Nice People 13: Nice Save

lostinrates

Gen, at previous points Austrailia has been possibly a medium / long term living arrangement, with talk of Europe ( maybe France?) being an end goal. Does that still stand? Because that might shape you plans to a degree. How many years min would you want to remain in Austrailia? Would staying there forever be a good end goal too?

LydiaJ

Generali wrote: »

TBH the field isn't that lucrative over here. In the UK, finance workers on average earn 2x the average salary. Over here it's about 1.2x. Once you qualify that for the large number of professionals we employ then I reckon that I'd earn more working for the local council.

It isn't really about how much you earn compared with the average salary of an employed person. It's about how much you earn in finance compared with how much you could earn doing any of the possible alternatives you've described.

Many of the comments you made about the system of financing healthcare in Australia read to me at the time like things that would only be said by somebody who was earning a fairly generous amount. The sums that you had to pay yourself, which you thought were entirely manageable, and reasonable to ensure the level of service you were getting, were amounts that people in more financially precarious circumstances would regard very differently.

I understand that you are not happy in finance and want to get out. I certainly don't think you should stay in a job you don't enjoy for the rest of your working life just for the money. I know you have had shedloads of money in the past and lost it all and built it back up again, so I know you should be better placed than almost anyone to imagine what it will be like for you and your family if your finances plummet back down to the breadline while you are trying to get your fledgling business off the ground.

But I also know that starting a business is an enormous undertaking. To make it successful, it's frequently necessary to put in colossal amounts of time and energy, and even then there is no guarantee that it will work out.

I'm not saying don't do it. I'm saying don't do it unless your plan is robust enough to cope with a business that performs disappointingly, an energy level that doesn't come back despite your best attempts to pull yourself together, a wife whose health problems return, and expensive healthcare needs of your own. Those things may well not happen. But they might.

Before you commit to anything, please read chapter 23 of this book.

Generali

lostinrates wrote: »

Gen, at previous points Austrailia has been possibly a medium / long term living arrangement, with talk of Europe ( maybe France?) being an end goal. Does that still stand? Because that might shape you plans to a degree. How many years min would you want to remain in Austrailia? Would staying there forever be a good end goal too?

The plan is to have Aus as a base for the next 10 years while the kids finish high school. After that I'd like to move to France but staying here could happen too.

lostinrates

Generali wrote: »

The plan is to have Aus as a base for the next 10 years while the kids finish high school. After that I'd like to move to France but staying here could happen too.

That's good, you are flexible.

I guess the next question is what your destination/ end goal is. To be 'made' or to be ok?

Self employment might offer more lifestyle choices ( with time manange ment etc) but fewer financial ones, how might that sit with you and mrs gen? It might also of course, offer fewer choices, if you end up working a lot to meet demand, but not enough to expand as quickly as you'd like.

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

Generali wrote: »

Thoughts?

Similar to something I've been thinking about for years.

I'm not entirely sure what I want to do when I grow up, but I do know what I'm doing now isn't it.

I have come to the conclusion that the only realistic way to make a living doing something you love is to either be very young with nothing to lose, or much older with enough assets behind you that income isn't that important.

I'm also quite aware of all the research that shows older people tend to do quite well in their own businesses when those businesses are related to their work career, or require experience and contacts they can leverage from their careers. But not so well in brand new areas of endeavour, as it seems youngsters tend to do that much better.

I think we are likely to do something outside of our current careers at some point, but it will almost certainly be related to what we do and realistically it's probably only achievable because we're fortunate enough to be able to achieve mortgage/rent free living and another house rented out and cashflow positive as a safety net on the income front.

Generali

lostinrates wrote: »

That's good, you are flexible.

I guess the next question is what your destination/ end goal is. To be 'made' or to be ok?

Self employment might offer more lifestyle choices ( with time manange ment etc) but fewer financial ones, how might that sit with you and mrs gen? It might also of course, offer fewer choices, if you end up working a lot to meet demand, but not enough to expand as quickly as you'd like.

Financially all I really care about is not getting upset when the gas bill comes in.

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

Generali wrote: »

Food importing is a nightmare in Aus. I would never import food here. I had a look into it.

Is booze any easier?

lostinrates

Gen if fir ever wins the lottery I bet we'd need to invest in an eatery. One of my relatives wrote a food book many years before the current food boom. I wonder if it would have made any money now. Hmm. ( tbc...it didn't then!..but at least it got picked up, but there was so much less competition).

lostinrates

Generali wrote: »

Financially all I really care about is not getting upset when the gas bill comes in.

And mrs gen feels the same?:). Sounds like yo
U are in a good position to explore something. IMO the strongest way to explore something however iS part time extra to work.

Tbh, even when very comfortable I hate bills coming in. I'm such a miser. :rotfl:

lostinrates

Too tired to do work.

Tried. Cut grass ( badly), and enjoyed seeing a small maple we planted earlier this year looking beautiful. But now need a nap. Shame ...such a nice day.