Wanting to leave work

micky2phones

dktreesea wrote: »

Maybe you should name and shame the company involved on that boycott site. I wouldn't want any company that behaved like that to have a single penny of my hard earned income.

The follow on from me leaving was them then setting up another company on the same site and get the workers to imo bid and give the work to the cheaper one.
About six months later it closed down for good.

dktreesea

dippy3103 wrote: »

Yes it is. Take away the argument about expecting the tax payer to support o/p and you are still left with the simple fact that it's foolish to walk away from his career (he would have worked his way up) with an income for an uncertain income from selling on a s/e basis... This site is about sound financial decisions and doing that ain't one of them.

There's more to sound financial decisions than just going with the option that pays the best at the time. For a lot of people, becoming self employed is a fantastic lifestyle choice. It certainly was for me, and I wouldn't begrudge that option to anyone, even if their personal savings were quite low so they qualified for whatever benefits that came "on tap" as a result of their decision.

In the longer term, it could well be that the OP ends up financially better off as a result of becoming self employed. Just because someone who is working decides to temporarily avail themselves of the benefits that, due to their change in circumstances, they now qualify for, doesn't mean they will always qualify. Nor does it mean they will need those benefits for the rest of their lives going forwards.

We are all entitled to benefits, every last one of us, be they directly funded by the state, e.g. places in state schools, or paid out directly into people's bank accounts, e.g. housing benefit. Our personal circumstances may mean we qualify - or don't - for any particular benefit at a specific point in time.

We don't begrudge people who choose to have operations on the NHS, even if they could afford to pay for them themselves. Nor pensioners who are income and/or asset millionaires yet draw down their full entitlement to state pension. So why the negativity about what the OP is proposing?

SnooksNJ

dktreesea wrote: »

Are you suggesting that people should remain hostage, all their working lives, to poor decisions they made at some point in their past?

Unless you are an axe murderer there are very few life choices that can't be overcome. It may take longer but it is doable with hard work.

dktreesea

SnooksNJ wrote: »

Unless you are an axe murderer there are very few life choices that can't be overcome. It may take longer but it is doable with hard work.

Easy enough to say, but quite a different thing to actually have to overcome past choices. Sometimes it isn't so much the lack of effort, but rather that time just runs out. A bit like trying to buy a house in your 50s and being told by the bank they can only offer you a mortgage for x number of years, greatly limiting the choice of what you can buy.

nannytone_2

but isnt that life?
i will never own my own home, in part because i had my children young and worked just to provide for them. nit earning enough to buy.
i dont now think someone else should gove me a house because i spent my main working years not earning enough to buy one myself.
the state cant continue to allow employers to pay low wages by topping up the wages of low earners.
people have to be responsible for their decisions, and though i agree that people shouldnt be penalised for 1 vad choce...
a system that encourages them to continue to make bad choices cant be the answer

whodathunkit

dktreesea wrote: »

Easy enough to say, but quite a different thing to actually have to overcome past choices. Sometimes it isn't so much the lack of effort, but rather that time just runs out. A bit like trying to buy a house in your 50s and being told by the bank they can only offer you a mortgage for x number of years, greatly limiting the choice of what you can buy.

I think it's positively dehumanising to try to protect people from their bad choices - that really would be a nanny state!

SnooksNJ

dktreesea wrote: »

Easy enough to say, but quite a different thing to actually have to overcome past choices. Sometimes it isn't so much the lack of effort, but rather that time just runs out. A bit like trying to buy a house in your 50s and being told by the bank they can only offer you a mortgage for x number of years, greatly limiting the choice of what you can buy.

Is age discrimination the norm in the UK?

BillJones

dktreesea wrote: »

Easy enough to say, but quite a different thing to actually have to overcome past choices. Sometimes it isn't so much the lack of effort, but rather that time just runs out.

This message is corrosive. Far better to point out to someone that no matter what decisions they've made in the past, this is where they are now, and the decisions that they make today, and in the future, still matter.

Telling people that it's too late to make a difference, as well as being wrong, also tells them to stop trying.

I understand that fostering a feeling of hopelessness and powerlessness is seen as quite OK on this site, and in certain sections of society, but the truth is, the only difference between most people sitting at home on the dole and people earning a very good wage in a good job is decisions made, and decisions that keep being made.

The idea that life "just happens" to people makes no sense. Yes, there are ups and downs, but your overall trajectory is dominated by the choices that you make.

Understanding this, of course, means that people tend to make better decisions...

dktreesea

SnooksNJ wrote: »

Is age discrimination the norm in the UK?

Depends in which sectors. Certainly in areas like teaching and I.T. There's plenty of older teachers, particularly in primary schools, who are encouraged to retire early. Getting a job in teaching when youa re over 50 can be quite a challenge.

dktreesea

BillJones wrote: »

This message is corrosive. Far better to point out to someone that no matter what decisions they've made in the past, this is where they are now, and the decisions that they make today, and in the future, still matter.

Telling people that it's too late to make a difference, as well as being wrong, also tells them to stop trying.

I understand that fostering a feeling of hopelessness and powerlessness is seen as quite OK on this site, and in certain sections of society, but the truth is, the only difference between most people sitting at home on the dole and people earning a very good wage in a good job is decisions made, and decisions that keep being made.

The idea that life "just happens" to people makes no sense. Yes, there are ups and downs, but your overall trajectory is dominated by the choices that you make.

Understanding this, of course, means that people tend to make better decisions...

But we're not talking about the people who make "better decisions". They are the vast majority, most of whom may not even know what benefits are even available beyond tax credits.

And contrary to your optimism, not all paths are open to everyone. You could decide to be a doctor, work really hard at school, even get into med school, and still not have a job after you have qualified. There's plenty of young doctors in that particular boat.

Some people make good decisions all their lives, even rising up through the ranks of their organisation, only to end up losing everything because a restructure of the business, decided on in some other country, meant cutting the local workforce. Yes, you could argue that they got laid off but the guy next to them didn't, so maybe the guy not laid off invested his time grooming the management above him (as opposed to doing any work) - a good decision on his part because he has held onto his job.

Your optimism is the kind of cr*p that goes on in schools these days, telling children they can be anything they want and the sky's the limit. That's simply not true anymore.

At one time the privileged would welcome those from poor backgrounds who had got a decent education into their ranks. Not so much nowadays though. Now they realise that there are not as many jobs to go around as there were 50 or 60 years ago. So they close ranks. Take the big accountancy firms. They like people to work for free, i.e. interns. Only those with well off parents can afford to work for free. So they limit those that have access to the opportunity they offer.