Where did I go wrong?

[Singularity]

Originally Posted by Lake-Effect

I worked one summer for a busy marine electrician; his billing was $110 per hour... WHEN there's billable work. But overall he figured he made annually the equivalent of someone working steadily at $45/hour.

$90,000/year for a job that technically doesn't require a high school education that allows one to bill $110 per hour and not even have 40 hour billable work weeks. This is a lot of people's fantasy job. Approaching twice the average American's take-home pay.

Ever wonder if there might be a relationship between the fees these people charge and the 'fact' that there is less than 40 hours work available? People in a lot of work fields have figured out it they just increase their fees, they both work less and get the same take-home pay. There's no mystery here. The consumers left who are forced to pay the fees (fewer and fewer all the time) themselves get squeezed. Defend this practice in any way one likes, it's not sustainable for anyone. Outside the US I've not seen this practice to any similar degree as is normative in the US.

[jlblan2]

After starting life digging ditches, then navy enlistment, then an electrician, I found the perfect job, always in well air conditioned spaces, can be accomplished from almost anywhere (including sitting on a beach), and pays great. Computer network and cyber security. I know a 23 year old kid, drives a porche, and makes $300 an hour. And he is well worth it. Now about boat yards. The best, by far, boat yard I have found is the St Marys Boat Works in St Marys GA just up the North River from St Marys and a stones throw north of Florida. You just won't believe the place but the couple hundred boats in there have found out. All boat yards tools are available to the DIYer, including lathes, milling machines, table saws, drill presses, electrical and manual hand tools.

[peghall]

I think you just found the best reason to learn how to work on your boat yourself.


Cruising: sailing to exotic ports to work on your boat
Yachting: sailing to exotic ports to pay someone else to work on your boat.


--Peggie

[Lake-Effect]

Originally Posted by Singularity

$90,000/year for a job that technically doesn't require a high school education that allows one to bill $110 per hour and not even have 40 hour billable work weeks. This is a lot of people's fantasy job. Approaching twice the average American's take-home pay.

Well, first of all, it's not a 'job'; he started, owns and runs a business, with assets (truck, tools, inventory, office/workshop), insurance, an employee or two, etc etc.

Second, he really hustles. He often has to do related stuff to keep busy - eg shrink-wrapping, winterizing/spring prep.

Finally, I've tried out the "fantasy". I've got the education and background, acquired the qualifications, and put in some time. Slogging tools, hossing batteries, lying on your side or stomach for an hour while crimping connectors and connecting up, rooting around in a bilge ... in temperatures from near freezing to tropical... There is a reason why I've chosen to make the bulk of my income elsewhere.

So, no, one does not often drop out of highschool and into a $90k job.

Ever wonder if there might be a relationship between the fees these people charge and the 'fact' that there is less than 40 hours work available? People in a lot of work fields have figured out it they just increase their fees, they both work less and get the same take-home pay. There's no mystery here. The consumers left who are forced to pay the fees (fewer and fewer all the time) themselves get squeezed. Defend this practice in any way one likes, it's not sustainable for anyone. Outside the US I've not seen this practice to any similar degree as is normative in the US.

A little perspective please. This is a thread about boat-owners complaining about the maintenance costs of their toys.

[ArmyDaveNY]

Originally Posted by peghall

Cruising: sailing to exotic ports to work on your boat
Yachting: sailing to exotic ports to pay someone else to work on your boat.
--Peggie

Well said.

Doc, I would say that you haven't done anything wrong. The fact that you own a boat and can, to an extent, have a fair amount of work done is a sign that you have done much right.

By the way, is it true that pediatricians are doctors with little patience/patients?!

As to your question, we must remember that financially, we're in a much different world than we were three our four decades ago. There are many reasons for this. Prices keep going up while the value of the money keeps going down. Central banks have to devalue our fiat currencies otherwise they could never repay the debt they have incurred. Taxes, lawsuits, ever increasing amenities, fraud, loss of jobs to overseas production, decreasing incomes (in terms of real purchasing power), excessive and onerous regulations, and many other factors have all contributed to a financial squeeze on us.

I wouldn't blame the boatyard or repairman too much. I am pretty sure that if you were to see what they have to put up with, you'd be amazed that they are still in business or able to keep their prices where they are. It's likely that their profit margins are not too out of line with the other businesses in the area. One day per week I work a few hours at a boating chandlery and and I see first hand how slim the margins are.

[Imagineou812]

WeLLLLL, I suppose that's what you get for choosing to work in a " Right to work state" !!! And furthermore what makes you think that you are properly qualified to work on boats ???

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by Ken Z

Welcome to fl. boatyards, problem being the workers are making 12-15 a hour the yards the rest, thieves...... I charge 28 a hour plus travel.

Are you available for a large project (full time for many months) near Fort Myers? I'd be hiring a "sander" to help you during the project as well. Minimal sanding required. Just pure fabrication.

Please DM me if interested.

[Chotu]

Another factor that no one has mentioned is that generally, people are less and less mechanically inclined. Nobody knows how to fix much of anything. So they hire it out. The demand is why the trades are able to charge so much.

[artisanmach]

it's worse on the West coast...

[Hudson Force]

Originally Posted by peghall

I think you just found the best reason to learn how to work on your boat yourself.


Cruising: sailing to exotic ports to work on your boat
Yachting: sailing to exotic ports to pay someone else to work on your boat.


--Peggie

'sure is some good advice here and there's not much that needs to be learned if you can read the manuals. Having a yard do work on my boat was very rare. My DIY motivation was more for the independence than the expense, but I love money saved. In addition, when I needed technical expertise, I usually removed a part or piece of equipment and sent it to a shop. When I needed a transmission repair while cruising I removed the transmission at anchor; hoisted into my dinghy; crated and it trucked to a shop for a rebuild. My cost was a fraction of taking my boat to a yard for repair.

[alctel]

Originally Posted by letsgetsailing3

Compared to where?


I think I'd argue that yachting and eating out in most parts of Europe is even more expensive.


Most places in Europe charge next to nothing for healthcare, but the taxes are much higher than in the U.S.

I think you'd be surprised at how little the tax difference is for the middle class. In a lot of social democracy Euro countries, the middle class (<$100,000) tax brackets are the same or even less than the US.

The difference is in those countries they actually tax the rich properly.

[john61ct]

And count US private spending on health education old age pension etc as "taxes" and your right up at Scandinavian levels.

They get very good value for what they pay, security, peace of mind is worth a lot

[SVPP]

Some people think they should be paid more than others based on their opinion on how valuable they are and how educated they are?

Some others think their country is better but more expensive than others. So are privileged but are also continually being ripped off - relatively speaking.

Some are concerned about the erosion of seemingly overpriced waterfront facilities - crumbling to the wave of opportunities that have come from profitable condos.

But if you need a service and are purchasing it in a market where the price has been set by demand, it doesn’t matter if you are buying garbage collection or brain surgery. In a first world, the value proposition is always set but the buyer with a degree of emotion, someone who needs that done now and needs it done right.

If not acceptable, you can always do it yourself or pursue another journey. Many do just that www.yachtworld.com

[letsgetsailing3]

Originally Posted by alctel

I think you'd be surprised at how little the tax difference is for the middle class. In a lot of social democracy Euro countries, the middle class (<$100,000) tax brackets are the same or even less than the US.

The difference is in those countries they actually tax the rich properly.

From my personal experience, European taxes are significantly higher than those in the U.S.

You can debate which system is better, but you can't really say the taxes are the same without leaving out some inconvenient data.

[letsgetsailing3]

Originally Posted by john61ct

And count US private spending on health education old age pension etc as "taxes" and your right up at Scandinavian levels.

They get very good value for what they pay, security, peace of mind is worth a lot

In the U.S., we overpay for health care. We get decent care, but we do overpay for it. Given that we're 50% of the world pharmaceutical market, it's criminal that we pay more than other countries for drugs. If it were really capitalism, we should be getting discount rates.

We also pay physicians a LOT more than they pay in Europe. Our entire system is a bit weird, between the high cost of med school, insurance, and high salaries. The entire system could use a re-vamp. How can you have a market-based system when nobody knows what they're paying?

We also overpay for secondary education, mostly because of the government's ham-fisted approach to subsidizing it, which has the effect of making prices go up instead of down. Not unlike healthcare.

For a capitalist society, there are lots of categories where the producers are the only ones who know anything about the costs, and the recipients just pay whatever they say because they're subsidized. Education and health care are two categories like that.