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Why Don't Rich People Just Stop Working?

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Re: Why Don't Rich People Just Stop Working?

#101

Post by ttyprintk »

nightski wrote: post #63
randycupertino wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've noticed how quickly I become depressed when I have nothing to do. It's sort of like the properties of a gas- my lethargy expands to fill the volume of space I have. When I was on a sabbatical between jobs instead of going to museums and art shows and exploring new hikes and doing other things I'd think I would enjoy I laid around and binge-watched The Wire and the West Wing. When I'm busy I actively block out ti…

I must be weird because I have never been bored in my life, working or not. I always can think of countless things I'd like to do at any moment.

This is not weird. I positively love being unemployed. All of the activities of the parent post are suddenly open, and I can contribute to my family, including traveling to see them. All of my personal projects reach milestones and benefit from real, professional attention. Those are things I can’t turn off, it’s just a question of how to subsidize them. Takes between one and ten million dollars earned and spent over a lifetime to do it.

Re: Why Don't Rich People Just Stop Working?

#102

Post by daxfohl »

reubenswartz wrote: post #75
jayzalowitz wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He definitely shouldn't become an actor

Haha. I can’t even bring myself to check that assertion. :) But for people in any domain at the top of their game, what else is as fulfilling?

Unless you are a member of the Detroit Lions....

Re: Why Don't Rich People Just Stop Working?

#103

Post by Amasuriel »

brendoelfrendo wrote: post #79
lbriner wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We had a talk once from a man who had sold his company at around 23 years old for several million, a lot to a young man. He said he thought he would live the dream, travel the world, go and do whatever he wanted, waking up at 10am every day and having a cooked breakfast! Then he realised how boring and lonely it was. His friends were all at work while he was "free" and most people don't want to sit by themself at a b…

Sounds to me like he left a lot of options on the table. There's a lot more out there than working in corporate or sitting alone at a bar in Tahiti. I'd love to be able to get creative and indulge hobbies as full-time work; it'd be nice to brew beer, or write a book, or take up woodworking, without having to worry about financing or making a profit from any of those activities.

I agree with this 100%. I really like gardening and find it very fulfilling, and it can consume a lot of time.

I have zero interested however in trying to run a commercially viable vegetable farm.

I personally would definitely not work in my field if I made 10+million, but I would have no shortage of things I wanted to do with my time.

Re: Why Don't Rich People Just Stop Working?

#105

Post by bluetomcat »

racl101 wrote: post #16

I find that rich people, like the millionaires and billionaires, are driven people and driven not necessarily only by money. Extreme financial success is but a side effect of whatever is driving them whether it be building a huge company or a revolutionizing and industry. And if getting rich is not the end game whether entirely or partially then the work is never done. They are still on a mission and there are more c…

There's different kinds of "rich".

Rich, as in, a busy lawyer with lots of customers on his shoulders, who also tries to maintain a respectable social status by having the right house, connections and the right car. For him, stopping work means cutting their income stream and social connections and still having to support this expensive lifestyle.

There's also rich with passive income from investments and they really have the option for a leisurely escape.

Re: Why Don't Rich People Just Stop Working?

#106

Post by entropicgravity »

racl101 wrote: post #16

I find that rich people, like the millionaires and billionaires, are driven people and driven not necessarily only by money. Extreme financial success is but a side effect of whatever is driving them whether it be building a huge company or a revolutionizing and industry. And if getting rich is not the end game whether entirely or partially then the work is never done. They are still on a mission and there are more c…

Work is fine when you either don't have a boss or can quit any time you like.

Re: Why Don't Rich People Just Stop Working?

#107

Post by ghaff »

duxup wrote: post #39

I remember when I visited the CEO's office at my first "real" job. I was sitting with my boss waiting for the CEO to show up to his massive (quiet) office with comfortable furnature, secretary who was busy organizing his personal and professional life (she asked us about gifts for his grand kids since we "knew computers"), drinks and food at the ready nearby... I said something like "Man I would find work pretty dang…

I don't know how large the company was, but at a big company, the CEO is probably not actually in that nice office all that much. They're on planes, in airports, scheduled in meetings from breakfast through dinner, on late night calls, etc.

I'm not saying they have a "bad" like and they're well-paid for it but it's not particularly relaxing or flexible.

Re: Why Don't Rich People Just Stop Working?

#108

Post by Cycl0ps »

kangnkodos wrote: post #85

"Many people with a large amount of money, perhaps a million or two, consider themselves middle class when clearly they could even retire and live off their passive income" If you have a million dollars, stop working, invest the money, you can safely draw about 35K per year for a long time. This is based on long term historic returns of the stock market. There are different definitions of middle class in the US. The…

A quick search shows average returns across the market sit around 8-11%. If we say 5% to be conservative, 1M returns $50'000 each year. That's not bad. That's a house in a quiet neighborhood with no worries about food, or debt. You're not living without a budget, but you could live without working.

Re: Why Don't Rich People Just Stop Working?

#109

Post by xeromal »

HWR_14 wrote: post #10
m3kw9 wrote: post #6

There is actually more meaning to life than earning vast amounts money, and spending it. Once you’ve earned enough, your natural self will seek the next meaning to life

That seems like the exact opposite of what the article is saying. The question is, "why don't they stop working"

Probably because work has something to do with that meaning of life.
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