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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.

11 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. Exception by slipped_bit · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'll be the exception.

  3. I'd definitively still work by Sebby · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Though I would probably switch careers, or potentially simply get involve more in my hobbies, or else pursue things I've not had time to. But in the end, I'd definitively still be 'working' - I would just have the luxury of choosing exactly what that work would be, at any moment.

    --

    AC comments get piped to /dev/null
    1. Re:I'd definitively still work by Solandri · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Pretty much everyone I know who is extremely wealthy ($250k/yr+ including three guys making over $1 million/yr) is a workaholic. If they find they have some free time, they don't go to the beach or watch TV or read slashdot like you and I would do. They use it to do more work. Whether that's their personality or because they just happened to find a job they love to do, they enjoy working so much that their spouses have a hard time dragging them away from it long enough just to go on vacation with the kids. That's what the wife of one of the $1+ million/yr guys complained to me about when I stayed at their house for a weekend. She kept having to pull phones, tablets, laptops out of his hands during their vacation because he kept trying to work. Eventually she conceded and let him work for a few hours each evening back at the hotel, in exchange for him not doing anything work-related the rest of the day while they were sightseeing with the kids.

      Most people probably believe rich people are like the stereotype of the fat cat banker who works 4 hours and takes off to play golf the rest of the day, because that's what they fantasize being rich is like. But the rich people I've met are the exact opposite of that. Another of the over $1 million/yr persons I know epitomizes TFA. His family (landlord for my business) owns a good chunk of the land in Southern California and they probably pull in several hundred $million/yr in lease and rental fees. It's all passive income so they don't have to lift a finger, but he works pro bono as an accountant for the city he lives in, often putting in 10-12 hour workdays. (The third one works 8 hr/day at his law practice, then goes home and helps run his wife's business the rest of the evening.)

  4. 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.

  5. 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

  6. Lottery by Rik+Sweeney · · Score: 5, Funny

    If I ever won the lottery, I'd still go to work every day, and make sure my work colleagues knew that I'd won the lottery and didn't actually need to ever work again.

    Why? Because it'd really piss them off.

    --
    Summation 2
  7. Re:So... by cayenne8 · · Score: 5, Interesting
    I read these things and I'm dumbfounded.

    If I hit the lottery and had enough money where I'd never need to work again, I'd leave work so fast I'd leave skid marks out the door!!

    I frankly don't know if I'd even notify them I was leaving I might just never return....

    Ok, I'd tell them, I'm not *that* much an ass, but it illustrates my feelings.

    I work for one and ONLY ONE reason, to make money to support the style of life I enjoy when not working. Period, cut dried simple.

    If I had enough money to never have to work again, I would not. I have PLENTY of things I'd rather be doing with my time. I have lots of hobbies....I'd like to spend time traveling, doing photography, chasing women, etc.

    I just don't get it why anyone would still work if they didn't have to.

    I've heard of people that for some reason, associate their self identity with their work...and I've actually seen this happen, often to older men who retire and just seem to lose part of themselves. I thought, however that this was mainly the product of older generations.

    But my work, and I made a very decent living, is purely mercenary. I don't care about the work, other than doing it of as high quality I can to get paid for it. If the customer is happy, then they pay me and keep me around.That's it. I have no love for my work or vocation.

    I'd certainly NOT be doing any of this at all if I didn't have to do it for a living.

    I just can't imagine the mindset of someone, that could not find the world entertaining enough, to find things to do if they had their fiscal needs met for a lifestyle they like, and not have to work any more.

    --
    Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
  8. Re:You may not "quit working" by cayenne8 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Very few people have a job that they really enjoy. So they think "If I had a lot of money I would immediately quit working". But, the truth is, doing nothing all day is actually quite boring

    You know, a few years ago, I had about a 7 month gap in between contracting gigs.

    My typical day was, wake up, walk the dog....jump on my motorcycle and hit the gym for a couple of hours.

    I'd come back home, have some lunch, look for jobs about an hour or so, and then often after showering and dressing, I'd jump on my motorcycle and run around town (living in New Orleans). I spent days seeing the art museums, WW2 museum, all sorts of neat things. I might have left out earlier and met friends for lunch somewhere....

    Usually by about 3-4pm, I'd usually meet some friends at one of our MANY fine drinking establishments, for a few...and then come home, etc.

    For 7 months, lather, rinse, repeat. I had NO problem finding things to do.

    I thought to myself, "Man, if I won the lottery, this would likely be a large part of my life, and hell, if I got tired of this, I could always take a vacation.

    Seriously....how could anyone get bored with all the money they ever need, and a bit of imagination?

    --
    Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
  9. 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).