I’d finish out the semester for sure, and maybe even the following year to ensure that my colleagues weren’t left in the lurch without anyone to replace me. Academic job searches take months to complete, and there’s a specific hiring season.
I think I probably would want to continue teaching, but not in this part of the country, and since I would have no earthly reason to care whether I got tenure, I’d take off to some large city with plenty of adjunct work available and only take classes that interested me. (Which would totally make me a contributor to the steady decline of academia due to the erosion of tenure-track jobs and increasing dependence on underpaid contingent labor, but academia is fucked with or without me.)
I don’t really have a job like most people think of a job, but if I found myself with a shitload of money overnight, I’d be the guy came up in conversation every once a while like this: “Hey, you remember that guy, Bo? What ever happened to him?”
All these people who say they’d keep their jobs… I guess I believe they’re sincere about it now, but I simply can’t imagine it would really be the case for most people.
It’s much easier to convince yourself that you love your job when you really need that paycheck. But there would surely come a day when you just didn’t feel like getting out of bed that morning, and when you did get to the office you had to deal with some angry client over something somebody else fucked up last week, and your boss is in a shitty mood and your computer locks up in the middle of putting together a huge report… and it would suddenly dawn on you that you could be sipping a Margarita on a beach on the Mexican Riviera by sunset if you really wanted to… Buh-bye, job.
Not everyone is stuck in that particular hell. I mean, I am, but if my job were Quality Control expert at the blow-job factory, I might stick it out - so to speak.
I just know myself. If I suddenly quit and had no plans, I’d just sit around at home being a sloth. I honestly think I need the routine and I wouldn’t want to just quit with no plans – I think I’d regret it, and miss it pretty quick. I don’t think transitioning to retirement, especially at such a young age, is super easy regardless of financials – I mean, I still have to find something to do all day, and I’d just as soon that not be sitting in my jam-jams playing video games. I’m not a social butterfly either and I think it would be terribly isolating for me. Plus I’d feel like a dick, the owner of the company has been very generous to us over the years, and without having a need to go on short notice, I’d feel wrong doing it.
I’m not imagining staying forever but I think planning for a transition over a few years is prudent. Winning the lotto doesn’t mean no financial problems for life; lots of people piss it away. I’d like to go through everything with a financial advisor and make long-term plans, look at my family also (since I’d want to spread the wealth around) and see what the possibilities are. There are still limits. Even the lottery isn’t a blank check or a magic solution to all of your problems. Maybe I’d decide to start a business, or a charity, or just travel a long time – but there’s also major logistical issues to sort, taxes to deal with, and all that. In the meantime having a solid job to lean on and have medical insurance from, especially since I find it personally rewarding much of the time, seems fair enough.
As for it being unethical to keep my job, I have to answer WTF to that – it’s a business transaction, my labor for money. What on earth is unethical about that? Is it unethical if I piss away my paycheck on a big-screen TV I don’t need?
I’d give probably a month’s notice. I like the people I work for so I don’t want to leave them high and dry. And even if I don’t plan on ever having to work again, there is no sense in burning bridges behind me.
I would almost certainly give notice. I work with good people and would not want to screw them. I might be convinced to work from home as a part-time consultant but I doubt it. It’d probably be all I could do not to quit the next time I had another stupid meeting or phone call or some request to fill out yet more paperwork.
But would it really take years for you to think of something that gave you the same non-monetary benefits of your job without the drawbacks? A couple of months, sure, to set things up, adjust and give your boss time to adjust.
Is there no country you’ve ever really wanted to visit? No charity that could use your skills? No subject you’d like to study? No kids or other dependents that you’d like to spend more time with?
Also, your boss and co-workers might grow to resent you. Imagine if there were budget cutbacks and you stayed there in your job even though you didn’t need the money from it. You could maybe invest in the business to prevent the budget cutbacks, but that’d totally change your status in the company and might make you seem like somewhat of a cash cow.
OTOH, Is your job more of a vocation than a job? I can certainly understand people like, say, doctors, staying in their jobs; a few of them are already very wealthy and aren’t there for the money anyway.
I don’t need to quit my job to do those things. I already travel; I already volunteer. No dependents, either.
I’m not saying that there’s nothing else I’d want to do. I’m saying I’m in my early thirties and I’m just, being brutally honest with myself, not ready to hang up my work for the rest of my life (and restarting a career sucks balls). I like my job well enough, I enjoy the people I work with – why rush out? I have no imminent need. Sure I’d go on a big international trip the first year but around 3 weeks is more than enough (just went on a 3 week multi-country trip this year, was definitely ready to come home).
I just know myself. I am not an organized, structured person. I appreciate my work for some things and giving some structure to my day is one of them. In the long term, sure, I’d transition out eventually, but I’d like to take it slowly and figure out some real plans for my life first. I’d enjoy having more free time, but I’d do it by hiring people to do the stuff I really dislike (e.g. yardwork, cleaning the house) rather than my job.
I work for a very small company. There won’t be any budget cutbacks from mysterious people on high; the owner’s two offices down. As I said earlier in the thread, I’d try to keep it hush with co-workers to avoid any potential for issues, but I’d be honest with the owner. If he said the company was having a hard time and, knowing my financial situation, would I step down or go to part time? Sure I would. Realistically I don’t see that happening unless my work performance really suffered or something really unexpected happened to the company, but hell, those things could happen lotto or not. I don’t see why he’d resent me for my honesty about the situation.
As for investing or being the “cash cow”, I really doubt it. There is another employee in a business venture with the owner already, to my understanding it’s been wholly equitable. They wouldn’t need my money barring catastrophe and, if they asked, I’d probably help just because I wanted to. If they were dicks about it (which would absolutely stun me) then I could quit then, but – well, isn’t that always the case? I’m not going to preemptively quit a job I like because they might someday be dicks.
Really, they’re nice people and it’s a supportive place to work. I have my own office, I get free coffee, and at the end of the day we play pool. I don’t dread it and it doesn’t usually stress me out. It’s a rare bird I wouldn’t want to put down, you see?
Not exactly, I work at a software company and it’s not what my degree is based on. I just am happy there and don’t see the reason to rush off immediately just because I don’t need the money to survive. I’m a cautious person when it comes to major life changes. If it all got weird of course I’d reassess but, again, I know myself. I know that a sudden time windfall would get filled with stuff that really wasn’t worth doing.
I’d give a month’s notice. My boss has stood by me through a steaming pile of heckity over the last two years, and I could never leave him in the lurch. So I’d let him know what was up and keep coming in as long as it took to train a replacment. But I’d come in wearing comfortable cotton clothing.
I like my job and I really like the people I work with. I wouldn’t choose to leave. Winning the lottery or getting some huge sum of money would just allow me to live without monetary worries. I’d still work exactly the same as I am now.
If the amount was large enough that I didn’t need any additional income, I’d even continue to work there for no/lower salary.
I know this was asked of AHunter, but since I said exactly the same as he did, I’ll answer your questions as well.
I don’t get up at 7am. I work from noon-8pm. There are no quarterly reviews. There are no subordinates. My office is four people, including myself. We are all friends and have gone on weekend vacations together. I do usually go on a holiday each year. I don’t care about getting involved in charity work or running my own company.
I know that a sudden time windfall would get filled with stuff that really wasn’t worth doing.