Would you stop contracting if Plan B paid off?

[achilles]

Hi all,

As many of you who follow this forum would know, contractors ideally should have a Plan B. But what if your Plan B matured enough for you to comfortably live off it, for example a residential rental portfolio that gives a net income of £100K, would you then give up contracting even though there is nothing stopping you from continuing since Plan B is passive income?

Just wondered what your thoughts / experiences are on this.

A.

[PCTNN]

I would definitely give up full time contracting. Like, I would still work some contracts here and there, because you never know if plan B is going to be solid forever so the last thing I'd want to do is having to go back looking for work after a 2 years gap where I've got nothing to show on my CV and I've lost touch with the latest tech.

So maybe I'd work 6 months, or I'd pick up some freelance work that allows me to have flexibility. The rest of the time I would do other things, like woodworking of dog walking

[achilles]

I would definitely give up full time contracting. Like, I would still work some contracts here and there, because you never know if plan B is going to be solid forever so the last thing I'd want to do is having to go back looking for work after a 2 years gap where I've got nothing to show on my CV and I've lost touch with the latest tech.

So maybe I'd work 6 months, or I'd pick up some freelance work that allows me to have flexibility. The rest of the time I would do other things, like woodworking of dog walking

Sounds good to me, thanks for the reply.

[northernladuk]

As many of you who follow this forum would know, contractors ideally should have a Plan B

Should they? Where does it say that?

But what if your Plan B matured enough for you to comfortably live off it for example a residential rental portfolio that gives a net income of £100K, would you then give up contracting even though there is nothing stopping you from continuing since Plan B is passive income?

It's not the best question. Far too many assumptions and context missing. For example, 100k net income from property. Very few people are going to have that so it's a bit of unrealistic example. Also when you ask a question you are trying to find an answer that is useful to you but you aren't asking about people's situations, age, outgoings etc.

Would you retire if you had 100k free cash coming in? Some people would, some people wouldn't. How is that useful to you?

[TheDude]

Should they? Where does it say that?

It doesn't but I am pretty sure it used to be part of the code that contractors should smugly imply how financially shrewd they are at every opportunity.

Well, at least until HMRC take them to court.

[ladymuck]

I barely have a plan A, let alone a plan B

[GregRickshaw]

It seems just lately no matter how big the war chest or how detailed plan B is HMRC will say No.

[jainnode]

I'm on plan K on the third time around

[achilles]

It doesn't but I am pretty sure it used to be part of the code that contractors should smugly imply how financially shrewd they are at every opportunity.

Well, at least until HMRC take them to court.

It definitely was the case that contractors were discussing their Plan B's in this forum and I do not see why shrewd contractors would stop doing this even today.

[TheDude]

It definitely was the case that contractors were discussing their Plan B's in this forum and I do not see why shrewd contractors would stop doing this even today.

Not referring to the forum - just a feature of working with contractors over the years - some lack a little class.