War chests

[ChimpMaster]

Somehow I get the impression that the ones with real money here are not going to post anything about it.

And I mean money like having a nice house with no mortgage, several other mortgage free BTLs bringing in regular income, cash in the bank etc etc. There are a number of contractors here that have certainly aluded to this kind of wealth previously.

Personally I take the view that if you're contracting on a good rate for any reasonable length of time, then you have no excuse not to be in a fairly secure position - for example, mortgage free, or cash-strong like HoT.

[SuperZ]

some hefty at the nob waving in this thread.

Some of you have plenty money but very little class.

I don`t believe I come under this category, but I doubt class can be measured via some anonimous internet forum.

To Tazman, anyone with mortgage free BTL might not actually of made the right investment decisions.

[smiff]

but I doubt class can be measured via some anonimous internet forum.

Ability to spell can.

[mace]

Somehow I get the impression that the ones with real money here are not going to post anything about it.

And I mean money like having a nice house with no mortgage, several other mortgage free BTLs bringing in regular income, cash in the bank etc etc. There are a number of contractors here that have certainly aluded to this kind of wealth previously.

Personally I take the view that if you're contracting on a good rate for any reasonable length of time, then you have no excuse not to be in a fairly secure position - for example, mortgage free, or cash-strong like HoT.

To become a millionaire from contracting, the factors that will improve the likelihood of this are:-

1. Work close to home
2. Reduce the periods of time you're unemployed by sticking close to mainstream skills
3. Keep your skills up so that you can maintain your rate.
4. Either have a wife that earns her keep or remain unmarried.
5. Don't have kids
6. Make the correct financial investments.

I think it would be a challenge to become a millionaire if you don't live in the London area and not having a wife and kids would make you rich but lonely. I can't see more than 5% of contractors making it to millionaire status.

[expat]

To become a millionaire from contracting, the factors that will improve the likelihood of this are:-

1. Work close to home
2. Reduce the periods of time you're unemployed by sticking close to mainstream skills
3. Keep your skills up so that you can maintain your rate.
4. Either have a wife that earns her keep or remain unmarried.
5. Don't have kids
6. Make the correct financial investments.

I think it would be a challenge to become a millionaire if you don't live in the London area and not having a wife and kids would make you rich but lonely. I can't see more than 5% of contractors making it to millionaire status.

7. If you must get married, don't get divorced.

TazMaN says you have no excuse not to be in a failry secure position ..... well, that's my excuse.

[SillyMilly]

To Tazman, anyone with mortgage free BTL might not actually of made the right investment decisions.

've made

Totally disagree. Can't see how you could do very much better as long as it's the right btl.

eg students, nurses etc. A house worth £150,000 will bring in rent of £10,000 a year from students. That's in quite an expensive area (by student standards) - and only 4 students - you could buy cheaper but get similar rent or buy bigger for more students giving a higher yield.

I know - we've got one - sadly not mortgage-free though!

[centurian]

My war chest is piss poor. Currently about £6k...
Seriously tulipting myself and going to be putting as much as possible into savings...

6K. I'd consider that the "entry fee" for going into contracting i.e. the minimum you should have in reserve before switching from permie - more if you have commitments

A small war chest has other problems. It means that at renewal time you are more hesistant about pushing the limit because you can't afford to be out of work.

That in turn increases stress because you know you're in a weaker position. You're also less likely to take a punt with other contracts, causing you to get stale with your skills.

Got around 45K myself - small fry compared to some here, but comfortable enough not to get stressed every few months.

Wife just found out she is pregnant (this morning)... In the middle of recession

Hence the solution. I'm sure there are other Madonna's out there that can't be bothered to have the child themselves. Solve two problems in one. Seriously, congrats mate

[GreenerGrass]

I think I have the solution for HeadOfTesting, buy a 3 or 4 bedroom house for 150-200k (250 perhaps if living in the south east) and let out two of the rooms.
a) You save on paying rent
b) You get an income from the rooms, even if out of work
c) a) and b) mean your living costs are even lower but -
d) You make money longer term on the house, tax free
e) If Mrs Right comes along you will already own a house and not be a tragic case renting a 1 bed flat

Not saying now is the time to buy, but if you are single and tightwad enough to not mind sharing.
If houses don't go up by 2020, shares and bank interest won't be doing great either and inflation will eat away at the real value your 310k.

[HeadOfTesting]

Kinda agree with that, it`s definately not going to suddenly rise anyhow.
However, consider investing in some good companies for the long term. Going by your posts it looks like you`ve been burned a few times on shares (as have I and many others I`m sure), but investing is a long term venture. It`s so easy to lose money and then give up. Anyone who decides to invest any money in the stock market should do with longer term plans.
Someof the divi`s on offer at the moment are great!

I have indeed been burned. I appreciate the long term nature of equity investment but it's still very easy to lose over the long term. I remember talking to a work colleague in - I think - 1999 and we were saying that the ftse was starting to look a bit toppy at 6000ish. Good job I didn't invest in a FTSE 100 tracker or it would have lost massively - even before accounting for fees and inflation. Yes the market was in a boom condition then but even so.

Ironically, having been burned by tech stocks I bought some supposedly defensive Glaxo shares - infact that was my last cash equities purchase - for £17 in 2002. They then virtually halved over the following 2 weeks on concerns about generics. They never recovered and have recently struggled to get a few pence over the £11 mark. I still hold them.

Nope, it's cash for me along with recreational spread bets on the ftse, oil and gold and I hardly do that either these days.

[HeadOfTesting]

I think I have the solution for HeadOfTesting, buy a 3 or 4 bedroom house for 150-200k (250 perhaps if living in the south east) and let out two of the rooms.
a) You save on paying rent
b) You get an income from the rooms, even if out of work
c) a) and b) mean your living costs are even lower but -
d) You make money longer term on the house, tax free
e) If Mrs Right comes along you will already own a house and not be a tragic case renting a 1 bed flat

Not saying now is the time to buy, but if you are single and tightwad enough to not mind sharing.
If houses don't go up by 2020, shares and bank interest won't be doing great either and inflation will eat away at the real value your 310k.

I'm uber bearish on property and am a fully paid up member of www.housepricecrash.co.uk

a) My savings interest pays my rent - yes it's still a cost but psychologically it's a nice position to be in. Current property falls (which I see continuing after the recent dead cat bounce) far outweight rent payments.

b) I've not shared since graduation in 1998 and couldn't go back to that - I'm vey fussy about kitchen cleaning etc

c) Agreed but as we've already established - my living costs are fairly well under control.

d) Probably although the UK's future demographics may pose a threat to that conventional wisdom imo. I'm happy to let prices drift lower as I'm under no domestic pressure to buy.

e) I don't get involved in relationships and in any event I would not put myself in a position where I could be asset stripped, nor would I give weight to the opinion of someone who was shallow enough to consider me a failure for living in a 1 bed place.

So in summary, thanks for thinking of me but I'm happy with my current trajectory and will buy a nice 4 or 5 bed house for cash when the property market is at its nadir.