Reply to: Much life left in contracting...

[bobspud]

Yeah, nobody needs computers any more. Nobody needs smart people...

No the country wants smart people but they no longer wish to pay.

[darrenb]

So I have been doing some grim soul searching over the weekend and I am starting to think that we are running out of time.

Are you talking about contracting in the world in general, or just contracting in a country with a ruined economy?

I am starting to think that if something positive doesn't happen soon I will be cashing out of IT for good.

Yeah, nobody needs computers any more. Nobody needs smart people...

Could it be you are the victim of an Almighty Bluff?

[eek]

Most firms pay monthly. You can usually tell by the lunchtime drinks on pay day and the rapid appearance of packed lunches about 1 week after pay day when the cash has run out.

[beaker]

Every fortnight? The only companies I know who do that are american (and clueless)

I've only had 2 permie jobs in my life! I really don't know!

[eek]

£125k and 6 weeks off a year is not to be sneezed at. Add in a bonus, health insurance, gym membership, travelcard, pension contribution matches and it starts to look quite attractive rather than taking all that from pre-tax earnings.

I have reached the same point - a rate ceiling for my skillset and industry and a need to go permie to take the next step. And while nothing is guaranteed, I kind of feel like a steady 12 months worth of income paid every fortnight compared with chasing unpaid invoices and living on a basic wage during the last 12...

Every fortnight? The only companies I know who do that are american (and clueless)

[beaker]

This is how I am starting to feel. I am working my nuts off at the moment but my income has hit its peak. So if the pitchfork wielding crowd get their way and take away the tax advantages of being in an insecure setting as well as a rate crash, the offers of £125k and 6 weeks off a year is beginning to sound like a better idea than 170k no holidays and two days notice because some twat in the US who previously signed a purchase order would rather not honour it...

£125k and 6 weeks off a year is not to be sneezed at. Add in a bonus, health insurance, gym membership, travelcard, pension contribution matches and it starts to look quite attractive rather than taking all that from pre-tax earnings.

I have reached the same point - a rate ceiling for my skillset and industry and a need to go permie to take the next step. And while nothing is guaranteed, I kind of feel like a steady 12 months worth of income paid every fortnight compared with chasing unpaid invoices and living on a basic wage during the last 12...

[ChimpMaster]

This is how I am starting to feel. I am working my nuts off at the moment but my income has hit its peak. So if the pitchfork wielding crowd get their way and take away the tax advantages of being in an insecure setting as well as a rate crash, the offers of £125k and 6 weeks off a year is beginning to sound like a better idea than 170k no holidays and two days notice because some twat in the US who previously signed a purchase order would rather not honour it...

I'm getting offers of £65k a year and considering them! (though they are in a completely different product set)

[bobspud]

I think there's a time and place for contracting as we know it - i.e. to maximise your earnings for your particular skill-set. For some bizarre reason I'm getting senior permie jobs thrown at me right now and I'm seriously considering them - same take home pay, plus benefits (pension, insurances etc) and no need to constantly hunt for for work.

Of course in 12-24 months I would happily go back to contracting if it was financially worthwhile. I try to make the most any contract or job I do, so my motivations are more financial than anything

This is how I am starting to feel. I am working my nuts off at the moment but my income has hit its peak. So if the pitchfork wielding crowd get their way and take away the tax advantages of being in an insecure setting as well as a rate crash, the offers of £125k and 6 weeks off a year is beginning to sound like a better idea than 170k no holidays and two days notice because some twat in the US who previously signed a purchase order would rather not honour it...

[beaker]

I think there's a time and place for contracting as we know it - i.e. to maximise your earnings for your particular skill-set. For some bizarre reason I'm getting senior permie jobs thrown at me right now and I'm seriously considering them - same take home pay, plus benefits (pension, insurances etc) and no need to constantly hunt for for work.

Of course in 12-24 months I would happily go back to contracting if it was financially worthwhile. I try to make the most any contract or job I do, so my motivations are more financial than anything

[doodab]

If pants are the next IR35 what is the umbrella company of the future going to look like?

[hyperD]

Inconti-Panties™ <--

Sorry Pondy, is already my plan C! I'm undergoing seepage trials at the clientco at the moment.

Still needs work.

[ChimpMaster]

£400 screw that. I average £700 a day. So excuse me if I feel a little disgruntled that agencies want me to travel 200 miles, work 10 hours and then bill them for 7. I'm not down with that way of life. Yes I am having a self indulgent whinge.

There are some up sides I turned over £170k last year and I didn't give a single hour of my time away. I havent needed to leave my house since the end of September last year, unlike you who is stuck commuting because you can't get you boss to trust you.

I am just saying that I don't fancy working as hard as I do just to pay more tax and surround myself with more bobs.

My removal from the gene pool won't help any of my competition because they are busy competing their way to the bottom of the wages pile... So the Darwinism principal is only half true. I can't see the point of surviving the changes to work harder for less...

I agree with the sentiment and have often had such thoughts myself. You can probably tell from some of my previous posts that this is likely to be my last contract, because the area I work in has little work and even then the stupid Bobs are trying to move in on it. The only contracting option I am likely to be left with is to work abroad for piddly amounts of Euros - but I didn't work/save/invest so hard the past few years to live away from my family.

Of course I'm gutted that my money train is about to experience a major crash, but I'm still happy that I had a good 5 or 6 years contracting. Another 5 and I would be well set, but as it stands I am pretty much financially free anyway. I will of course try to re-train into a non-Bobbable skill, but if it doesn't happen who gives a sh1te... I probably only have between 10 to 30 years left to live, which is not that long really, so I would rather spend it with my family and enjoy life with them.

[Pondlife]

Mine reset the fiscal clock back 10-15 years and unless I live in a cardboard box, my chances of doing my plan B or retiring early without the need of 24 hour Inconti-Panties™ are all but a fading dream.

incontinentcontractorpants.com has just been registered by Pond Corp thus sorting out my Plan B.

Ta.

[hyperD]

Agree with others here: substantial warchest is a necessity to see you through the unmentionable dark times.

Always work on a plan B. Mine is starting to look like some sort of cooking/catering thing. Before that it was mobile app dev.

One other thing to mention: divorce. Be prepared (or better still, don't get married in the UK).

Divorce has a nasty habit of screwing any plans of early retirement you may have had as well as consuming horrendous amounts of long term wealth you may have earned in the past.

Mine reset the fiscal clock back 10-15 years and unless I live in a cardboard box, my chances of doing my plan B or retiring early without the need of 24 hour Inconti-Panties™ are all but a fading dream.

[lukemg]

People have tried to bail out of IT but it is bloody hard generating this kind of income by other means with so little effort when you don't have any other skills !
IMO ALL contractors should be looking at plan B and/or stashing money - I am talking half your age as a percentage !
I have been stung before with market turning against me and luxury now is having a 2-3 year buffer of investments which if not needed, will form the foundation of my pension arrangements.
But I am resigned to not getting out unless pushed, instead I will focus on what the revenue can allow me to do with the rest of my time and make the best I can of being at work.