Could someone advice ?

johson55

DE_612183 said:

johson55 said:

DE_612183 said:

Is there any surplus in your Ltd company - or could you take a directors loan ( as long as you pay it back ).

 There's not surplus in my LTD company atm. I used the money in the last few months to survive.  I am wating for a 1K refund from HMRC.  But then I have an HMCRC bill of similar amount which I must pay next year.  I'll worry abut that later.
I'll check the possibility of taking a directors loan.
Thanks.

The directors loan would be if you had say some money in your business bank account that you could use - if you owe money to HMRC that should stay in the company bank account - is all your VAT and CT up-to-date?

I think I am all updated.  I check with the accounting firm.
HMRC gave me the option for them to keep the refund & use it against any future liabilities.  I chose to have the money as I needed it.  I should receive the 1k in the next few days.
I think my tax bill next year is 1k.  I'll hoping my financial situation would be sorted by then.

Grumpy_chap

johson55 said:

Hi,

I need some advice.

I am 55. I haven't been working since December.

I have been looking for IT jobs but haven't been successful so far.

I was doing ok before that.

Now, all my savings are gone.  My overdraft reached 5k now.  My bank wouldn't increase it anymore.

I know my priority is to get a job. I'll be fine once I get one.  Now the gap my CV is causing me problems too.

Now, I am thinking I need to get weekend jobs & maybe evening jobs till I get a job in my field.

My larget bill is the mortgage: £700.  I fixed it last year for 2 yrs. Now I'm thinking I need to change it to interest only.

I have a limited company which it's fees cost me £150\m.  Now I'm thinking I need to fold it as I am not working.

I have a car which costs me £200\m.

  Council Tax  : £175

  Help To Buy  : £75

£80k left on my mortgage.

Now, I'm thinking I need to take out some of my pension money to survive.  One of the pots has 27k.  I'm thinking I'll take out 5k to keep me going till I get a job.

I never claimed any benefits.

I sometimes feel very down but then I try to pick myself up.

What would you do ?

Thank you.

It would be worth visiting the DfW (debt-free wanabee) area of the forum and preparing your SoA (statement of affairs).  The process may, of itself, help identify areas where you can make efficiencies in your spending or the friendly people in that area will be willing to make suggestions.

Your Ltd Co accountancy service should not need to cost you a monthly fee if you are not operating.  Can you cease the current service and use a local independent Accountant to provide what support you do need in that regard?

Drawing the pension early is robbing your future self (unless you have sufficient pension fund that you can retire now).

Can you get any type of interim work - not necessarily in IT?
Can you offer IT support to local companies?  (Sorry, IT is a wide field and you have not mentioned the type of IT you do.)

At the age of 55, the gap on the CV for a few months should not be a problem in terms of obtaining new employment.

Are you signed on for nJSA?  That is not means tested but based upon your NI contributions record.

Have you used a benefits calculator to assess whether you have any eligibility?

cjdew

johson55 said:

cjdew said:

What field of IT are you in? And do you have experience of particular global applications? 

I specialise in Desktop applications & POS systems.  I use C#, ASP.net, MVC, SQL, & Pascal.

I use HTML, CSS, & JavaScript too.  I have experience developing components for D365.
Thanks.

You have a great skill set, in short supply. 

There are nationwide it recruitment specialist agencies. Sign up with as many as possible, ring them, and downplay that it's been a while. You will definitely find hybrid or even fully remote work. 

Hybrid could be twice a week in an office up to 2 hours away, which is do able. 

I wouldn't get rid of your car for an old banger as someone suggested. You need a reliable, safe car for your new job opportunity on rhe horizon. 

Check out third and public sector. They really struggle to fill any of their IT vacancies, and will almost definitely take hybrid or even for short term fully remote. 

johson55

Grumpy_chap said:

johson55 said:

Hi,

I need some advice.

I am 55. I haven't been working since December.

I have been looking for IT jobs but haven't been successful so far.

I was doing ok before that.

Now, all my savings are gone.  My overdraft reached 5k now.  My bank wouldn't increase it anymore.

I know my priority is to get a job. I'll be fine once I get one.  Now the gap my CV is causing me problems too.

Now, I am thinking I need to get weekend jobs & maybe evening jobs till I get a job in my field.

My larget bill is the mortgage: £700.  I fixed it last year for 2 yrs. Now I'm thinking I need to change it to interest only.

I have a limited company which it's fees cost me £150\m.  Now I'm thinking I need to fold it as I am not working.

I have a car which costs me £200\m.

  Council Tax  : £175

  Help To Buy  : £75

£80k left on my mortgage.

Now, I'm thinking I need to take out some of my pension money to survive.  One of the pots has 27k.  I'm thinking I'll take out 5k to keep me going till I get a job.

I never claimed any benefits.

I sometimes feel very down but then I try to pick myself up.

What would you do ?

Thank you.

It would be worth visiting the DfW (debt-free wanabee) area of the forum and preparing your SoA (statement of affairs).  The process may, of itself, help identify areas where you can make efficiencies in your spending or the friendly people in that area will be willing to make suggestions.

Your Ltd Co accountancy service should not need to cost you a monthly fee if you are not operating.  Can you cease the current service and use a local independent Accountant to provide what support you do need in that regard?

Drawing the pension early is robbing your future self (unless you have sufficient pension fund that you can retire now).

Can you get any type of interim work - not necessarily in IT?
Can you offer IT support to local companies?  (Sorry, IT is a wide field and you have not mentioned the type of IT you do.)

At the age of 55, the gap on the CV for a few months should not be a problem in terms of obtaining new employment.

Are you signed on for nJSA?  That is not means tested but based upon your NI contributions record.

Have you used a benefits calculator to assess whether you have any eligibility?

I will check DfW forum.

I will talk to the accountancy firm today.  I'll go with a different firm.

I am in software development.  I am going to look interim work.  I'm happy to do weekend jobs till I get finances sorted.

I don't know anything about JSA, so I'll check that.

I'll check the benefits calculator.  I was tried to avoid any benefits because I'm worried it would affect my DBS & security checks.

Thanks.  You're very helpful.

DE_612183

johson55 said:

Grumpy_chap said:

johson55 said:

Hi,

I need some advice.

I am 55. I haven't been working since December.

I have been looking for IT jobs but haven't been successful so far.

I was doing ok before that.

Now, all my savings are gone.  My overdraft reached 5k now.  My bank wouldn't increase it anymore.

I know my priority is to get a job. I'll be fine once I get one.  Now the gap my CV is causing me problems too.

Now, I am thinking I need to get weekend jobs & maybe evening jobs till I get a job in my field.

My larget bill is the mortgage: £700.  I fixed it last year for 2 yrs. Now I'm thinking I need to change it to interest only.

I have a limited company which it's fees cost me £150\m.  Now I'm thinking I need to fold it as I am not working.

I have a car which costs me £200\m.

  Council Tax  : £175

  Help To Buy  : £75

£80k left on my mortgage.

Now, I'm thinking I need to take out some of my pension money to survive.  One of the pots has 27k.  I'm thinking I'll take out 5k to keep me going till I get a job.

I never claimed any benefits.

I sometimes feel very down but then I try to pick myself up.

What would you do ?

Thank you.

It would be worth visiting the DfW (debt-free wanabee) area of the forum and preparing your SoA (statement of affairs).  The process may, of itself, help identify areas where you can make efficiencies in your spending or the friendly people in that area will be willing to make suggestions.

Your Ltd Co accountancy service should not need to cost you a monthly fee if you are not operating.  Can you cease the current service and use a local independent Accountant to provide what support you do need in that regard?

Drawing the pension early is robbing your future self (unless you have sufficient pension fund that you can retire now).

Can you get any type of interim work - not necessarily in IT?
Can you offer IT support to local companies?  (Sorry, IT is a wide field and you have not mentioned the type of IT you do.)

At the age of 55, the gap on the CV for a few months should not be a problem in terms of obtaining new employment.

Are you signed on for nJSA?  That is not means tested but based upon your NI contributions record.

Have you used a benefits calculator to assess whether you have any eligibility?

I will check DfW forum.

I will talk to the accountancy firm today.  I'll go with a different firm.

I am in software development.  I am going to look interim work.  I'm happy to do weekend jobs till I get finances sorted.

I don't know anything about JSA, so I'll check that.

I'll check the benefits calculator.  I was tried to avoid any benefits because I'm worried it would affect my DBS & security checks.

Thanks.  You're very helpful.

Not sure about JSA as you are "employed" by your Ltd Company - you'd have to leave the employment of that to get JSA I think.

johson55

cjdew said:

johson55 said:

cjdew said:

What field of IT are you in? And do you have experience of particular global applications? 

I specialise in Desktop applications & POS systems.  I use C#, ASP.net, MVC, SQL, & Pascal.

I use HTML, CSS, & JavaScript too.  I have experience developing components for D365.
Thanks.

You have a great skill set, in short supply. 

There are nationwide it recruitment specialist agencies. Sign up with as many as possible, ring them, and downplay that it's been a while. You will definitely find hybrid or even fully remote work. 

Hybrid could be twice a week in an office up to 2 hours away, which is do able. 

I wouldn't get rid of your car for an old banger as someone suggested. You need a reliable, safe car for your new job opportunity on rhe horizon. 

Check out third and public sector. They really struggle to fill any of their IT vacancies, and will almost definitely take hybrid or even for short term fully remote. 

Thanks for you suggestions.  I'll take them on board.
You're very helpful.