Is never having a worked a bad thing?

BillJones

jimmy2times wrote: »

I'd certainly never work a day in my life if I didn't have too!!

That's fair enough, but of course what you tend to find is that the people with this attitude end up working until they drop, in a job that they hate, whereas those driven to go to work and who treat it as a fun challenge likely end up retired and wealthy at 55.

Just one of life's many ironies, I suppose.

dandelionclock30

He has missed nothing really, I think some people who are being negative because its jealousy and sour grapes really.
I know people with 20 year gaps in employment who have now gone on to get good jobs so it can happen. If I were him I would say that I had been running my own buisness, then I would go to college and get some work experience as well.If thats what he wants.
I would never base my self esteem and self worth around a job!!! of all things.

jimmy2times

BillJones wrote: »

That's fair enough, but of course what you tend to find is that the people with this attitude end up working until they drop, in a job that they hate, whereas those driven to go to work and who treat it as a fun challenge likely end up retired and wealthy at 55.

Just one of life's many ironies, I suppose.

You know what. You could well be right!
I pretty much see myself carrying on doing factory work or something silimar for the next 40 years or so (assuming I live that long!) lol.
But that's partly to do with never having found anything that interests me or that i'm good at.
Such is life.

If I was in the position of the OP's friend and given 800k at 16, I definitely buy a modest home, and then just live life in a fairly restrained fashion. Not overly flashy, but zero stress, lots of holidays. Spend days relaxing watching films, going to the gym etc etc, and the pub of an evening!
Maybe some small investments.

I think that money would last nicely! Some people spend their whole lives never earning that kind of money anyway!

LE3

melysion wrote: »

I could live on £30k a year having paid for a house outright with no problem at all

Yup, me too - I could live very comfortably on £30K, but it wouldn't be enough to live a luxury "party" lifestyle!

jackieblack

olias wrote: »

There are plenty of ways to have a full and fulfilling life and achieve a lot without 'working' - ie being committed to 5 days a week every week come rain or shine.
You could:

Travel, learn about different cultures, history, the arts
Volunteer in various fields as and when the interest grabbed you
Hobbys
Academic learning
Sports - competing, coaching, running a team.
Do up a property
Create a garden
Set up a charity
Look after pets

The list is endless.

I hate when a lottery winner goes public and says 'I won't give up my cleaning job because I'd get bored just staying at home' That says everything about them as a person.

Olias

I totally agree with this. I think it's important to have a purpose and keep yourself gainfully occupied, but this is not necessarily the same as working

devilivus

I should clarify that the 'partying' lifestlye that seems to have side-tracked some people, was how I said I would spend it. (albeit wrongly)

But the friend in question is more or less just living life how they like. Probably a fairly typical lifestyle in terms of recreation/hobbies (pub most nights, sports teams, gym membership, 2 holidays per year etc etc), but without the hell of working 9-5 for 5 days per week before you get to enjoy those things!

Last night in the pub he was getting lots of negative 'banter' from mutual friends which I felt came from a place of jealousy.

Takeaway_Addict

devilivus wrote: »

I should clarify that the 'partying' lifestlye that seems to have side-tracked some people, was how I said I would spend it. (albeit wrongly)

But the friend in question is more or less just living life how they like. Probably a fairly typical lifestyle in terms of recreation/hobbies (pub most nights, sports teams, gym membership, 2 holidays per year etc etc), but without the hell of working 9-5 for 5 days per week before you get to enjoy those things!

Last night in the pub he was getting lots of negative 'banter' from mutual friends which I felt came from a place of jealousy.

If he is wise with his money then fair play to him absolutely and who wouldn't be a little bit jealous?

If he wants to do something worthwhile then volunteering is the way to go.

J_i_m

People are driven by different things.

Some people are driven by status, power and earnings. The kind of person person working 16hr days almost everyday of the week. They live to work. They can't imagine anything else. That's fine if that makes you happy.

Personally, I work to live.

I accept I need to earn a living, and want to do that by working as opposed to being on the doll. In that sense it keeps me active in a meaningful way.

However, if I were to come into a substantial windfall which drastically increased my financial security, then theres every likelihood I would decide to "retire" from my occupation. In that situation I wouldn't view the "not working" aspect as a negative personality trait, but as personal choice.

If I had the choice between continuing in a occupation that I no longer needed to do in order to support myself or instead developing a personal pursuit which brought zero income but lots of fulfilment and satisfaction, then I'd pick the later.

I don't think that choosing not to work, has to always be a negative thing. Obviously that argument starts to fall over if that individual is relying on the welfare state to support them, but it's private (and legal) financial means, then good luck to them.

BillJones

devilivus wrote: »

But the friend in question is more or less just living life how they like. Probably a fairly typical lifestyle in terms of recreation/hobbies (pub most nights, sports teams, gym membership, 2 holidays per year etc etc), but without the hell of working 9-5 for 5 days per week before you get to enjoy those things!

Last night in the pub he was getting lots of negative 'banter' from mutual friends which I felt came from a place of jealousy.

It's still not what I would call an intelligent decision. If it would fund 10 years of not working, what sort of person takes it all upfront, knowing what a negative effect it will have on their career later? What exactly did they think they'd end up doing when the money ran out?

morganedge

800K could last most of a lifetime, couldn't it??
Lots of people only earn around 15k per year.
It would take them 50 odd years to ever amass that amount.

From age 16, money runs out at age 66?
Then get pension money.
They don't need much of a backup plan, do they?