Let’s say you received a letter from Bill Gates and it informed you that you will receive $100,000 per year for the rest of your life… free, no strings attached. Or you hit the lottery and win $1,000,000?
Would you continue to work or would you immediately retire? Some people I know say they would continue to work because " they would be bored sitting at home and watching TV all day". Of couse these people have a lot invested in their careers… and not many hobbies to occupy their time.
I would quit my job immediately since $100K a year, while not a fortune, is certainly enough for my family to live comfortably in Idaho, Montana or Nevada. Plus I have enough hobbies to keep me occupied.
Speaking from my own experience, I’d rather not work, if I don’t have to.
I’ve worked since high school, and while I’m only nearing 26 now, I’ve gotta say, I’d rather not work at all. As soon as my husband’s job situation allowed me to stay at home with my kiddo, I jumped on it, and as long as I can do this, I will! Money is snug, but we’ve got enough to keep us happy and healthy, and to maybe go out to eat and rent a couple of movies a few times a month. Plus, we’ve got enough money to keep me in art supplies and yarn, so I’m certainly not going to complain.
Taking care of and playing with the P’nut, puttering around the house, knitting, working on my music and my art, and taking care of the Amazingly Irritating Dog [sup]TM[/sup] are more than enough for me – I love how I spend my days, and if I don’t ever have to punch another clock or dye my hair back to black and work in another office, (hiding all the tattoos while I’m at it,) I’ll be a happy camper.
$100,000 a year isn’t enough to support the hobbies I want. Helicopters are expensive. So I’d still have to work from there, and improve my financial state. Now, if we were talking about a million a year, I’d jump on that.
I would and do. My hobbies/interest are my job so the two mesh very well. I’m not super wealthy by any stretch but I could probably stop working and everything would be okay, if definitely more tight. I continue to do security appraisals for clients of my former business who I like, and I still teach martial arts, and the occasional self defense seminar. In a way, my life is back to what it was like before I tried to make a big corporation out of it, and I’m happy.
The popping noise you would hear would be the air rushing in to fill the vacuum caused by my departure.
I have boxes of computer games I’ve never even loaded onto my computer, shelves full of books waiting to be read, and a long list of movies I’ve been wanting to watch. Boredom would be the least of my problems.
Would I quit? Oh, yeah. In a hot minute I would. I have lots and lots of other things I’d rather do with my time. I’d probably be busier without a job than I am with one.
I sat on my ass for 6 months last year because of a layoff, and I was going bug nuts towards the end from the idleness. So, yeah, I’d be doing *something that got me out of the house each day. My ultimate daydream is to with the lottery, and then go to grad school all the way to a PhD.
However, I also got a dream job that ended my unemployment, and I’d have a hard time quitting if I won the lottery. I could see me becoming tougher to manage, though…
I would probably keep working, EXCEPT that I would begin by going back to school. I know, I know - I just graduated and haven’t even had convocation yet, but I know I messed a few things up, and there’s more things I wish I had learned.
I have a few hobbies that I’d like to pick up, or continue, but they wouldn’t fill my time enough. Also, 100 000$ a year isn’t enough to do nothing but travel, and there are other things in life that I’d want to get or do.
I would quit my job and finish my education–all the way through the Ph.D.–at my leisure. Then I would endeavor to individually continue my education, picking up Latin and maybe Japanese, reading the world’s greats from time immemorial, and generally stuffing my head with stuff that will make me a better witer. Then I’d go back to work. I’d go back to work managing the publishing company I’d buy, the publishing company that would buck all the bullshit currently defining the publishing/distibution industy. And I’d write through the whole lovely mess…
Oh, I would be out the door faster than … something really, really fast. I’d probably sit at home for a couple months, catching up on my reading, movies-to-watch list, important nap time, and the like. I’d take road trips to visit friends in faraway places I don’t get to see very often. And then I’d probably find myself bored out of my skull.
I think I would get a part-time job, nothing terribly stressful, something at least somewhat related to my general interests–a bookstore, video store, maybe I’d be a professional dog-walker or something. I’d need to get out of the house and do stuff, but I certainly wouldn’t want something where I had to get up early every morning. And nothing that requires pantyhose.
There’s so much I’d love to do outside of work - get back to my piano studies and finally learn a full concerto, join an amateur orchestra/ string quartet with my viola or perhaps do a bit of conducting, maybe give fiction-writing a go, do some more experimental stuff with electronic music, more travel (and yes - you could do quite a bit of travelling with €100,000 a year - just maybe not staying in five-star hotels all the time etc.), spend more time with my parents and the rest of my family. Have more fun with my friends (this is where it gets difficult - if they’re all working all the time and you’ve no one to play with…). Oh yeah and I’d like to do an English degree.
Of course I don’t know if I’d get sick of this long-term but somehow I don’t think I would. Yes a ‘lady of leisure’ would definitely be a nice occupation.
To be my own boss and determine my own hours and having the security of a nice salary every year no questions asked - who wouldn’t want that!
I’m at university at the moment. If I won the lottery of something I wouldn’t quit, I would continue and get my degree. Afterwards I would get a part time job. As I would likely get bored if I didn’t.
Well, I might cut back on the extra-curricular coaching, but I would still teach. Teaching isn’t a job…it’s what I am. The money would just enable me to vacation nicer places, and buy the wife nicer things.
I would quit my job in a heartbeat! I am pregnant anyway, so I’d have lots to keep me busy for a few years. After awhile, I’d love to volunteer part-time with animals. I love to read and travel so I’d be just fine not going to an office job for the rest of my life.
Being in customer service (read: minimum wage slave to morons), I’d quit in a heartbeat. Anyone who’s in customer service who tells you differently is lying! And I’d drop out of university too. I’m the type of person who won’t do things if I don’t have to.
I’d do volunteer work. Right now I have a part time job, and volunteer at the Humane Society on my two days off. I’d quit my job and just be at the Humane Society more often.
My husband and I always said that if we won the lotto, it would be fun to have a small bar to run. So, that’s an idea too.
I quit my Programming job in August 2001 because of excessive time demands made after I had suffered a life changing back injury. They were being flat out abusive with me. Fortunately I had been stuffing away roughly $1000/month for quite some time and making a bundle (up to that time) in the stock market.
So I went from then to January 2003 on savings and then my credit, until I sold my house (because I moved into my wife’s house).
Went from then until January of this year on proceeds from the house.
Now living on credit again and awaiting the divorce settlement.
In a week and a half, it will be 30 months or 2.5 years since I last worked.
Loving every minute of it.
What day of the week is this? Hell, it only matters in dealing with other people and the TV schedule. And even then, I don’t watch near as much TV as I did when I worked and needed the mental downtime.
