FIRE? Unless you hate or are bad at your job, isn't work the best part of life?

MaxiRobriguez

In work I'm:
- Treated poorly by management on a day by day basis.
- Not given adequate resources to be able to do my job.
- Get harassed by customers on a daily basis, often for things that aren't my responsibility or expertise.
- Do not do anything that genuinely contributes to a better world. I simply make money for the man.

Whilst I get paid reasonably well, the idea that I'd continue with the above after I have accumulated enough money is, frankly, masochism, when instead I could spend time with friends, family or doing the hobbies I actually enjoy, without the stress of the above.

You might say "your job sucks, get a new job" but in my experience of the industry I'm in and the seniority I'm at then this is simply normal. So the choice for me is harder in that if I did move jobs to get away from the above I would almost certainly be looking at a halving of my pay, and our family can't afford that, so here we are, FIRE is the target.

QrizB

MaxiRobriguez said:

... FIRE is the target.

FIRE and forget, then

LV_426

MaxiRobriguez said:

In work I'm:
- Treated poorly by management on a day by day basis.
- Not given adequate resources to be able to do my job.
- Get harassed by customers on a daily basis, often for things that aren't my responsibility or expertise.
- Do not do anything that genuinely contributes to a better world. I simply make money for the man.

Whilst I get paid reasonably well, the idea that I'd continue with the above after I have accumulated enough money is, frankly, masochism, when instead I could spend time with friends, family or doing the hobbies I actually enjoy, without the stress of the above.

You might say "your job sucks, get a new job" but in my experience of the industry I'm in and the seniority I'm at then this is simply normal. So the choice for me is harder in that if I did move jobs to get away from the above I would almost certainly be looking at a halving of my pay, and our family can't afford that, so here we are, FIRE is the target.

I don't blame you, given that kind of working environment.

Cus

MaxiRobriguez said:

In work I'm:
- Treated poorly by management on a day by day basis.
- Not given adequate resources to be able to do my job.
- Get harassed by customers on a daily basis, often for things that aren't my responsibility or expertise.
- Do not do anything that genuinely contributes to a better world. I simply make money for the man.

Whilst I get paid reasonably well, the idea that I'd continue with the above after I have accumulated enough money is, frankly, masochism, when instead I could spend time with friends, family or doing the hobbies I actually enjoy, without the stress of the above.

You might say "your job sucks, get a new job" but in my experience of the industry I'm in and the seniority I'm at then this is simply normal. So the choice for me is harder in that if I did move jobs to get away from the above I would almost certainly be looking at a halving of my pay, and our family can't afford that, so here we are, FIRE is the target.

No way out? Has it really become that? I feel sorry for you.

Terron

Unless you hate your family or have none isn't that the best part of life?

SouthCoastBoy

Ive always treated work as a means to an end. Imo the worst thing about work is the amount of time it consumes. Cant wait for the time when I can decide what to do when and no more appraisals 😁

AlphaKappa

I quote Chickereee..
"Most people need, and seek, agency (the ability to act independently and make their own choices) and relevance (their actions have a noticeable  impact on their immediate surroundings and/or the outside world). Most jobs provide you with little of either, which is why many people are unhappy at work"

FI(RE) allows you to subtract unhappiness and add on happiness

middlewife

marlot said:

Everyone has different motivators.  If you gain happiness by working, that's great.  If you gain happiness by not working, that's great too.

To me, it's not the number of years of retirement that matters.  But rather, the number of good-health years.

Spot on, I retired yesterday on my 59th Birthday. I will get a DB pension in a year but we have enough savings for me to to go now. OH is the stellar opposite. Work is his identity, 60 hour week working from home, plus weekends; he's gained 2 stone, high blood pressure and I fear will go the same way of many of the patients I dealt with. Every week someone else in their 50s had a stroke, heart attack, cancer or serious mental health issues. That was the end of the retirement they never got to and most of them didn't see it coming. Too many people believe they are indispensible, if work is your identity, what on earth are you going to do in retirement, therefore why would you retire (sad);  for some, the opposite is true, work is an unhappy means to an end and a wage packet and they count the days. Some are only happy when they are working for a variety of reasons, others are happiest when not working. Work often makes you cash rich and time poor, retirement often has the opposite effect, it's not how much time you have, but what you choose to do with it that will make you happy or frustrated. No one on their deathbed (and I've sat at a few) ever says "I wish I'd spent more time at the office".......

LV_426

middlewife said:

Spot on, I retired yesterday on my 59th Birthday. 

Congratulations!!

MaxiRobriguez

Cus said:

MaxiRobriguez said:

In work I'm:
- Treated poorly by management on a day by day basis.
- Not given adequate resources to be able to do my job.
- Get harassed by customers on a daily basis, often for things that aren't my responsibility or expertise.
- Do not do anything that genuinely contributes to a better world. I simply make money for the man.

Whilst I get paid reasonably well, the idea that I'd continue with the above after I have accumulated enough money is, frankly, masochism, when instead I could spend time with friends, family or doing the hobbies I actually enjoy, without the stress of the above.

You might say "your job sucks, get a new job" but in my experience of the industry I'm in and the seniority I'm at then this is simply normal. So the choice for me is harder in that if I did move jobs to get away from the above I would almost certainly be looking at a halving of my pay, and our family can't afford that, so here we are, FIRE is the target.

No way out? Has it really become that? I feel sorry for you.

Like I said, could take a pay-cut, but don't want to do it for the family.

Whilst management might treat us badly, so customers and a general malaise at work - I don't despise it, I would simply rather be not working so when that opportunity comes I will be taking it. 

Don't feel sorry for me, there's people in far worse positions than I am. People who can't make ends meet, people who are bullied at work etc.