can a guy go north and find a half way decent job ? I'm talking land o lakes or boulder junction ???
General Discussion
job market up north
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yes the golden years. If you’re afforded that. Unfortunately I’ve seen it to many times when a person saves, invests, plans for the best retirement and when they finally do retire, health has other things in store and all that planning was for nothing and said person never did get to experience lifestyle in the northwoods. Just a thought. Now how’s that for a crap shoot?!
A person has literally nothing without good health and if the stress of hustle and bustle is taking a toll, maybe it’s time for a change. Even if it does mean less money. My 2 cents.
I’m in Stevens Point. Maybe slightly poorer panfish action mid winter, but open water.... walleye, Muskie, catfish, crappie, bluegills, smallmouth are all outstanding. Lots of jobs here in many areas/ fields of work. Local paper mill always ready to hire... starts at $23 an hour..
Not interested in spending winters in Minocqua area. Too much snow. Lake travel too hard. Way too much work to fish there. Could get a job in health care pretty easily there, but life is better where I am.
I do not have a horse, in this race. As I am retired (twice) and am not "working". However, that said, I have to agree with what outfishin and n. pike said. Also, in the manner of which they spoke.
We started coming up here, to "phish" in 2006. Two different weeks and, sometimes a long week end. Decided to "make the move" in 2012. The peace and quiet, nature, "phishin", photography, and what limited hunting we do. Wouldn't change it for the world.
Well, except for this winter!!! It is getting me down already and has not even started. Oh yeah, we have a great electrician, and plumber. Those two things a vital. IMHO.
Eagle River area....Pizza Hut the other day had a dumpster out there. Now benches are sticking out of the dumpster and it's closed.
Shop Ko closed....nothing is there to replace it.
Merrill...Window Factory gave everyone a letter a few weeks back. It's done.
Three Lakes. Two businesses burned down last winter, nothing has taken their place.
Conover, an antique shop on HWY 45 has been for sale for about 7 years. Prime location. Hasn't moved.
On the plus, Kwik Trip, (All over) Tractor Supply, (ER, Rhinelander) Pizza Ranch (Rhinelander) have been added. New Restaurants seem to come and go. Dollar Generals are popping up everywhere. So, some things are being added.
Drive around southern Wisconsin and there is new construction everywhere. The economy is booming it appears, but up here, things kind of stay the same...
But, like one poster said, you can't have it all. And, I'll take the serenity and fishing and quiet lifestyle over making extra money at work or having more job options. I teach, and my wife is a nurse, and neither of us make the same money we'd make down south of us....but that's fine. It's the trade off. I'd argue that our jobs are better up here for multiple reasons and it's well worth it. But, we're fortunate that our jobs are here and pretty much anywhere you go. Most jobs aren't available up here.
But the trade off to live up here is a good one, for us at least, and if someone is willing to work hard, I have to believe there is money to be made up here. I have plenty of friends that kind of make their way doing this and that and are happy.
I have also noticed that the common "tourist" is more than willing to spend money up here and that is a market that can always be creatively tapped into.
Icebelt,
I’ve been self-employed for 10 years now. Worked on hundreds of jobs ranging in price from say a thousand bucks up to more than a quarter million... Only 1 time I wasn’t able to collect payment. You want to know the funny thing about it?! It was a relative... lol. I’ve always been honest and respectful with customers and they always take care of us!
I definitely understand and agree with your logic about staying south to make the money And to be better prepared for retirement. I was simply stating that one could make a nice living up here away from the hustle and bustle if that is what the original poster was looking for.
Great topic Smokecraft.We own a piece of land in Tomahawk and as soon as the kids goes to college we are planning to sell our house and move there . I own a small construction business here in Waukesha Wi ( Siding,roofing,windows , etc , can do inside work also )20 yrs experience. It should be no problem finding a job I guess .
It’s hard to give a good answer without knowing the original posters abilities, skill set, etc. and also not knowing exactly what the posters goals are....
So the following are just opinions of my own and I thought maybe I could chime in as I live in the area and frequently work in lando and boulder.
It’s becoming more difficult to find good trades people. I’m fortunate to know some very skilled people as every day I work next to some of the best general contractors, electricians, plumbers, etc. in northern wis. These guys that have perfected their craft are getting older and there’s no one coming up to fill there spots when they retire. I just turned 34 but most of the guys in my profession are 55-65 years old and will Retire very soon leaving me with very little competition so to speak. My crew and I are currently booked up 2 years and I just see the waiting list for customers getting longer and longer. Even if the original poster doesn’t have much experience in these areas, there’s job openings available and a guy could always get his feet wet and work your butt off for a few years, put your time in and really learn a trade. Then there would be opportunities to make a really good living in gods country.
On a different note: there’s tons of odd jobs that pay well and could supplement a regular trade job or build up enough accts and start a full-time business.... Snow removal, dock installation/removal, firewood, lawn mowing and light landscaping. I know guys that actually do all of the above and make a darn good living. One of the guys has over 100 plow accounts and can pull in 30-40 grand if it’s a very snowy season and that’s just the plowing portion. Add on top the dock portion and lawn work and he probably clears 75-100 grand a year. It really pays off if you’re mechanically inclined and can repair your own equipment when it breaks, fix things on a whim, etc. Bottom line is if a guy had a reliable plow truck, snowblower, chainsaws, lawnmowers, there’s money to be made in every season up here. Just gotta put in the time and effort, treat customers with respect and honesty and build up those accounts.
Check out www.indeed.com. Most of the "decent jobs" are in Rhinelander or Minocqua.
"After you look around a bit chaw, I believe you will settle on Hughes Net. It’s unlimited data, I think I pay $53 per month. "
Depending on where you are, Hughes Net doesn't offer unlimited. We had it in my place in Land O Lakes and the most we could get was 50GB for 130.00ish a month. We went for 30GB for 80ish.
Hughs nets good, mostly very good except when it rains or snows it blocks the signal just as happens with sattelite tv. But if youre in a area up north with limited landline and you use the landline for internet you will get internet congestion during bad weather since everyone flocks indoors and gets online to pass the time.
After you look around a bit chaw, I believe you will settle on Hughes Net. It’s unlimited data, I think I pay $53 per month.
The only downfall is every time it snows, I have to get the roof rake out and clear the satellite so it will work. Other than that, no complaints. If by any chance you use AT&T for your cell phone or any other service, go through AT&T to get Hughes Net, as they are a partner, and you’ll get a discount. If you go directly through Hughes net, you won’t get the discount
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