This country is getting worse and worse

[LondonManc]

And 600K turn up to the UK each year. I presume they don't think it too bad either.

Handouts rise in line with inflation.

Just sayin'

[diseasex]

There are broad trends that have capped salaries and rates for the past decade.

* Management practices - outsourcing of jobs to from high-cost countries to low-cost countries.

* Technological development - rise of SAAS, PAAS, aka "The Cloud"

* Free movement of skilled resources from low-cost countries into high-cost countries.

* General market principals in which high-skilled roles command a high salary, which attracts thousands of people into that area, that eventually results in saturation of the market and thus results in the pushing down of salaries commanded by said role.


It's not a good/bad thing. It's just the way it is. Once upon a time bus drivers were the highest paid workers in the UK. Nowadays you wouldn't get more than £16k for driving a bus.

If you reflect on the trends you may realise that you have been a direct beneficiary of one or more of them.

OK it's fine, immigration etc. The problem is less and less oportunities to make a killing. Take years back , my friend (older chap) was doing tenders for Gov and then sold his limited for £7m. Now you can find tender but for 10k each peanuts. Take SDLT tax that kind of killed any property trading or BTL. I get it , housing bubble etc etc but where's the real money to make now?

[pjclarke]

but where's the real money to make now?

FTSE 100,

22.3.2016: 6192
22.3.2017: 7316

My pension portfolio up 15% since Trump. Next question?

[PurpleGorilla]

This country is getting worse and worse

where's the real money to make now?

The Klondike.

[diseasex]

FTSE 100,

22.3.2016: 6192
22.3.2017: 7316

My pension portfolio up 15% since Trump. Next question?

That's providing the govt won't tax the tulip out of your pension in near future. There's good reason why you can't access this money. So govt can take it whenever they feel the need to .

[Mordac]

Yeah but whats that got to do with this topic or anything

Anyway , daily rant goes on. We will see if Brexit solves anything (highly doubt that )

[tomtomagain]

OK it's fine, immigration etc. The problem is less and less oportunities to make a killing. Take years back , my friend (older chap) was doing tenders for Gov and then sold his limited for £7m. Now you can find tender but for 10k each peanuts. Take SDLT tax that kind of killed any property trading or BTL. I get it , housing bubble etc etc but where's the real money to make now?

That's capitalism through and through. An opportunity arises.

An individual or individual's take a risk and profit from it. First mover advantage.

The majority jump onto the bandwagon and compete the profit away until the activity becomes a commodity driven by low cost.

The thing is: There's no such thing as easy money. Never was. It only looks easy in hindsight.

[chopper]

Just had an email from my accountant that they take away any benefit from flat rate. That's about 2.4k a year less. Great.

You were never supposed to be getting a benefit from FRS. The government weren't thinking "hey, lets find a way of letting people keep some of the VAT". It is just a closing of a loophole.

Dividend tax increased. Again few k a year less

But still paying less than permies would pay... There are lots of things which NI funds which contractors use (or will use), such as the NHS or state pensions. No particular reason why we shouldn't be paying into that particular pot.

Pound tumbled ¬20%. Great. Iphones 100£ more expensive.

Apple now makes more profit per iPhone sold. If Sterling was back at 1.5, I don't see Apple reducing the price of iPhones having established the market will pay the higher price.

Absolutely massive competition when looking for contract. 30-50 per role in my area. Great

You are complaining that free movement within the EU is allowing people from Eastern Europe to come over here and compete for our contracts?

Want to build BTL empire? Think again.

Again, why should the government be facilitating this? BTL is something that people with lots of excess cash (and some without) jumped on, contributing to the rise in property prices, meaning people drop off the bottom of the property ladder, facilitating an even greater demand for BTLs. The government has taken action to subdue the demand for this.

I would like to have bought a BTL (and more over time), but I am put off for now. Bad for me, but great for the other people who may now be able to buy that property to live in themselves rather than funding my pension.

Invest in properties? Risky

Bigger picture - instead of investing in factories and manufacturing, we're investing in property. We can't all invest in property, the whole economy cannot be based on people buying property and selling for a profit.

And now Brexit, rise of racism, massive uncertainty.

Finally, something we agree on. Although I voted to leave the European Union, I didn't wish to leave the single market (other countries can be in the single market without being EU members) and I don't wish to be a net contributor to the EU (again, 20 other countries can be EU members without making net contributions...).

Apparently there is a rise in racism (I haven't seen it personally, but I have no reason to disbelieve people who say it is happening, but I wouldn't believe it on the basis of Daily Mail and Daily Express headlines).

And we are in a period of uncertainty and I hope we get clarification soon on the direction, and I am sufficiently positive enough about Brexit to believe that ultimately Brexit will be smoke and mirrors - to the outside world Brexit will look like we're worse off with some weasel words but I do not believe that beyond the public rhetoric that there is a real imperative within the EU to make us worse off in the real world (why kill an economy which buys stuff from you to prove a point?).

I'm certain that the strategic appointment of Johnson, Davis and Fox into those positions in the cabinet was to keep extreme ultra Brexiters on side by having a public facing 'full on Brexit' image but as we know the real negotiations happen behind closed doors, not in public. The EU know this. We probably shouldn't have the 'no deal is better than a bad deal' line, there is no point in idle threats.


Uhh, back to the original point - we are phenomenally well paid for what we do, but we do have risk that there will be times where we have no work to do or that we cannot work. It is absurd, however, that we should be rewarded by the government for earning more money and paying a lower tax rate than our lower paid permie counterparts. For sure, hay should be made whilst the tax sun has been shining, but we shouldn't complain too loudly - we'll find little support for our cause in the 99% of the population who earn less than us, who can't afford to even buy their own house because we're busy buying property number 5 to rent to them.

[pjclarke]

There's good reason why you can't access this money

As I turned 55 in January I can access it any time I want ...

[diseasex]

As I turned 55 in January I can access it any time I want ...

and 20m people cant.