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

kennyboy66_2

Pobby wrote: »

. 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.

What I have been doing in the last 10 years is, on a free lance basis, getting customers for importers in niche electronic products. So busy 4 or 5 years ago that I had to employ my wife as my PA/ driver as the mobile never stopped. Due to various reasons, not the least the downturn, it is far to expensive to keep travelling around the countryside, staying in hotels so I tend to work from home now. It still provides me with a much reduced living but, boy, am I bored.

Now retirement looms in a few years and it scares the pants off me.

Why retire at 65 ? (or whatever age). It sounds like you have the perfect job to semi-retire over a period of 5-10 years. The people I know who seem happiest post 65, are those who still do some work.

Stopping work suddenly, is very unhealthy. Gradually dropping down to 4, 3 2 days a week, seems so much better.

lostinrates

lemonjelly wrote: »

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?

My dad retired and started a new job the next day, twice now.

He's worked since he was 15...its all he knows. He's had not time for hobbies, because he's married his work. His family life has suffered. He doesn't know where the plates go away in his own kitchen (he knows where mugs and teaspoons are though). If he hadn't worked as hard he probably wouldn't have ''succeeded'' in the way he has.

I think this is horrendous. Its one of the reasons, even should I be well enough, I would be unwilling to tk a job that took me away from the home a lot, that made dh an I have ''conflicting schedules''. Something has to give, and it will NOT be our life together.

lemonjelly

lostinrates wrote: »

My dad retired and started a new job the next day, twice now.

He's worked since he was 15...its all he knows. He's had not time for hobbies, because he's married his work. His family life has suffered. He doesn't know where the plates go away in his own kitchen (he knows where mugs and teaspoons are though). If he hadn't worked as hard he probably wouldn't have ''succeeded'' in the way he has.

I think this is horrendous. Its one of the reasons, even should I be well enough, I would be unwilling to tk a job that took me away from the home a lot, that made dh an I have ''conflicting schedules''. Something has to give, and it will NOT be our life together.

This is a big part of my point.

My last employer didn't look after me, treated me quite badly, failed to support me, & put me under some nasty pressures. I will never forgive those involved. I worked too many hours, was rushing around all the time trying to fit my personal life in. I was not happy. But I got a (for me) high-ish wage.

Now, I have a much more contented outlook. Yes my job has pressure, but realistic & reasonable pressures. I do not have to do excessive hours (except when we enrol, & I get TOIL for this). I have taken a pay cut of £2-3k a year. However, I am more laidback. I know what time I finish work. I don't resent work like I did. I have time to spend reading (such a joy I had not been able to keep up for several years) & playing bowls, or watching football, or going to gigs. I've taken up new hobbies (gardening) & developed my cooking & baking.

You can shove your £2-3k a year if it will cost me my happiness....

When I was at university, (& indeed prior to that) people constantly asked me what I wanted to do. I've never known (still don't - I'd rather find stuff that makes me happy). What I did know, was that work wasn't going to be the be all & end all, & that whatever I did, I didn't want to do stuff I didn't enjoy.

As life has gone on, I am finding more & more that work is less relevant. I need to do it to pay for stuff. But more important to me is stuff like the above, or time with loved ones, friends & friendships, listening to music, reading, a walk on a lovely day, a day out to the beach, time with my ill parents, playing with my nephews, or the children of my mates, hearing people laugh. That is what counts to me.

lostinrates

lemonjelly wrote: »

.....

You can shove your £2-3k a year if it will cost me my happiness....
......

if it were 2-3 k I'd agree: it wouldn't be worth it, personally.

I've been wondering a lot really how much it costs to live, personal taste aside, to all the recommendations. Insurances, housing costs, eating costs, dental costs, travel costs....I don't mean what people do have, but what it would take to do all the things they say....

SingleSue

If my circumstances allowed, I would go for the longer hours for more money.

Up until very recent years where I have found myself a full time carer, I would and did work very long hours simply because I liked the buzz of seeing all those lovely pennies go into my account. I have also always been very dedicated to my job and would rather work a little extra to see a job well done and finished than leave on time and pick up the pieces the next day or rush things and do it all wrong.

So I am partly motivated by money and partly by a job well done.

lemonjelly

lostinrates wrote: »

if it were 2-3 k I'd agree: it wouldn't be worth it, personally.

I've been wondering a lot really how much it costs to live, personal taste aside, to all the recommendations. Insurances, housing costs, eating costs, dental costs, travel costs....I don't mean what people do have, but what it would take to do all the things they say....

But I think there is a relativeness to this lir.

I hope this comes across ok in pixel form...

I feel that there is a big difference in the impact of £2-3k a year to me/my household, than to yourself/your household. It was in reality a cut of over 12%. I'm not a well paid person. For my home to suffer that kind of drop is significant (partly because of some of the personal circs). So actually, it did make a BIG difference to me. £2-3k is an absolute fortune, I'm not an MP/cab for hire, so can't earn this amount in a day. Indeed, even though I have 2 jobs, it will take me 2 months to earn this amount.

However, at the time I could see the downturn approaching, & my main focus was to find some secure employment in the hope of weathering the storm...

lostinrates

lemonjelly wrote: »

But I think there is a relativeness to this lir.

I hope this comes across ok in pixel form...

I feel that there is a big difference in the impact of £2-3k a year to me/my household, than to yourself/your household. It was in reality a cut of over 12%. I'm not a well paid person. For my home to suffer that kind of drop is significant (partly because of some of the personal circs). So actually, it did make a BIG difference to me. £2-3k is an absolute fortune, I'm not an MP/cab for hire, so can't earn this amount in a day. Indeed, even though I have 2 jobs, it will take me 2 months to earn this amount.

However, at the time I could see the downturn approaching, & my main focus was to find some secure employment in the hope of weathering the storm...

I see this. But, regardless of percentage (I was basing my thoughts on an average income for standard full time hours not considering relativity above or below that...its tough, because averages mean zilch but everything, ) 2-3k could not pay for the jobs we normally do in freetime daily over the year...couple of hours cleaning, grocery shops, managing finances, ironing, taking the car into the garage...all these things cost more than 2-3k if someone else is to do them for you, for a single person....ergo, not worth it on that basis. It would not be worth DH doing the job he does, us living the way we do, for less than DH earns...for our marriage and quality of life. His salary essentially pays or me to be free when he is, and for him not to have to worry about the stuff I do, as a housewife.

and, frankly, 2-3 k IS a lot of money. I can't get past that people who earn a,lot obviously value money, so its weird when they forget what 2-3 k can get one. Of course, 2-3 k isn;t what you get...after tax..

eta:his last year was our lowest income year for a long time. A lot of things from previous careers have started to slow down in payout, we were factoring only the income from DH's job (which was good last year, but not extravagant, certainly not in City terms, in fact, reasonably meagre in City term...like church mice ...which is why it is good to remember that, compare to average it was good. However two of us on that one income would not cope well over a longer time frame. In fact, everything would have had to change. Ironically its also a year in which we've relaxed a little, still meeting our target savings, not worrying abut exceeding them.

eta: I've removed a random clapping smiley that came from no where too....weird...

ukcarper

lostinrates wrote: »

if it were 2-3 k I'd agree: it wouldn't be worth it, personally.

I've been wondering a lot really how much it costs to live, personal taste aside, to all the recommendations. Insurances, housing costs, eating costs, dental costs, travel costs....I don't mean what people do have, but what it would take to do all the things they say....

I'm fortunate than my mortgage cost are now very low less £100 per month. But I manage to live quite happily on less that £1000 a month.

lostinrates

ukcarper wrote: »

I'm fortunate than my mortgage cost are now very low less £100 per month. But I manage to live quite happily on less that £1000 a month.

I think we live on less than that after savings (equivalent to a potential mortgage). But I'm often seeing recommendations for things people should be spending...on pensions, lifestyle etc..whther its however you car mus be serviced, to what we should be eating over the course of a month in terms of nutritional requirements, not what we can feed a family on, what we should....I just wonder what it costs, really, to do all those ''shoulds'' as opposed to all those ''coulds'. T

ukcarper

lostinrates wrote: »

I think we live on less than that after savings (equivalent to a potential mortgage). But I'm often seeing recommendations for things people should be spending...on pensions, lifestyle etc..whther its however you car mus be serviced, to what we should be eating over the course of a month in terms of nutritional requirements, not what we can feed a family on, what we should....I just wonder what it costs, really, to do all those ''shoulds'' as opposed to all those ''coulds'. T

It’s a very difficult one that and most of those cost a variable i.e. car servicing depends on car you have in fact there have been times when I haven’t had my car serviced and have just changed the oil myself. The more I think about it is very difficult tocome up with a price for any of them.