fallujahff |
06-28-2008 07:56 PM |
Alas I must answer to quell bad rumors--I've been contracting awhile
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Also you don't get paid for the months you are not in Iraq, so 3 months on and 3 off looks nice but it will cut your salary in half.
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Half of a boat load of cash is half a boatload--which is still 10 times more than you'll make in the US-
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Tax free sounds nice, but you have to be out of the USA for for extended period of time (330 days maybe) and it is only good for part of your salary.
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and it's as nice as it sounds---stay out of the US 330 days and you are good to go--during the year they take out any income taxes in excess of 87,000 bucks--then you file the expat deduction through your income taxes and you get the rest back--think of it as Uncle Sam's savings account--I got back $10,000 in taxes this year-
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The shots you get have certain things in them that are not very "healhty"
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Huh? I go to my own doctor to get my immunizations--they Army doesn't touch contractors (unless they are severly injured).
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If that is all ok with you, then go for it. It is an adventure and if I would have been younger and no family I might have considered it more.
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I am 42 with 3 kids and a fourth just born the other day--and I have been contracting for over 4 years now--it is not an adventure--it is a job, just in an interesting place. You learn to live life around the job (I get about 100 paid days off a year) so it's not like being in the military and sitting there for 18 months getting shot at and worrying about home (which I went through).
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Remember, money isn't everything and listen very carefully on what they offer and ask many questions.
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The more money you make in Iraq, the more dangerous the thing they are asking you to do--remember that rule. The thing about Iraq is that it is not what your preconcieved notions are--everyone goes there expecting one thing and getting quite the other.
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