$275 per hour

In reply to yupididit :

That’s fair. 

And I appreciate you speaking up. 

yupididit said:

I rather make 60k and have great vacation perks than make 90k and have to slave all day almost everyday especially in the elements. I also rather make that 60k doing something meaningful that I enjoy rather than a high paying labor jobs I probably wouldn't be interested in.....

I do think this is an attitude that really needs to be embraced by more people.  Be happy, and proud in what you are doing, even if it makes less then some.  Essentially what Mike Rowe has been preaching (about the trades).  The "I need a lambo and a huge house to be happy" thing is just a source of frustration and disappointment for a lot of people.

I would tend to warn younger people that it's many times not the best idea to enter the workforce with that attitude, just from a financial standpoint.  If you can make enough to save early in your career, that can make a HUGE difference later.  If you go in at idle, you will have to be very careful and smart (e.g. not drive all new cars) not to end up in trouble later in life.

My advise for someone choosing a career is NOT to go with the "do what you love".  That will most likely get you into an industry that a lot of people want to be in, and will be abused because of that (e.g. movie industry).  Certainly do what you love in your own time, but for work, it's likely to be far better to "do what you are good at".  What are you good at?  Well, that is why you need to do a bit of exploring. Would you be happier as a plumber, an electrician?  Probably better to figure that out before you are 10 years in....

Funny, I keep thinking of going BACK to construction so I can have LESS stress again!!

Different strokes....

yupididit said:

brad131a4 said:

Sorry but yupidity sound's like who I run into as apprentices in there 30's and 40's with that same attitude. I don't want to be like my parents. Then realize that they waisted good years in a low paying safe job to be looking at having no retirement or money to send their kids to college with.

 I don't think anyone really wants to be like their parents. 

I do know that I make over 6 figures a year doing a job I actually like. Opposed to the one month of internship in a accounting firm. Learned really quick that life wasn't for me.

Have had 3 apprentices in the last couple of years have their 4 year degree's that would never be able to pay off there student debt in the field they chose. 

They all have chosen a trade because it afforded them to pay off their loans within 6-7 years. So after they turn out and are Journeyman Electricians they will have the debt paid off just as they start making their best wages.

I mean "Yupidty" always made good money, great benefits, and good vacation time. My mom works at NASA research center Langley doing something she loves so yeah I'd like to be like her. Don't think my attitude reflects what you're trying to say it does. 

I also don't think I went the "safe" route, my multiple trips to the middle east say differently especially when I was a TACP in the field all the time. But now im IT making the same money as an equal rank TACP would make but with E36 M3 ton more free time for my family and less stressful on the body. But, yeah I guess the safe route and wasted good years with no retirement was what I was looking for. 

The reality is. People who don't want to slave away at a job that makes 100k  they may not like doesn't mean their 60k job won't have benefits and it doesn't mean they not saving for retirement and college like you and your 6 figures are. 

It sucks your apprentices are in the same boat as most of post-college Americans. But the trades aren't always the answer just like that accounting firm wasn't for you. I have a good friend that did a year internship at a financial institute and it was hell for him. Then that firm hired him and last year he made more money than I did in 4 years. Multiple ways to skin a cat. Glad yours paid off for you though. 

I agree with Paul's purpose of this thread. Trades can be excellent money for someone who's willing to do it. Especially if they have the aptitude and interest in doing it. I don't agree with how SOME people assume my generation doesn't want to work hard or associate hard work only with trades. I truly believe we are just as hard working but more towards things we think matter, money be dammed. 

 

I agree here. I could be making a ton more money by working more hours, but at some point "enough" is enough and spending time with family is way more important. I have small children at home - I could send them to day care and make more money so I can spend more time with them when they're older, or I could work less now and enjoy them now while they're able to be home all day. "Time with family" is priceless, and your kids are only at home for a few years and for the most part once they move out they're not coming back. Those first few years are irreplaceable and to have spent them working 80 hour weeks so you can pay for their college and save more for retirement is short sighted. Besides, personal experience says that working more and earning more doesn't always translate into saving more. In fact, for many people, it justifies lifestyle inflation and they end up spending even more than their increase in wages.

I know this is a tangent from the basis of the thread..

In reply to aircooled :

I do what I love...

It has the side effect of making me not want to do it when I get home. I haven't had a project car in 8 years. I own a few vintage motorcycles but they don't need much wrenching really.

Seems that I enjoy my garden a hell of a lot more now.

Yes, that is the other affect.

To borrow a scene from a sit com:  Girl wants to hit on good looking gynecologist, she overhears him saying to another doctor:

Do you ever wonder if a guy that works at a coffee shop comes home after a long day at work and says, "Man, I never want to look at another cup of coffee"

aircooled said:

Yes, that is the other affect.

To borrow a scene from a sit com:  Girl wants to hit on good looking gynecologist, she overhears him saying to another doctor:

Do you ever wonder if a guy that works at a coffee shop comes home after a long day at work and says, "Man, I never want to look at another cup of coffee"

So, the sit com doc made the classic mistake of turning his hobby into his profession – got it.

Thanks, Brother. I don't have any major expenses but do want to buy a small house or Duplex in a couple years. Been doing the Taxi deal for long enough and getting tired of working 7 days a week for years with little to show for it other than a couple decent portfolios. Between this posts and talking to Plumbers, It got me to thinking about phasing into sometime else. A year ago, Plumbing as a profession wasn't even consider. As for benefits, Don't know what a Vacation is. People actually get paid to take off time form work?

Trans_Maro said:

In reply to aircooled :

I do what I love...

It has the side effect of making me not want to do it when I get home. I haven't had a project car in 8 years.

 

My boy, you speak a great deal of truth there.

Patrick said:

If an employee was using my truck and tools and clock time for side work they’d be in deep E36 M3.  

The math doesn’t really matter when you’re a criminal.  This isn’t a guy who should be held up as a good example, he should be reported for what he’s doing.  I’m sure his employer would like to hear that he’s racking up miles on the company van on company time to do cash side work.  

Some of it will depend on the relationship of the boss and employee. My last towing job I was paid 40 hours to be in the office/body shop, took the truck home every night and got paid 40% of whatever I did nights and weekends.  I brought in a lot of money and stuck around extra hours in the shop if it was needed and in return I was free to use the truck to drag my friends crap around for pocket money. He got someone who could be productive 24-7, my friends got their projects moved cheap and I paid for my wedding. Everyone came away happy.

In reply to aircooled :

I like what I do (industrial sales) but after working 30 years I finally hit the bigger dollars and made the most in my career the past five years.  My last job gave me more free time when not traveling but sucked up a lot of my time when on the road   

Since I paid off my debt I’m going to work the extra hours and put away as much as I can for the next 7 years given I don’t have any health issues.  

chada75 said:

Reading all these posts has got me looking into Plumbing classes at the local tech school. Is it a good career change for a 40 year old?

If it makes you feel any better I'm closer tp 40 than 39, and am actively seeking employment as an operating engineer. Running machinery was the only job I was ever truly good at. Now that the economy is coming around, people are building once again. Many of the old timers who rode out the crash are retiring with no one to fill the seats, . I am excited. Honest.

In reply to Appleseed :

Old timers.  My buddy is a crane operator with local 150 in Chicago.  At 56 years of age he is grumbling about maybe retiring.  

Datsun310Guy said:

In reply to Appleseed :

Old timers.  My buddy is a crane operator with local 150 in Chicago.  At 56 years of age he is grumbling about maybe retiring.  

Crane operators make good money.

One of my buddies who is a few years younger (his early 30s) has run cranes most of his adult life. He got tired of working, so he and his wife have been off work for the last 3-4 months? Drove up to Alaska, into mexico, visited a ton of places all over the country, now he will go back to work until next spring and then take a 1-2 months off to go back to the family place in Arkansas.

Appleseed said:Many of the old timers who rode out the crash are retiring with no one to fill the seats, . I am excited. Honest.

We're really seeing the consequences of that right now. For 20 years I've been telling my employers to build a farm team because one day they're going to realize it's too late. That day is here and we're cashing in. Our other plant lost 5 tradesman this year to better paying employers. We've lost a couple. In order to stop the bleeding they just gave us (the trades) an almost 10% increase. Two guys have since left to an employer that was already paying that wage and increased it (trades only) by 6% over their standard increase of a few percent.  In the 8 years that I've been in this plant, our department been shorthanded 7.

There have been, in this, and other threads, a lot of misconceptions, and just plain BS about the trades. It's a viable option today, as it always has been. When I was in high school they did everything to discourage me from being all I ever wanted to be, a mechanic, and told me that I wouldn't be able to get a job unless I went to college or university. That's as big a lie today as it was then.

I've been a tradesman all my life.  I'm 56 and I don't have back problems, I'm not beat up from my job, I've not been out of work since 1981 and I could have retired a few years ago. There are times that I work physically hard but they are few and far between. More often than not I'm troubleshooting, wrenching like you would on a Sunday afternoon on your project car, or just plain waiting for a call, and it's been this way all my working life. My eldest son is also a Millwright, and in his early 30's is set for life. My story is not unique.

In reply to Suprf1y :

Totally agree. 

Obviously we chased a lot of rabbits in this thread, but we seem to be back to my original point. 

The time is right. 

I second the whole highschool notion of "You'll be working at McDonald's forever if you don't go to college" slant. It happened to me. I bought into it in the 90s. It's unfortunate. There might have been some very good professionals there. In retrospect, I never understood the shaming of wanting to be a plumber, or carpenter.  

In reply to Appleseed :

It happened to me too. 

I was a real estate agent before I was a contractor. It was communicated to me that I was smart, and construction was “beneath me” .  It was not a good fit. 

Construction served me well, and I did many years of fulfilling work. 

Last year I switched to medical facilities management. Honestly, it hasn’t gone great. This is much less fulfilling. 

I have been offered 30% more than I was making last year to go back. 

z31maniac said:

Datsun310Guy said:

In reply to Appleseed :

Old timers.  My buddy is a crane operator with local 150 in Chicago.  At 56 years of age he is grumbling about maybe retiring.  

Crane operators make good money.

One of my buddies who is a few years younger (his early 30s) has run cranes most of his adult life. He got tired of working, so he and his wife have been off work for the last 3-4 months? Drove up to Alaska, into mexico, visited a ton of places all over the country, now he will go back to work until next spring and then take a 1-2 months off to go back to the family place in Arkansas.

He doing it right damn. 

I remember talking to an elevator repairman in my dorm during my freshman year in 1993.  He mentioned they charged $100 an hour back then, including transit time.  I really wish I’d questioned my choice to stay in school a bit more back then. 

In reply to eastsideTim :

I’m sure like any job it has it’s ups amd downs.

I think that there should also be some frank discussion at the post-secondary level about whether that course you're taking is really, truly going to make you any money in the real world.

My friend has his B/A in theology. 

My sister-in-law has a degree in forensic anthropology.

Not saying they're useless, just questioning whether the money should be spent on them because society says you need a degree.

I think business management would be something worthwhile for everyone to take if they're doing post-secondary education but that's the 40-year old me talking, not the 19 year-old me.

You know what a lot of people find off-putting about the trades, including healthcare? There are very few people of the opposite sex around.

Well, I've been sorting out a 1964 Ferrari 250GTL for the last two days.

I think I just heard her say "I want you inside me..."

GCrites80s said:

You know what a lot of people find off-putting about the trades, including healthcare? There are very few people of the opposite sex around.

Really? Since my first job at State Farm, it's been all in technical/engineering areas and are almost exclusively men. We are about to hire our 6th tech writer for the OKC office, all men. Software and UX, all men but 3. There are 5-6 in billing and accounting, so that's still only 8-9 out of 55-60 employees?

So it's not zero, but it's certainly not like the school of journalism (Broadcast Journalism, Print Journalism, Advertising, Public Relations) when I was still in college, which was like 75% attractive women.