would your rather work longer hours for more money or fewer for less?

Thrugelmir

Pobby wrote: »

I dunno. In my early 50`s a friend of mine sold up and went to Spain. A couple of years younger than me. Oh I felt really jealous. However, on visits there they are not happy. Very little income from pensions and having to get work where they can. Here I am with less than 4 years from retirement and I am very much working on what I will do in retirement. Gone is the bloke who thought lazing around a Spanish pool was the way to go.

Heard this as well from someone whose parents retired to Spain. Looking to come back, as despite the weather, all is certainly not sunny over there.

misskool

i'm contracted 37.5 hours, i work up to 60 hours (depending on the weeks), work 1-2 weekends a month. commute 1.25 hours each way

I think I picked the wrong career.

Pobby

Thrugelmir wrote: »

Heard this as well from someone whose parents retired to Spain. Looking to come back, as despite the weather, all is certainly not sunny over there.

I don`t think it is too good for many. Mate of mine sold up for about £100,000 nearly 10 years ago. Off to Spain with a wad. Buys a cherry orchard with a building. Starts to convert it into a house, um, sorry say the officials. Agricultural building not a house. Seemed to get an income OK. lots of building work. Now back in the UK trying to earn a bit.

It did look good. Very low cost of living and when I looked an apartment at £40k. Then the boom took over. I know the UK is in a right state but even closer than Spain, Eire, oh dear. Madder than the Brits.

I did want to buy tbh, just an apartment when it looked like we were moving to Wales some years ago with what we had left over from the sale. Misses P decided it was not a good idea. Clever lass. Wonder why she isn`t the one posting here.

LeeSouthEast

treliac wrote: »

It's lovely to hear someone so refreshingly positive about their lot. Good luck to you both. And hope you have a fantastic holiday. Sounds like you deserve it. :cool:
....

Thank you :A

fc123

Bonia77 wrote: »

TBH, I don't believe in long hours as the best way to get rich (or being good employee).

I'm sure we all know people spending 10-12 h at work and never getting much done!

Isn't it more important to be productive at work and being rewarded for this??

I like the above as had a mega LBM the other day.
I read Rich Dad/Poor Dad recently, and whilst some of it was a bit USof A there were some real gems in it that rattled around in my head and got us thinking.

The main one being the difference between a Business Owner and a Self Employed person....who runs own business.

I think I might have cracked it too....to be able to work less physical hours but achieve loads more in each one through buying in basic skills that I tend to clog my time up with.
Having researched premises costs and added the staff costs and so on, we started to think about it in a totally different way and I think it's going to work out. We have concluded it is the wrong solution.

We have worked silly hours off and on but when S/E I never resent them....even when things went wrong.

For a small business it's not as simple as just taking on staff as peaks and flows of work vary and I have, in the past, found myself spending more time managing the team than creating and running the business.....then I had to tag on my own job.......if that makes sense?
Also, if sales dip, you are then stuck with staff and premises costs that are difficult to reduce quickly.

I have made a long list all costed out on each task so.....if The Masterplan works I'll update the thread in a few months time....if it doesn't, then I'll try something else.:o I'm not crazy on the phrase Work Smarter not harder but it sums up what I am now trying to achieve.

Cleaver; thinking about work..does it count as work? For me, yes as the thinking then can create something that then generates income.

Davesnave

I used to work 60-80 hours a week, depending on the season, split between teaching and a small business, run with DW. As I enjoyed both, it was no hardship, but I'm not sure if my kids suffered; you'd have to ask them! Either way, we only just kept our heads above water financially, so when my working hours were reduced by the need to take on a caring role, we were grateful for Gordon's Tax Credits, free prescriptions and stuff like that to fill the gap.

Now, I'm officially retired, but working towards a small business, again with DW. This will open next year and be mainly home-based. Like Pobby, I find the idea of stopping and just lazing around very unappealing, and I think that probably contributes to many retirement deaths.

Living in the country and being my own boss, I feel that the line between work and pleasure is now totally blurred, which is roughly what I wanted. Here, people work, but they take their time, and the profit motive seems less important. (One of the people I employed recently takes about 6 months on average to send out a bill!) Like others who run micro-businesses, I don't expect to make much, but I'd hope to join in the with all the mutual support that goes on and which definitely saves people a good few £££.

vivatifosi

Currently I have five part time jobs - what Charles Handy calls a 'portfolio career'. It suits me and I would say I work between 40 and 50 hours a week. I used to work the same hours but commute. To me it is commuting that is the killer. Such wasted time. I enjoy work, I don't enjoy the traveling there and back. Now I work from home or get to the library job very quickly and it is much more rewarding as I get over 10 hours per week back to do with as I want. So in answer to the question - work smarter, get the same money for fewer total hours by reducing the commute if you can.

I also see Dave's and Pobby's point re working in retirement. My father still works (he's in his mid-70s) in a physical job and is probably the healthiest person of his age I know. There's a lot to be said for keeping up levels of physical activity in later life. I can see that I will do some sort of work after I've retired, possibly on a voluntary basis.

ukcarper

I took early retirement a couple of years a go and even though I have much less money now I am much happier. I think a lot depends on how much you enjoy your present job. It does take a change of mindset when you retire but I have always had a couple of relatively cheap hobbies and think that not having all the material things I would like is easily compensated for by not having to go to work.

Pennywise

Well we've been on a wind-down for a few years now and we're in our mid 40's, running our own small business.

Five years ago, we were working all hours, earning loads (paying loads in tax), employing staff, etc but had no quality of life - sure we had money to spend but either didn't have time to spend it or didn't have time to enjoy what it bought.

When health problems kicked in and close to nervous breakdown, we had our "light bulb" moment. Staff went over a couple of years voluntarily, downsized our business premises, downsized our client list to just the quality higher profit clients and sacking the wasters, halved our working hours.

At first a real struggle to see the drop in income. We managed without doing anything to our home, running two ancient cars, virtually no holidays, but we were a hell of a lot happier and started to enjoy life again. Business became fun again as we only take on clients we like and can respect and happily work with - when you're up against it you have to take on all clients which really demoralises you when you're dealing with time wasters, non-payers, etc and takes the enjoyment out of your profession.

When you're in the "trap" of working hard, earning loads, etc., your spendings rise faster than your income. You're in an environment when you see everyone around you moving up to bigger houses, getting flasher cars, having more exotic holidays, buying the latest gadgets, etc., and you feel you have to do the same to keep up with them.

Running your own business is even worse, because everyone seems to have the mindset that you've just "got to" grow, forever having to increase your turnover, take on more and more staff, move to bigger premises etc. It seems there's a perception that you have to be big to be successful. Everyone almost killing themselves to try to become a millionaire. What on earth is wrong with a small but profitable business that gives you a comfortable lifestyle? Again, you get into the mindset that big is best, and quite frankly for most people it isn't.

Even though we "can" earn probably two or three times as much as we are now, we've no intention of doing it. It's lovely to pay much smaller tax bills! It's lovely to know that everything you have, homes, cars, etc is bought and paid for. We'll never go back to the old days of having the "illusion" of wealth, for that's all it is - it's not real. Our plan is a very gradual wind down, probably giving up our business completely in our 70s' (if we live that long), but only working probably half a week in our 50s and 60s. That fits in, because we've no plans to move, only perhaps to a similar sized/price house or even downsize to a retirement bungalow.

I'd far rather live longer and have a more enjoyable life on a modest income rather than be a high earner and go back to poor health and no time to enjoy life. I do see more and more people doing likewise around me.

lemonjelly

Pobby wrote: »

Now retirement looms in a few years and it scares the pants off me. I laughed at my Dad, railway engineer with a pension, going back to work after 6 weeks of reaching retirement. Now I fully understand it.

I read a lot, am a musician. I can paint and draw but the thought of not " working " has become really scary. So looking at various ( not risking a bunch of capital, been there and done that ) small businesses to do when the 65 mark hits. Oh and we do have various pensions. Not sure if this is the working ethic as I wouldn`t want to be getting up at 5 in the morning but as for totally quitting, hmmmmm...........

There are some great posts on this thread. It is really interesting. Thanks to ninky for starting it & also all contrbutors!:)

There is quite a bit relating to the section of Pobby's post I've quoted, & it is something I find interesting.

I have worked in the voluntary sector a lot, & because of the nature of it, have had many colleagues who are retired, but wanting to keep busy. I used to find that these volunteers were great - reliable, full of vast amounts of experience & knowledge. I used to be the youngest person in the building, & when I started volunteering, I was a bit of a novelty. As time went on & I climbed the ladder, I was managing the place. Given my relative youth, it felt quite oppressive having to come up with all sorts of new ideas to improve the service. I used to have lots of great conversations with my volunteer colleagues about ideas, as they had decades of experience in banks, or shops or other services where some ideas had worked, & others hadn't. It really helped me to be aware of pitfalls, and to this day, I feel that much of what I have acheived & how I have progressed has been down to the volunteers who I have worked with.

My side of the bargain was to treat them with the respect they deserve. To its shame, there are a small minority of paid staff in the volunteer sector who feel that volunteers are below them. Not me. I'd fight tooth & nail for them, get them represented at meetings, feedback updates to them, hell, make them 3 or 4 cups of tea a day. It was the least I could do. Most of us bonded well. I believe it worked.

Back to the bit I've quoted, as I've got onto a ramble. It seems there is a particularly british thing about how we identify ourselves, & our social status in relation to our job. Why this is, I don't know. But I am familiar with people being afraid of retirement - as though they will lose part of who they are. (I also know many retired people who are busier than ever!)

So is the fear of retirement down to this kind of issue? & if so, does it have to be work that defines us? One suggestion is voluntary work - Pobby I know you're already involved in some. There are other things - such as being on management committees/trustee boards. There's time with family & friends. Time for hobbies. Time to do that list of jobs you have always been meaning to do...

Some of us spend most of our lives dreaming of what we'll do when we don't have to work anymore. Now I'm hearing more & more about people who want to carry on. What is it that causes this fear if retirement?