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If You Get Rich, You Won't Quit Working For Long (bbc.com)

Posted by msmash on from the understanding-people dept.

An anonymous reader writes: You'd think striking it suddenly rich would be the ultimate ticket to freedom. Without money worries, the world would be your oyster. Perhaps you'd champion a worthy cause, or indulge a sporting passion, but work? Surely not. However, remaining gainfully employed after sudden wealth is more common than you'd think. After all, there are numerous high-profile billionaires who haven't called it quits despite possessing the luxury to retire, including some of the world's top chief executives, such as Amazon's Jeff Bezos and Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg. But it turns out, the suddenly rich who aren't running companies are also loathe to quit, even though they have plenty of money. That could be, in part, because the link between salary and job satisfaction is very weak. According to a meta-analysis by University of Florida business school professor Timothy Judge and other researchers, there's less than a 2% overlap between the two factors. In the long run, we derive job satisfaction from non-monetary sources, which include positive peer relationships, the ability to work on meaningful projects and even leadership opportunities.

5 of 406 comments (clear)

  1. There's "work" and then there is "work" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I suggest you watch that last Family Guy episode where Stewie takes a job at a printing company. That's the average persons job. No rich person would tolerate that kind of work for 5 minutes. What rich people call work the rest of us call "a dream come true." I'll happily do Jeff Bezo's job for 25 cents an hour.

    1. Re:There's "work" and then there is "work" by ErichTheRed · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "That's understandable, but quite naive. There are plenty of executives with grey hairs from constant pressure and worrying."

      Having worked at a bunch of big companies, and having done IT support for executives, I disagree. The only thing executives have to worry about is being the public cheerleader for the company. Their lives are immeasurably enriched by the company's resources. It looks like very nice work if you can get it. In many cases, executives "work" on the boards of many companies, and receive salary/perks from each one. Things I can think of that they have access to include "forgiven" loans for personal real estate purchases, corporate jets, and basically every personal expense paid for by the company in one form or another.

      Even smaller business owners are much better off than the average wage-earner. All of a business owners' personal expenses can be funneled through the business, resulting in a much lower tax burden. The owner's business can own all their houses, cars, etc. as assets.

      "The common employee lives a more comfortable, relatively worry-free, sheltered life without having to worry whether his labor will bring in a salary."

      See basically every offshoring/H-1B replacement worker story out there. The common employee is seen by the executive class as disposable. That's not a worry-free lifestyle. Common employees have to worry about paying their bills, something an executive will never worry about.

  2. Re:So... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I don't think you can retire on $500k, especially given the fact that the government is getting ready to slash the social safety net and SS and Medicare. I don't think I'd attempt it for less than $2m. Remember you are going to be on the hook for your own health care.

  3. It's not about "not working" by phorm · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's about doing what I want to work on. If I were suddenly flush in cash I could go back to school for stuff I want to learn, afford to build a full shop with the tools I want to work with, and not worry that "failure=lose house" if I wanted to start my own business

  4. Re:So... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I find comments (and internet articles) like this interesting. There are so many people out there who are dirt poor and somehow manage to live through retirement. I know that people in the world are increasingly more material and require more money but somehow, the majority are getting by without having millions or even 100s of thousands saved for retirement.

    The same thing goes with the cost of raising kids. Studies will tell you that you need tons of money to raise a kid but somehow, my parents raised 9 of us and they didn't spend the millions that studies suggest they would have needed.

    How much money does it take to retire (or raise a kid)? It costs however much you want to spend on it. (Which is different than however much the next guy is going to spend).