A Tradie’s Use-By Date

Everybody knows a tradie. They are the plumbers, electricians, and carpenters that we rely on for a hundred and one everyday tasks. They work hard 5-6 days a week, building new systems and maintaining all our old ones. Starting off in a trade means completing an apprenticeship, usually when young and energetic. Tradies rely on their body to complete their work, and this can take its toll over the years. The Construction Management and Economics Journal¹ notes that tradies in their 50’s face a critical transition point deciding whether to stay in or exit their industry, and research from Griffith University states that a tradie’s 30’s may be the optimal time to set up for later life².

A fundamental part of a tradie’s life, whether self-employed or not, is planning for their future. Sure, the future may be unknown, but with the right plan you can be ready for anything.

We’ve broken it down into the three steps to planning for your future as a tradie.

1. Outline your career pathway. It’s important to think about both the year ahead and the decade to come, personally and professionally. Perhaps you’re aiming for a promotion, or gaining extra qualifications to expand your experience and increase your employability. This is investing in yourself, so you can earn more income. Perhaps you’re considering branching out and starting your own business, or already have a business. In that case, you need a business plan. Not just a plan to borrow from the bank, but a structured, concrete plan that you can review and track regularly. If you’re getting on in years, then it’s worth considering more time off the tools, in supervising or management. Write down were you want to be next year. If you don’t focus on growing yourself, then I guarantee you’ll be in the same position, year after year.

2. Protect your greatest asset – you. Your tools can be replaced, your ute can be repaired, but without you to drive it, you won’t be going anywhere. Everyone is quick to insure their ute or van, but what about you? Without you being able to work, you can’t afford to pay for that precious insurance, or even groceries. Having insurance like income protection, total and permanent disablement insurance, and life insurance, will ensure that if the worst comes to worst, you can still pay the bills, and your family will be ok.
It’s also important to maintain your health. The nature of a tradie’s work is hard on the muscles and joints. Prevention activities such as massages, physiotherapy, pilates and other such services are worth considering. You can also think about work site actions, like hiring extra labour or increased use of mechanical aids to perform strenuous tasks. At the end of the day, it’s about making sure you can work tomorrow, today.

3. Build your wealth. There will come a day when you have to set down your tools and stop work for good. We often have conversations with tradie clients about retiring early, because they know their body won’t work forever. So if you want to pull the pin early, you have to start planning as soon as possible, to ensure you have a smooth transition.

To do this, you have a large array of options, including investment properties, superannuation, managed investments and shares, or even the sale of your own business upon retirement. Using these different wealth building tools means understanding each option, then putting it to work for you. If you don’t have experience with these tools, then you need to find someone who does.

Don’t take the “she’ll be right” attitude. Create the future you want for yourself and your family before it’s too late. This is where we come in. If you need help planning your future, or just a helping hand to start (carefully) dropping the tools, give us at 7Wealth a call on 03 4411 8744, or contact us online.

1. https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rcme20
2. https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au/bitstream/handle/10072/52683/86860_1.pdf?sequence=1

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