Is never having a worked a bad thing?

devilivus · 26 March 2014 at 1:04AM

This actually isn't about me, but after sticking up for a friend in the pub earlier, who at the age of 36 has never worked, it got me thinking.

Lets assume that someone won £800k on the lottery when they were 16.
I certainly would never want to waste my life working 9-5.
Surely no sane person would. I'd be partying non-stop getting up to all sorts!
I'd spend a good few years enjoying life, and maybe at some point in my 30's-40's I'd look at getting a job maybe? (assuming i'd bured through most of hte money after buying a house)

But what would people doing the hiring think?
Obviously Work experience aside(level entry job?), would the issue of laziness be a negative factor?
If I was hiring, I'd think 'fair play...i'd do the same''. but i'm wondering what others think?

My friend is in a similar situation to that described above, and is being judged very negatively by his fiends and others, although i'm certain this is all out of pure jealousy!

Official MoneySavingExpert.com insert: If you haven’t already, join the forum to reply. If you aren’t sure how it all works, read our New to Forum? Intro Guide.

[threadbanner]box[/threadbanner]

tomterm8 · 26 March 2014 at 1:21AM

Yes, it really is a bad thing. People aren't designed to be idle, it's a bad thing for someone to be unemployed so long even if they have a trust fund.

melysion · 26 March 2014 at 1:31AM

If I had the money I would quit working a 9-5 job but I wouldn't quit work. I'd take full advantage of my very fortunate situation and do nothing save writing my novel.

Sigh. One can dream

saker75 · 26 March 2014 at 7:31AM

It's an interesting question. If you look at the Royal family, despite their personal wealth, they all work. They are all patrons of charities or involved in missions overseas etc. I can't think of anything worse than being idle and would need to focus my energies on contributing to society in some way. I wouldn't think k much of somebody that hadn't done anything with their life given the opportunity. Few lottery winners seem to try to better themselves through education or the arts.

moneyistooshorttomention · 26 March 2014 at 7:37AM

The obvious answer here is that I would be wondering just who had been providing your friends income all that time.

Chances are that the answer to that is "The rest of us have", as I'm guessing he has been on benefits throughout. I would also wonder whether your friend had been funding himself partly through stealing and/or cadging from others as well.

All round, as I regard deliberately being on benefit (as opposed to being on benefit because you are genuinely trying to get a job but cant), stealing and cadging as being unacceptable, then I wouldn't be interested in giving your friend a job of any description. In fact, I wouldn't be interested in having them as a friend either.

I "might" give a bit more leeway to someone whose income had come from private income (eg a trust fund), dependant on what they had been doing with their life without having had that need to earn money (eg if they had been taking the chance given them by not having the need to earn money to instead do some worthwhile voluntary work).

marlot · 26 March 2014 at 7:40AM

Work is about so much more than money. To me it is about creating identity, self worth, looking beyond myself. I find that people who work are less caught up in the "me, me, me" culture.

Even while working, I'm involved in several clubs and am a community governor at a local school. I have no children at the school, and just do it because I believe education is vital. I'm shocked by parents who simply don't care.

When I retire I fully expect to continue donating time to charity.

bluebeary · 26 March 2014 at 7:42AM

assuming i had all the facts as a potential employer my main concern would be how he would adapt to the working environment, how he would react to following instructions and orders, how would he interact with work colleagues etc

time keeping, attendance, deadlines, attitude to superiors and fellow work colleagues, responses to certain situations that might arise in any work place

Money_Bunny · 26 March 2014 at 9:15AM

I share the view that humans were designed to work. And I think working is essential for developing self-discipline and interpersonal skills. As regards the latter, in a working environment you have to rub along with people you don't necessarily like to achieve a common objective. The fact is, in a non-work environment if you don't get on with someone you can take the easy option of walking away - or having a confrontation if you are so inclined.

I know a couple of people who haven't worked in their lives for various good reasons. Lovely though they are, I wouldn't employ either of them because I don't think either of them could handle the interpersonal side of working.

J_i_m · 26 March 2014 at 9:28AM

bluebeary wrote: »

assuming i had all the facts as a potential employer my main concern would be how he would adapt to the working environment, how he would react to following instructions and orders, how would he interact with work colleagues etc

time keeping, attendance, deadlines, attitude to superiors and fellow work colleagues, responses to certain situations that might arise in any work place

From a practical point of view, that makes the most sense so far in this thread.

Otherwise, I think people are falling into the trap of judging other people by their own standards. Which is a mistake because it risks a lack of appreciation and value of diversity.

Personally, if I were privileged to be financially secure to the point that I didn't need to work, then I wouldn't work. I wouldn't set out to become the stereotypical jetset millionaire, but I would do the things which made me happy. And I'd probably choose a handful of worthy causes to donate to as well.

quidsy · 26 March 2014 at 9:31AM

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

The obvious answer here is that I would be wondering just who had been providing your friends income all that time.

Chances are that the answer to that is "The rest of us have", as I'm guessing he has been on benefits throughout. I would also wonder whether your friend had been funding himself partly through stealing and/or cadging from others as well.

All round, as I regard deliberately being on benefit (as opposed to being on benefit because you are genuinely trying to get a job but cant), stealing and cadging as being unacceptable, then I wouldn't be interested in giving your friend a job of any description. In fact, I wouldn't be interested in having them as a friend either.

I "might" give a bit more leeway to someone whose income had come from private income (eg a trust fund), dependant on what they had been doing with their life without having had that need to earn money (eg if they had been taking the chance given them by not having the need to earn money to instead do some worthwhile voluntary work).

Umm, did you read the op at all? The "friend" has been funding their lifestyle with lottery win money.

Lets assume that someone won £800k on the lottery when they were 16.
I certainly would never want to waste my life working 9-5.
Surely no sane person would. I'd be partying non-stop getting up to all sorts!
I'd spend a good few years enjoying life, and maybe at some point in my 30's-40's I'd look at getting a job maybe? (assuming i'd bured through most of hte money after buying a house)

[Deleted User] · 26 March 2014 at 9:40AM

800k would be no where near enough for me to give up work - I'd probably go part-time though.

At the age of 16, they may have had too little insight into the future to be able to plan sensibly - good financial planning from the beginning and this money probably could have set them up for life.

How employable they would be would depend on how they'd spent the last 20 years of their life - education, non-paid work, volunteering. What skills have they got that they can transfer to a workplace.

I'd be more interested to know what they thought would happen when the money ran out?

Is never having a worked a bad thing?

Comments

Categories

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free