Is never having a worked a bad thing?

morganedge

Proc wrote: »

I don't disagree. But OP's question was "Is never having worked a bad thing?" and in this instance I think the answer is yes.

Not only has the OP's friend been doing nothing in terms of work, he's also been doing nothing of interest. If he could say "yes, I've been unemployed, but I used my funds to travel to remote parts of the world, help build a village, invest in some rental properties, start a small charity" he at least appears to have motivation and sense.

Sadly, he appears to have neither. I guess whether you deem that as good or bad is subjective. Having never worked isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it can be detrimental to your future employment if you do nothing valuable with your time.

I do agree with you in an employment sense.
Spending decades just relaxing and trying to enjoy yourself likely doesn't look good.

However, some posters questioned it from a more personal point of view, and that's what I object too.

morganedge

DCFC79 wrote: »

Im not sure I couldn't stop work altogether, Ive been out work before and it was boring.

I've heard others say that. I *so* don't get it.

I guess all I can say is that we are all different and I never get bored when I'm out of work. I absolutely love it. Even when I did sometimes run out of things to do, it still beat being at work!

DCFC79

morganedge wrote: »

I've heard others say that. I *so* don't get it.

I guess all I can say is that we are all different and I never get bored when I'm out of work. I absolutely love it. Even when I did sometimes run out of things to do, it still beat being at work!

Yes definitely everyone is different, if we were all the same then it wouldnt be any fun.

If Id stopped work Id have to do something to keep busy.

Jobseeeker

A gap is bad to an employer. I don't think its the laziness thing its the fact that you can't prove what you were doing. E.g prison, a job that you were sacked from, that kind of thing

Have they been doing something else like volunteering, childcare, course?

egoode

I don't think you necessarily need to have worked a 9 to 5 job but I would judge someone that did nothing significant during that time. Even if it is just trying to write a novel, paint, start a business, travel, volunteer etc. If all he does is follow his sports team and go to the pub then that to me seems like a wasted life. Isn't he bored when all his friends are at work or does he have other friends that also don't work?

I didn't work for 10 months once. Some of it was planned and I was travelling various places but I had about 4 months when I was looking for work and was so bored except for when I had friends come and visit me as they weren't working for various reasons.

Surely he has some sort of passion he could make his 'work' if he's into the gym maybe even being a personal trainer but as he doesn't necessarily need the money he could have much more control over the type of client he would prefer to work with etc. Or help out as a coach for a junior team etc.

morganedge

Why is it a wasted life, though? i'm genuinely interested in this.

So if one volunteers at a charity, and helps coach a junior team, and travels a bit, then that's not a wasted life.

But if someone goes to the cinema and the gym, maybe meets a friend for lunch, goes home and surfs the web for a few hours, and then goes out that night for a few beers with friends and maybe pulls a pretty girl (on a good night), takes a few holidays per year, that's a wasted life?

Why? What's so special about the first list of things? Surely it's all personal? We don't all like the same things. Like I mentioned, I for example have zero interest in travelling the world and learning about other cultures etc.

chucknorris

devilivus wrote: »

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 would argue otherwise, I don't consider working as a waste of life, I came out of early retirement aged 52 to start a new career, not because I needed the money (I am worth much more than £800k). But I wanted to do something worthwhile, I only work part time and have plenty of time to have a social life and pursue my hobbies (cycling, running, my dog, chess, bowl, family and friends along with all the other usual things).

SandC

morganedge wrote: »

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?

Yes, it would take 35 years for me to earn that kind of money and that's on my salary now, after having worked my way up to this for 25 years.

BillJones

tiger_eyes wrote: »

It's plenty for a nice quiet life.

It may be for you, but I think that for most people it'd be far too little to be able to enjoy life. It'd mean not going to the restaurant with friends, not having a nice car, not living in a nice area, and so on.

I'm starting to work out how much money I'll want in retirement, and don't think I'm going to want to drop much below £50k per year, and that's assuming that I've no mortgage by then.

BillJones

morganedge wrote: »

I've heard others say that. I *so* don't get it.

I guess all I can say is that we are all different and I never get bored when I'm out of work. I absolutely love it. Even when I did sometimes run out of things to do, it still beat being at work!

You could look at this the other way round, though, and ask why you've ended up in work that you don't enjoy. There's no need to have an unpleasant job when there are so many good ones.