Best wishes searching for the next thing for you. It is sad to note you worked for 5 years and cannot continue. I hope you can do something you like with your trading experiences.
You can get couple of internet lines, comps, desks and open up a prop joint. Honestly dude.. thats the best way to go at it.
I can attest to the high wages over there. I have many friends in the military that are stationed in the middle east and when they got out of the military they went back as civilians to work as sub contractors. They made a killing. In some cases they were paid 150k to 200k a year to do simple computer work that would have paid them 50k to 60k here. The benefits were amazing. They drove 75k Mercedes, some stayed in posh homes that were very decadent, and were served the most amazing food in the world. Yes, your food is catered every meal. Obviously this doesn't apply to all jobs. Some are better then others. The jobs I would like to highlight were the ones mentioned above in intelligence and Linguistics. These jobs are incredible jobs. They pay very very well and if you ever wanted to get a leg in to the CIA, FBI or NSA, these jobs will open the door. Also if you want to work with the smartest people in the world, this is where you want to be. I was recruited out of high school to go into intelligence work. It's amazing field and many traders here are probably qualified for it. But you better be super bright. You will have to take a very thorough IQ test as well as a language skills test. no BSing these people. So you better have the goods. The good news about many of these jobs is you will be working side by side with the military and you will be highly protected. It's an incredibly rewarding field. BTW, a little side gig that most ex-pats participate in is this diamond trade. While over there, many buy diamonds for pennies on the dollar and sell them in the states and make fortunes. I know many former military guys that were involved in this on the side and came back to the states and built million dollar homes.
Those robots will be named the SET (Side Effect of Trading). They were not born from silicon but from human.
How do they get away with transporting the diamonds to the US? I'm just assuming there is some sort of regulation against moving large amounts of diamonds, at least a tariff, from Iraq to the US. It's just an assumption, I'm not an expert in international trade?
I'm not an expert either. I think I remember something about a loophole or some kind of rule that allows the importation of jewels from certain countries tariff free. I've never done it so I can't comment on the practice. I also know those that do it shut up about it and don't say anything. One of the guys that I knew who did it came back to the states with all the money he made and bought a his and her Range Rover for him and his girlfriend, built a gigantic house and lived like a king. These guys made serious money over there. I asked him how dangerous it was and he said the media is very misleading about the middle east. About 95% of the middle east is no more dangerous then the south side of Chicago. It's the other 5% that makes the nightly news everynight. Most the guys I have talked to would go back in a heart beat. There is a very very real shortage of skilled workers over there and they are willing to bid whatever it takes to get workers. Also, many of these guys worked in Saudi Arabia, not Iraq. This was before the Iraq war. Although I have heard salaries have doubled and tripled since the war. If somebody wanted to get a nice grubstake for trading, it's certainly an idea. Like someone mentioned earlier, the first 85k is tax free and there are other tax incentives thrown in as well that effectively eliminate almost all the taxes due.
Here's an article on Diamond hunting in Saudi Arabia. Not sure if this was what these guys were doing or not. http://www.hq.usace.army.mil/cepa/pubs/oldpubs/sep97/story7.htm
If I was out of a job and looking for one I think that IRAQ job would be perfect, Stay alert Arm yourself Think every person who steps 3 feet near you is going to kidnap you Walk in groups Look for any diamonds in the sand hehe And work for 2-3 years make $70-100k Save most of it, you'll havea an ok minichest of $200-300k in less then 4-5 years. Start a small business once you are back , Maybe some construction material shop, lumber shop , prop shop Good money
You could probably save as much over that amount of time by leasing a big rig and hitting the highway. The chance of fatality is much lower. The only reason to be in Iraq is for patriotic reasons. Have you seen pictures of civilians in Iraq getting their heads cut off?