I am not cut out to be a contractor!

[tomtomagain]

Sometimes you'll want the money, sometimes job satisfaction and sometimes stability. And sometimes you'll be lucky to have all three.

Being permie doesn't have to be permanent.

[Brussels Slumdog]

I must be the exception to the rule as I love travelling. I normally average 2 countries per year which also avoids hitting the top tax rates.

[speling bee]

I must be the exception to the rule as I love travelling. I normally average 2 countries per year which also avoids hitting the top tax rates.

Avoids or evades?

[unixman]

Working for a good company with a good boss, close to home, is as good as it gets. It was the awfulness of my last permy company that set me to contracting.

Permy salaries have gone through the floor in recent years, and contracting has struggled for viability with ever shrinking rates. If your permy job pay is at all reasonable, I say go for it. You can always come back to contracting later on.

Regarding contract pay, location makes a huge difference. Any rate of less than £350 a day makes remote working not viable. With a local contract you could work for £300 and take home more. Neither of these rates will make you a millionaire after ltd company/umbrella deductions, leaving you about the same as a £50 - £55k perm salary. If the situation does not improve we will all be going permy, or retiring to keep bees.

Rates are levelling out and are now numerically the same as in 2006 - but less counting inflation.

[MyUserName]

Thanks all.

The paperwork for this extension should have been here on Friday so will hopefully be here today. I just need to try to sort things so that I have enough money for the tax bills that are going to keep landing on me for a bit and to fix the roof which now needs sorting!

[doodab]

Thanks all.

The paperwork for this extension should have been here on Friday so will hopefully be here today. I just need to try to sort things so that I have enough money for the tax bills that are going to keep landing on me for a bit and to fix the roof which now needs sorting!

Be careful. It's easy to put off taking the permie job because there is always a reason you need "one more renewal" first.

[NorthWestPerm2Contr]

+1. I much prefer a steady income from repeat business. That's the advantage of developing relationships with consultancies and vendors.

I like repeat business as well. That's part of the applying process a lot of the time though....

[d000hg]

Neither of these rates will make you a millionaire after ltd company/umbrella deductions, leaving you about the same as a £50 - £55k perm salary.

What a horrible life, having to slum it on only £55k

[NorthWestPerm2Contr]

Working for a good company with a good boss, close to home, is as good as it gets. It was the awfulness of my last permy company that set me to contracting.

Permy salaries have gone through the floor in recent years, and contracting has struggled for viability with ever shrinking rates. If your permy job pay is at all reasonable, I say go for it. You can always come back to contracting later on.

Regarding contract pay, location makes a huge difference. Any rate of less than £350 a day makes remote working not viable. With a local contract you could work for £300 and take home more. Neither of these rates will make you a millionaire after ltd company/umbrella deductions, leaving you about the same as a £50 - £55k perm salary. If the situation does not improve we will all be going permy, or retiring to keep bees.

Rates are levelling out and are now numerically the same as in 2006 - but less counting inflation.

£300/day still gets you net take home of over £4k which is a lot better than perm salary of £50k. However you lose a lot of the benefits.....

[eek]

£300/day still gets you net take home of over £4k which is a lot better than perm salary of £50k. However you lose a lot of the benefits.....

true, but the child benefit clawback between £50k->£60k makes going permie not a very pleasant option....