is. Student healthcare services in my own city are only available for students who study in the school in this city. So, I cannot use the healthcare services that I am forced to pay for, and this seems unfair to me. Also, many students who also work alongside of studies have access to industrial health services and still they must pay for student healthcare fee. I strongly feel that this should be changed to work better for all students who are paying for it or then it should be made voluntary in a way that you could substitute it with industrial health care or with a comprehensive personal insurance that covers health care costs.
I have had European Healthcare care (provided by KELA) for many years now and I always carry it with me when travelling within Europe. It brings an additional security to me in case of something bad happens even though I always have a good travel insurance with highest possible coverage too.
OmaKanta
I entered OmaKanta with the verification of my phone number (Mobiilivarmenne). I have started to use this instead of verification with bank information as it is safer. Very little harm can be done if someone acquires my phone number but potentially more harm can be done with my bank information. So far this is free verification method only for the customers of Telia, but other operators are currently planning their own versions of it, which is really good. Safety of our data while using online services can never be on a too high level. I like this way how Telia is providing verification method, as it does not require additional apps in phone, all you need is a SIM-card that supports this verification method (oldest cards do not, but it is easy to order new SIM-card from an operator if needed).
Pension
I have not given my pension much thought as it is still so far ahead and most likely the age when I can start my pension will still increase before I get there. I logged into Keva just to notice my pension information is not there. I did not know where they would be visible, so I checked Ilmarinen next, from there I noticed that my pension company is Varma. Then I finally managed to log into a correct place. Unfortunately, Varma did not give me a possibility to check what my pension would be at the age of 63 – not a possibility for me to retire at this age, unfortunately.
My earliest pension age is 67 years 2 months where my pension would be 2549 €/month. If I would retire at the age of 68 my pension would be 2 709 €/month. Goal is that I would work until I am 69v 4kk and then my pension would be 2959 €/month. I googled other pension counters and from there I could find out that my earliest partial pension age is 64 years and 2 months. At that time my pension would be 1166 €/month with 50 % portion of pension amount.
I still have a lot of work years left and hopefully I will see constant increase in my salary which would show as an increase in my pension. Although 2959 € per month seems like an OK pension right now, all costs of living are constantly increasing quite rapidly so this amount would not be as much in 30 years as it is now.
Digital shops
In my opinion digital shops are here to stay. It is so easy to shop from the comfort of one’s own home, book flights, hotels, experiences without talking to anyone, leaving the house, standing in lines to get the best offers. All is online and available to everyone. And of course, you can read the reviews online too so you know what to expect after purchase. Personally, I have not used shopping sites such as Amazon, eBay, or Temu but I know a lot of people who use them. I do not trust the quality of products ordered from these sites as they can come from anywhere and contain even subjects that are forbidden in domestic markets. I have a feeling that it requires a lot of inspection work to know what you are buying and if your purchase is what you think it is. I think a responsible consumer orders from domestic markets where products are tested and more local if possible. It also needs to be taken into consideration that prices are often quite cheap but shipping fees and custom fees can significantly increase the total cost of purchase.
I have used travel sites such as skyscanner, booking.com, trivago and momondo. I feel as these are good for the purpose of comparing options, to see what is out there and to read the comments others have posted. The prices are not always the cheapest, sometimes you can get a better price directly from hotels or airlines own sites. I always start my search from these sites travel sites and when I know where I want to go and when I compare these prices against the hotels or airlines own sites and see where the best price is available.
Logistics application
I work in the field of logistics (moving products around the world). For this assignment I have chosen a service that moves people around the world, travelling service skyscanner.com. I use this every time I start to plan a vacation as it is so easy to see all flight options from A to B and you can add filters to get flight options that are suitable for your needs. I have noticed that with this site the price can also be cheaper when bought directly from the airline, but this makes the comparison much easier. I would suggest this site to everyone who is not yet familiar with it.
Digitalization and digital gap
For those persons not using digital shops there is a real risk of overpaying for products. Although not everything is cheaper bought online a lot is. If someone only uses physical shops, they are most likely paying more than online shoppers is calculating all shopping’s together. In a current world I imagine it is hard for those who do not use digital services, such as Kela, Omavero etc. It goes without saying it is faster to get things done online than to wait in line to get an employee to help you physically.
Digital Competence Test
I did a digital competence test and found out that there is still a lot to do to be more competent in digital world. Luckily, I like to improve myself and constantly learn more. I am not yet ready, nor should I be. Digitalization brings so much change to our lives that I suppose a “normal consumer” can never really be ready and that is OK. We just must be open to new things and not fear the new unknown. I am a bit behind on communication and production, where especially automation was a surprise to me as this is a central aspect of my work. This just proves that I do not know all there is to know and I still have more to learn on this topic.
Here is an overview of my digital competence areas:
Self evaluation
I enjoyed doing the digital competence test and especially the visual overviews I got to see. This is something I most likely would not have done without this course. This gave me a lot to think about and I had to think comprehensively my work area when doing the test. I know what the areas are I should educate myself even further and that is the most important thing one can learn about themselves (in my opinion). Because of this course I browed the sites of Amazon and eBay that I have not done in years. I am still very comfortable with my decision to stay clear of these and only buy from shops I so trust.
I read many great blog posts and commented on these three: