Take the plunge?

[SueEllen]

A day rate of £600 with continuous employment and a few weeks holiday a year is equivalent to £151K salary. That's nothing to be sniffed at.

Oh dear....

[PerfectStorm]

Oh dear....

what? Call a spade a spade.

[SueEllen]

what? Call a spade a spade.

If you don't understand what is wrong with your post then you need to do more research.

[PerfectStorm]

If you don't understand what is wrong with your post then you need to do more research.

Again... calling a spade a spade, what's the bit you take issue with?

Employment = regular contracted work
A few weeks holiday = a few weeks unpaid not working

Better?

[northernladuk]

what? Call a spade a spade.

But you are not calling a spade a spade. You are touting a very hypothetical situation without taking any of the reality that happens. In 99.9% of cases these numbers just won't work.

[PerfectStorm]

But you are not calling a spade a spade. You are touting a very hypothetical situation without taking any of the reality that happens. In 99.9% of cases these numbers just won't work.

What are the things that would bring it down significantly?

[eek]

What are the things that would bring it down significantly?

finding a contract. Finding a contract that pays £600 a day... Finding a contract that pays £600 a day which doesn't terminate as soon as something is delivered....

If you have contracted for years you know how things work. If you don't and don't have savings you really shouldn't be doing it especially at a time when your family live is under strain and you will want to be at home playing with the baby...

[meridian]

You'll also need to talk the risks through with your wife.

Personal experience: I've been contracting for about 15 years or so now (with a permie break in between). All was fine with the missus while the money was rolling in and the war chest was building up, and only a couple of weeks between contracts. But in 2009 I hit a wall and spent nearly 6 months off. Sure that's what the war chest is for, but try and explain that to a wife and family that expect your savings to go up, not get spent.

tl;dr: if you were between contracts for a few months with a wife and child, could you survive/cope?

[northernladuk]

You'll also need to talk the risks through with your wife.

Personal experience: I've been contracting for about 15 years or so now (with a permie break in between). All was fine with the missus while the money was rolling in and the war chest was building up, and only a couple of weeks between contracts. But in 2009 I hit a wall and spent nearly 6 months off. Sure that's what the war chest is for, but try and explain that to a wife and family that expect your savings to go up, not get spent.

tl;dr: if you were between contracts for a few months with a wife and child, could you survive/cope?

Nice post making a very good point. I had well over a year in the pot and SWMBO still got stressed when I was off for 3 months.