Quote from: Smokin Joe on Today at 07:03:51 PMQuote from: johnnycool on Today at 11:34:56 AMQuote from: Saffrongael on February 09, 2025, 03:43:57 PMAnd we won't mention the pensions, that nobody in the private sector could afford to pay intoI was speaking to a former plumber who now works for a local council at facilities management and they contribute 19% of his annual salary to a pension pot.
That's unreal.
But is he financially better off overall?
These are made up numbers to explain what I mean.
what does he earn working for the council, 50k? If it was that number then 19% of it is 9.5k into his pension pot.
If he instead worked as a plumber as his own boss I would imagine he would earn at least the 9.5k that is going into his pension over and above his council salary.
I get that the level of stress and workload are probably different, but from a financial PoV I wouldn't think there would be too many tradesmen that would pack it in and go work for the council.
As part of an overall work / life balance I could see why someone would do it, but pension couldn't be the main driver.
Always thought I could go public sector for my last ten years, have that flexibility, ten years of pension topped up, better holidays and lesser personal pressure on my workload. But nah, luckily I'm in a 9 to 5 role which suits me, but if the benefits did outweigh the pay then I could revisit it.