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My dad does it almost full time. Hes also in a major city in Australia, so that probably helps the OP more than anyone else in this thread so far. Hes 63, left his blue collar job and now does Uber. Starts around 7 in the morning and heads towards the airport, breaks in the middle of the day for a few hours, then does the afternoon peak period. Friday nights and weekend nights he will hang out a bit here and there in the city if the surge rates are on. Hes happier, enjoys driving for Uber, tells me about all the smoking hot chicks he drives around, and generally hasnt had any complaints about it beyond a few customers being a bit weird (but to my dad anyone slightly left of centre is weird). He also drives wedding cars on the weekend, again, mostly for pleasure, but the money doesnt hurt. Hes not financially in need of Uber, but keeps him occupied, puts some money in his pocket, and he cleared it all with his accountant who said it was a decent idea. The only real issue he had was that his 2005 Subaru Legacy sedan was deemed to old, so he had to get a new car. With some new tax breaks for small businesses in Australia, he could deduct 100% of the cost of any purchase under $20K - so he bought a brand new Kia for $19,990, claimed it against his previous income from his old job, therefore reducing his taxable income by 20k and having a full warranty on the vehicle. Hes registered as a business, has commercial car insurance, and has his limo driver licensing or whatever it is. hes not witty enough to do anything thats not above board, and hasnt got any major complaints. really, the only thing that sucks is that he never shuts the gently caress up about Uber, or asking me if I have heard anything about Uber on the internet, because he doesnt know how to use the internet to find out for himself. including running costs it works out to about $17 an hour in your pocket which for a guy sitting on some fat-as-gently caress super annuation and a big-rear end expensive house, isnt really that bad. He doesnt have the physical wear and tear that his old job had (which was a lot, being in the petro-chemical industry) or any of the workplace poo poo he was dealing with towards the end of his career, he gets to be social and meet people (which IMO is great as he has few friends and rarely gets out) and its exposing him to smart phones and technology and his learning that slowly. Im fully aware of the risks and the lovely pay and all of that, and I have told him my opinion of it, but honestly it has more Pros than just money for him, so I dont push it. hes happier than he was in his old job.
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Jul 16, 2015 07:25
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so you totally didnt get that he can afford to earn minimum wage due to having plenty of money already, and it was a better work/lifestyle balance for him? cool.
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Jul 16, 2015 09:16
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Main Paineframe posted:Sounds like your dad doesn't actually need to work at all anymore, but instead of kicking back and enjoying his retirement, he spent twenty grand upfront so that he would be able to work a minimum wage job because he can't think of anything better to do with his huge pile of money. I've known a couple of old people who worked retail and really enjoyed it, but that's not because retail was such a great job or anything - it was because without a people-facing job to get them out of the house and force people to talk to them, they'd just sit around miserable and lonely all day. He sold his other vehicles (the previous car and his 'fun' car) both of which were impractical for him now being sporty cars with manual transmissions. he was going to do it anyway, so its not like this was a decision based entirely on Uber. and yeah, before he started doing it he DID just sit around watching TV all day. Obdicut posted:It's going to take him a long time of working to equal the amount he paid for the car, though. It's cool that he gets to get out and meet people and stuff, and if he needs to pair it with a job that's okay for him, but it still means uber gets to profit off of him which I think is what mostly bugs people. Yes, but hes not working to pay for the car. Obdicut posted:Yeah, you are. Not having to pay tax on 20K of income doesn't net you 20K, it nets you whatever tax you'd have to pay on that income. So, if he'd have to pay 25% on it, he'd have paid 15K for the car. Unless he typed it wrong and didn't mean that it reduced his taxable income. This. My dad is an edge case. He enjoys driving (hes worked as a wedding chauffeur for close to 15 years on weekends), is in a financial position where hes not relying on Uber for its income at all, and it aligned well with his retirement plans he already had (sell his cars, buy an econobox for himself to get around in) and reduced his taxable income for the same financial year that he resigned from his job - he had long service and annual leave that accumulated to nearly 12 months of time off, so having that paid out meant he wanted to reduce his taxable income as much as he could. the flexibility of being able to work literally whenever he wants is also helpful to him. mid-20s person driving for uber to make money? bad idea. Old man with nothing better to do who enjoys the work? not as bad of an idea If you can make the numbers work.
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Jul 17, 2015 01:04
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PT6A posted:Laserface: is there a specific reason why your Dad chose Uber instead of working part time for an established car service with its own fleet? I ask, because that's what my buddy's doing right now (well, full time, because he wants the hours) and he's making way more money, and doesn't bear the financial responsibility for fixing the vehicles if they break. He's thinking of becoming an owner-operator, though not with Uber, and I'm curious what other people's experiences have been like. I love my dad, but hes a tradesman at heart and doesnt have the wits/smarts for operating his own business. Put him on tools and he knows his poo poo, just not savvy enough for owner-operator style stuff. I suggested that if he enjoys driving so much why not get a job as a limo/transfers guy and drive around in fancy cars with high-profile people but I think the flexibility of Uber is really important to him. My mother works as a casual so if they decide they want to take a few days away to unwind they can do so at the drop of a hat without any real notice. Rudager posted:I'm not tax accountant, but I don't see how his small business getting a tax break reduces his personal income tax obligations? I asked this too, as I am not an accountant, but apparently his accountant says 'they dont care where the tax comes from, as long as they get it' which also apparently means deductions dont matter either.
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Jul 17, 2015 05:03
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