Time to get to the reason most of you got into yachting in the first place: SAVING money 💸
You Are In The BEST Position
If you’re reading this article, the chances are you are probably crew on a Superyacht. If not, thanks for reading anyway 😉
Those of you who work on yachts get into the industry for two reasons.
1. You have a love of sailing, yachting, travel – or all 3!
2. (I know we don’t like to admit this until we’ve been at it for a few years). Money. Working on a Superyacht not only pays well and, due to the fact that you’ve no overheads or living expenses, the majority of your income is disposable.
Let’s assume that you have your tax situation under control (if you don’t, go straight here). If you’re lucky to be British, you should qualify for the Seafarer’s earnings deduction – which will mean no income tax.
As a result of this, you also have no tax to pay on your yachting income.
Could you think of a better situation to be in?
Where Are Your Savings?
Why is it that so many of you have little to no savings or investments? You earn a relatively high income, pay no tax, and don’t even have to pay rent or buy food. What’s going wrong?
The answer for many is that if somebody doesn’t take money off you every month (like the tax man does for those of us who now work onshore) then you’ll spend it with little thought of the future. For myself and many others I worked with in yachting, this was definitely the case. We considered ourselves very well paid and lived in the moment rather than looking at our salaries as an opportunity to build our futures.
When working on a yacht it’s very easy to get carried away with the lifestyle.
You work for a multi millionaire, or even billionaire. You live and work on a yacht which is the very definition of an opulent lifestyle. You’re visiting the most beautiful and glamorous places in the world surrounded by beautiful and glamorous people. Of course you can be forgiven for wanting to live like that!
The problem is, a Superyacht lifestyle can be very expensive and the next thing you know, your large salary seems very small.
What Happens When You Leave Yachting?
With all of the above in mind, a 10 – 15 year career in yachting should see you with enough savings and investments (property or shares etc.) to leave the industry with very little to worry about.
Leaving yachting is a very difficult thing to do from a financial and career point of view. Many have only ever worked on yachts and, although we see our substantial skills as readily transferable to the corporate world, many do not share our opinion.
“What do I do after yachting?”
“What job can I do that is either relevant to my experience or will pay me what I am used to?”
Unfortunately there is no job that ticks both boxes. As a result, you either take a job which is not relevant to your skills, doesn’t pay as much as you are used to, or both.
There is, however, an obvious alternative to the problem above. Make the most of your time in yachting. Compare yourself with your peers on yachts and at home, rather than with your owner and their friends.
Use Your Time
Use your job, its great salary, and incomparable benefits to your advantage and save. If you compare yourself with your friends at home who do not work in yachting, how much money do they get paid every month after tax? Your salary – minus that figure – is how much you should be saving every month as a minimum.
Look at it another way.
Take 30% of your salary every month and commit it to something that you cannot touch. Whether this is a savings account or a standing order or direct debit to an investment portfolio, it doesn’t matter. So much as long as you can’t touch it. Where this goes and how you invest is a conversation for another time – it’s something that needs to be looked at in detail.
Essentially what you’re doing is committing the amount you would normally pay in tax to savings or investments. Whether this goes into property or stocks and shares is up to you. But one thing is for certain: you will be surprised by what you can achieve.
Make The Most Of Your Career
Working in the Superyacht industry is not for everyone.
You work long hours, are forced to live with your colleagues, and have a very unpredictable life.
But in return for this you are paid well, fed well, and have virtually no overheads. This results in a very high level of disposable income which the majority of people will never be fortunate enough to experience in their lifetimes. Make the most of this opportunity as you will rarely come across it twice in your life.
Would You Rather…?
1. Work hard through your yachting career, have a great time and some fantastic memories, make some clever, well informed investments and live off them when you leave yachting.
or…
2. Work hard through your yachting career, have a great time and some fantastic memories and leave yachting but have to work just as hard for half the money in a job that is not that much fun.
A little bit of an exaggeration I know. But if you manage your money cleverly and invest wisely, you can leave the industry having had an amazing career and achieved something with your salary that most can only dream of.
Doesn’t seem like such a tough choice now does it?
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Email us at: hello@crewfo.com 📧
Call us on: +44 203 538 8622 📲
At Crew Family Office, we are here to help Superyacht crew navigate their finances and make the right decisions.
For more of our financial services, designed for Superyacht crew, take a look here.