# Would you sell part of your life? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 10, 2009, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-sell-part-of-your-life/488982 "2009-03-10T17:45:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-sell-part-of-your-life/488982/21 "2009-03-11T01:16:38Z")
Yeah, probably three years. Possibly five. I’d have to discuss it with my husband :). For five mil, he could retire right now and we’d be set. For three, he could retire in a few years and be set. We don’t have kids, so watching the grandkids grow up isn’t an issue. ---
**Author:** ![Stauderhorse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Stauderhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stauderhorse)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-sell-part-of-your-life/488982/22 "2009-03-11T02:39:38Z")
Three years sounds like a totally reasonable price to pay for three million dollars. I’d only need a million or a million and a half, and I could do some good with the rest of it. ---
**Author:** ![AdmiralCrunch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6f9a4e/32.png) [@AdmiralCrunch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AdmiralCrunch)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-sell-part-of-your-life/488982/23 "2009-03-11T03:37:09Z")
You guys are pansies. I’d sell a couple hundred years. Not only am I a millionaire, but I died during the Napoleonic Wars, doomed to wander the earth in my solid platinum Porsche. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-sell-part-of-your-life/488982/24 "2009-03-11T03:56:41Z")
> [@AdmiralCrunch](#): > > You guys are pansies. I’d sell a couple hundred years. Not only am I a millionaire, but I died during the Napoleonic Wars, doomed to wander the earth in my solid platinum Porsche. Have we met? ---
**Author:** ![SurrenderDorothy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/surrenderdorothy/32/1221_2.png) [@SurrenderDorothy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SurrenderDorothy)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-sell-part-of-your-life/488982/25 "2009-03-11T07:31:53Z")
Absolutely. I would sell 10, even 20 years. Given my family history, my natural life would probably be long- like 95. With 20 or 30 million dollars, I could do amazing things. I could either live like a queen (a moderate sort of queen, I guess- I want stuff like the time and means to take swimming lessons and keep dart frogs, not a diamond-studded yacht) or do great things. Honestly, I’m pretty worthless as a person. I’m not that smart or creative or especially talented in any way, so I would not be improving the world by living here more than like 60 years. I don’t have anything real to contribute. 20 million dollars, though… that could be scholarships. Or I could improve some orphanages or hospitals or ape sanctuaries or schools or something or just… give it out to people I know or don’t really know who need it. Stuff like rent or medical bills or groceries or new shoes or whatever… I mean there’s almost no way that $20 million dollars could be worth less than 20 years of me. ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-sell-part-of-your-life/488982/26 "2009-03-11T14:37:53Z")
Easy choice. I’d be willing to trade 5 years for as many millions without hesitation. I plan on living to 90+, anyway, and an insurance analyst would agree, I think. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-sell-part-of-your-life/488982/27 "2009-03-11T15:02:28Z")
That’s about what I’d do. I’d just make sure I lived every day to the fullest, so I’d have no regrets if I dropped dead the next. Kinda like I should be already, huh? ---
**Author:** ![Mojo\_Pin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mojo\_Pin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mojo_Pin)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-sell-part-of-your-life/488982/28 "2009-03-11T15:07:10Z")
Sounds like a much better deal than the alternative: the best years of my life spent popping xanax and running the rat race until I can finally retire and enjoy all the ulcers and heart problems I created for myself by being so stressed out. ---
**Author:** ![Millit\_the\_Frail](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/51bf81/32.png) [@Millit\_the\_Frail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Millit_the_Frail)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-sell-part-of-your-life/488982/29 "2009-03-13T07:45:04Z")
> [@SurrenderDorothy](#): > > Honestly, I’m pretty worthless as a person. I’m not that smart or creative or especially talented in any way, so I would not be improving the world by living here more than like 60 years. I don’t have anything real to contribute. 20 million dollars, though… that could be scholarships. Or I could improve some orphanages or hospitals or ape sanctuaries or schools or something or just… give it out to people I know or don’t really know who need it. Stuff like rent or medical bills or groceries or new shoes or whatever… I mean there’s almost no way that $20 million dollars could be worth less than 20 years of me. Honestly? Pretty worthless as a person? I’m tempted to roll my eyes. I might have said the same, back when I was, like, a losery high school student, though, so I won’t. I’m sure someone will come along to tell you just how valuable you are, etc., soon… And **robardin** , a million dollars wouldn’t be life changing? What world do you live in, and how can I join up? I guess I don’t know anyone for whom that would actually be true. Even my wealthier friends could find a way to use that money to better their lives significantly. Take a year off and see the world. Do that art project/novel/amateur film you’ve always wanted to do. Buy your down-on-her-luck BFF the house next door to you. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-sell-part-of-your-life/488982/30 "2009-03-13T11:38:20Z")
In a heartbeat. 5 years, DONE. It’s all about QUALITY, not quantity. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-sell-part-of-your-life/488982/31 "2009-03-13T11:51:19Z")
People make that deal all the time for a lot less in hazardous working conditions, even working around the house, and also for other things like drinking and smoking. They know what they are doing is harming themselves, but they take the short term gain. The only difference is that they are doing it for far less money (or gain in the case of getting a buzz), and selling a unknown portion of their natural life span. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-sell-part-of-your-life/488982/32 "2009-03-13T17:46:33Z")
Sign me up for three years easy. Maybe even five. My life expectancy is somewhere in the 90’s as it is. And for some reason, this thread immediately reminded me of a joke… * * * This old man and old woman (husband and wife) die and go to heaven. There, St. Peter gives them the grand tour of their new home. It’s a HUGE mansion with a limo driver, gardener, etc. The old man exclaims, “That’s ours?” St. Peter says “Yes, it is yours, forever and ever.” The old man is a little suspicious and says, “How much is the rent?” St. Peter says, “It is free. After all, this is heaven.” Across the street is an expansive golf course with beautifully manicured lawn, interesting layout, and fun golf carts. St. Peter says, “You can play here whenever you want.” The old man says, “What are the green fees?” St. Peter replies, “None. After all, this is heaven.” The old man is very impressed. They go inside the house and on the dining room table is a gigantic feast with roasted meats, desserts, fine wine and all the fixings. The old man says, “How many calories?” St. Peter says, “None. After all, this is heaven.” The old man gets a look on his face like he suddenly understands what heaven is all about. Then the old man suddenly turns and slaps the old woman, yelling, “You stupid witch! If it weren’t for your damn bran muffins and tofu and other health food, not to mention making me give up booze and cigarettes and take exercise every day, we could have been here YEARS ago!” ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-sell-part-of-your-life/488982/33 "2009-03-13T18:01:07Z")
> [@lavenderviolet](#): > > No way. I would rather have the extra time. Especially because most of my family members haven’t had very long lives. ☹ Like robardin pointed out, I wouldn’t want to miss out on some precious memories with my family. As long as I was making enough to have a middle class standard of living, I don’t think extra money would add much to my happiness anyway. Do you currently work for a living? If you work 40 hours a week, every four years you are spending a full year at work. Do you spend time with your family at work? Do you create precious memories at work? A million dollars is enough money that you can quit working and live a middle class lifestyle indefinately. It’s not enough to live extravagantly, but it will support you comfortably. So you’re trading working for a living 40 hours a week from now until retirement for an extra one year added to the end of your life. ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2009, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-sell-part-of-your-life/488982/34 "2009-03-29T04:03:53Z")
> [@Millit\_the\_Frail](#): > > And **robardin** , a million dollars wouldn’t be life changing? What world do you live in, and how can I join up? … Even my wealthier friends could find a way to use that money to better their lives significantly. OK, obviously a million bucks out of left field would be a Very Nice Thing. I meant on a day-to-day basis, as I couldn’t quit working from being given a million bucks. Realistically I’d keep living in the same house I do now, working at the same or similar job that I do now. It’d pay the mortgage on my house off, sure, and would make it so I wouldn’t have to worry about saving up to cover four years of private college for three children in about 10-15 year timeframe (presently priced at $50,000 a year, or $600,000 in present dollars due in 10 year’s time). But I wouldn’t be able to suddenly, I dunno, become a motorcycle riding drifter through the American West. At the same time, I’m doing well enough that there’s nothing material that I seriously long for or fantasize about on a regular basis (it helps that I don’t have any desire to own original Picassos, collect rare sports cars or anything like that). I suppose I’d get around to trading up on my 6- and 9-year old cars, but even the older car is in perfectly good shape (with only got 55K miles on it) so suddenly having $1MM wouldn’t put it further up on my wanted list any more than it already is. And if things remained steady for me career-wise, I’ll be paying off my house in about 12 years anyway. Having $1MM now would pay off in the long run in that I’d foresee a stress-free scenario in paying for my kids’ college, and no particular fears for my retirement or about losing my job and not being able to find another one (I feel pretty secure in my position, but many people laid off in the past year surely did also). Is that worth trading a year of my life? I didn’t think so. Unless it’s implied that relieving me of that stress would basically add a year BACK to my life, which seems negated by Fine Print #3 in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Uzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/91b2a8/32.png) [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2009, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-sell-part-of-your-life/488982/35 "2009-03-29T04:15:40Z")
Hell, I’d give a dozen years as I plan on living past a thousand anyways. But, as I don’t know when they’re going to invent the pill that gives me those extra 900+ years, I should probably hedge my bets and wait until that happens first. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2009, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-sell-part-of-your-life/488982/36 "2009-03-29T04:45:59Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Based on [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=509606). > > Suppose a slightly less favorable offer is made. It’s not a free offer of receiving a choice of two things. It’s an offer of a trade. You’re offered a million dollars for a year of your natural lifespan. And you can sell as many years as you want for a million dollars apiece. > > The fine print: > > 1. It’s only your natural lifespan that’s reduced. Only deaths that are due to natural causes get moved up. If you were going to die of an accident or murder or something like that it won’t be affected. So you don’t have to worry that you’ll get the money and drop over dead a second later unless you were going to die of natural causes in the upcoming year anyway. > 2. There’s a non-disclosure clause. You don’t find out before or after the deal what age you’ll die at. > 3. The process doesn’t not accelerate your aging process. If you were going to die at the age of 75 and you sell off ten years of your life, then you’ll die at 65. But your health up to the age of 65 will be the same as it would have been anyway. > > Would you take the offer? How many years would you sell? If the offer was open to negotiation for better terms would that change your mind? That doesn’t say which year would be bought. Next year? No way. The last year of my life? Maybe, since I can be fairly sure that’s not within the next few years and the money really would help. ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2009, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-sell-part-of-your-life/488982/37 "2009-03-29T05:09:50Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > In a sense, isn’t this what just about everybody who works at a paying job does, at least if it requires them to do A when they’d rather be doing B? Yep. > [@Cat Fight](#): > > Thudlow makes an excellent point. This is pretty much what plenty of people are already doing – building nest eggs at jobs they despise, sacrificing hours of their lives for the all ighty ollar. Missing time with loved ones, family, doing things they enjoy, in hopes of having all the time in the wolrd at some point. Assuming they live that long. Or that their pensions aren’t yanked out from under them, forcing them to spend their golden years as store greeters. Selling out now to buy our lives back later, hopefully. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2009, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-sell-part-of-your-life/488982/38 "2009-03-29T15:33:07Z")
Count me in with the “sell the last year for a million scoots” crowd. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2009, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-sell-part-of-your-life/488982/39 "2009-03-29T16:32:54Z")
Wouldn’t having a lot of money actually extend your lifespan? If you had enough money to retire and live a life of luxury in your 20s and 30s and enough to get the best medical care possible when you are older and on top of that you didn’t have to work a day of your life i imagine you would end up living a lot longer than if you had to bust your ass working for 65 years. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2009, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-sell-part-of-your-life/488982/40 "2009-03-29T16:49:40Z")
> [@](#): > > Wouldn’t having a lot of money actually extend your lifespan? If you had enough money to retire and live a life of luxury in your 20s and 30s and enough to get the best medical care possible when you are older and on top of that you didn’t have to work a day of your life i imagine you would end up living a lot longer than if you had to bust your ass working for 65 years. No, because a wizard does it. Or maybe an alien space bat. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-sell-part-of-your-life/488982.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-sell-part-of-your-life/488982.md?page=3)