Self employed contracting - worthwile?

[Fred Bloggs]

Fred Bloggs wrote:




Thanks for that useful clarification.

Ian

I was wondering if that Ian Bell in the passenger chit-chat interview by
CBS 60 Minutes on the QE II trans-Atlantic crossing was you?

 

[Ian Bell]

I was wondering if that Ian Bell in the passenger chit-chat interview by
CBS 60 Minutes on the QE II trans-Atlantic crossing was you?

Unlikely as I am in the UK and anyway Ian Bell is almost as common here as
Fred Bloggs.

Ian

 

[Winfield Hill]

Ian Bell wrote...

Unlikely as I am in the UK and anyway Ian Bell is almost
as common here as Fred Bloggs.

"Fred Bloggs" is a classic test name for database programs,
etc., better than Tom Jones, etc..., whatever...

Thanks,
- Win

whill_at_picovolt-dot-com

 

[Fred Bloggs]

Fred Bloggs wrote:




Unlikely as I am in the UK and anyway Ian Bell is almost as common here as
Fred Bloggs.

Ian

Well- that would be right because the individual in the interview was
accompanied by a beautiful wife, very well dressed, and of clear social
sophistication and comportment. Had it been you, I was prepared to fall
off my chair backward- you wallow in mud holes.

 

[Jim Thompson]

[snip]

Well- that would be right because the individual in the interview was
accompanied by a beautiful wife, very well dressed, and of clear social
sophistication and comportment. Had it been you, I was prepared to fall
off my chair backward- you wallow in mud holes.

ROTFLMAO! Double-time!

...Jim Thompson

 

[John Woodgate]

I read in sci.electronics.design that Fred Bloggs <[email protected]>

Had it been you, I was prepared to fall
off my chair backward- you wallow in mud holes.

Who's that in there with him?

 

[Ian Bell]

Well- that would be right because the individual in the interview was
accompanied by a beautiful wife, very well dressed, and of clear social
sophistication and comportment. Had it been you, I was prepared to fall
off my chair backward- you wallow in mud holes.

That would have been my twin brother ;-)

Ian

 

[Ian Buckner]

snip<

In the UK news recently has been a molecular biologist with a PhD who
has abandoned a university research career for plumbing. He was getting
fed up with the poor pay and having the hassle of getting his contract
renewed every two or three years, and decided on a change when he got in
a plumber for some work in his house and found that he was earning far
more than he was, and all that was needed was a six month training course.

Leon

I think I saw that - Monday night about 7:30pm, probably on Sky?
If I recall right, I think he was retraining to be a gas fitter. There
were
some interesting opinions expressed by one of the other fitters that
the lower pay for scientists was "deserved"!

Regards
Ian

 

[Guy Macon]

That would have been my twin brother ;-)

Ian

Your twin brother is a beautiful wife, very well dressed,
and of clear social sophistication and comportment????

Must be interesting at family reunions...

 

[Funky]

40K? And how long did you study for? Five years academically plus five
years in industry? It sounds impressive to me but then I'm in the same
business but this is nothing compared with building:-

Embedded hardware and software design. Five years to gain the experience,
another two the customers. And I work to international standards which
companies just luuurve

My friendly builder spent six months learning to lay bricks and then
went self-employed. Within fifteen years he had his own house, £50,000
in the bank, (this was way back in the mid 80s) and a good strong
body. This is how he did it:-

1) You get rid of ("launder") cash by improving the first two or three
properties you own with minor-to-a-builder improvements.

2) The third or fourth is land only and build your own. This is the
one you claim the VAT back on, you can only do that once, so it must
be the "big" one.

3) Sell it, buy a normal house at half the price and retire.

Yes. Property is _the_ lucrative career path, and I was too thick to realise
this early on. Hence I'm still in engineering

This is nothing compared to plumbing. Plumbers get...

And guess who's starting a 4 year plumbing course next year

Stay Funky.

 

[Funky]

In the UK news recently has been a molecular biologist with a PhD who
has abandoned a university research career for plumbing. He was getting
fed up with the poor pay and having the hassle of getting his contract
renewed every two or three years, and decided on a change when he got in
a plumber for some work in his house and found that he was earning far
more than he was, and all that was needed was a six month training course.

Leon
--
Leon Heller, G1HSM
Email: [email protected]
My low-cost Philips LPC210x ARM development system:
http://www.geocities.com/leon_heller/lpc2104.html

My God. You've stuck with the default Cadstar colours...
Funky

 

[Ian Bell]

Your twin brother is a beautiful wife, very well dressed,
and of clear social sophistication and comportment????

Must be interesting at family reunions...

I love my brother ;-)

Ian

 

[N. Thornton]

UK law is much the same in that any capital gain made on the home you live
in is tax free, there is no upper limit and you can do it as often as you
like.

Unfortunately not: if you repeat that the tax folk will rapidly decide
its business, even though youre living on site.

There is so much jumping on this bandwagon at the mo that the money to
be made this way is seriously droppping. The bandwagon effect will hit
any business sector that doesnt require 5+ years of training to do.


Regards, NT

 

[Ian Bell]

Unfortunately not: if you repeat that the tax folk will rapidly decide
its business, even though youre living on site.

Not true. It is a loophole, true but enshrined in law nonetheless. there
is nothing the tax man can do about it. Neither is it anything new. My
father in law made his living 'doing up the houses he and his family lived
in' just after the last war.

Ian

 

[John Woodgate]

Not true. It is a loophole, true but enshrined in law nonetheless.
there is nothing the tax man can do about it. Neither is it anything
new. My father in law made his living 'doing up the houses he and his
family lived in' just after the last war.

True, the Revenue can't do anything about it under the law as it stands,
but the Chancellor could. For example, you could only get CGT exemption
for one change of dwelling in any five-year period. Not that I want to
give Prudence any ideas, of course. (;-)

 

[Ian Bell]

True, the Revenue can't do anything about it under the law as it stands,
but the Chancellor could. For example, you could only get CGT exemption
for one change of dwelling in any five-year period. Not that I want to
give Prudence any ideas, of course. (;-)

Well, having shot himself in the foot by promising no income tax increase he
is forced to use more devious means of funding Labour's stupid policies so
I have to agree with you it is just the sort of thing he might do.
However, having legitimately moved three times in the last five years he
might find some strong resistance.

Ian