To think that not everyone is obsessed with making as much money as possible?

The small market town where I’ve lived for the last 25 years has seen a huge influx of young ‘achievers’. Their grim determination and endless pursuit of ‘smashing’ goals and joyless ‘winning’, is a constant source of fascination for me. I probably need to get out more to be fair. 😁

YANBU OP.

it depends. If you have 2 people, both earned 100k a year. Person 1 just spends it all, having fun and enjoying life- holidays/ dinners out. Person 2 doesn’t go out, saves every penny. Lives frugally. I personally don’t think it’s fair that despite the fact both people have earned the same money, that person 2 should have to then pay tax on money they have already paid taxes on just because he chose to save rather than spend. I think taxing him again is vilifying him for being wealthier than person 1.

Most people assume that wealth always comes from somewhere else than previously taxed income when actually it hasn’t.

You are not BU if you are financially self sufficient however if you are claiming benefit top ups to subside your ‘simple pleasures’ lifestyle then, yes you are.

I worked shifts for decades, management role, 40 hours a week, weekends, overtime, sometimes worked from 7am-11pm if someone called in sick, sometimes worked 10 days in succession, sometimes worked 6 days a week, 40-minute drive to work in a busy city centre.

I started a new job in January this year. Now I walk to work, I finish at 2pm on Mondays and Fridays, have weekends off, can go home at lunchtime to walk the dog.

That is my definition of success!

No but calling for them to pay more whilst you have actively chosen not to improve your financial situation is batshit.

That is your chosen implication and belief of tone, not what was stated.

Taxing the wealthy isn't vilification.

I agree, but i also think that you need a lot of money for security and stability.

I dont have a big house, fancy cars or even go on holiday every year! But i seemed to find achieving this meant I had to work and chase some promotions.

I also think my time has value so if I have to work to cover the basics, I may as well earn more for my time if I can.

This
People with money don’t seem happier, they have a whole different set of issues and seem unsatisfied. Also lots of stress and burn out. The happiest people I know have a positive attitude and like the simple things in life

We're not really very materialistic and have little interest in buying expensive cars/clothes/luxury holidays. However, we do want to be able to help our kids with university fees, housing deposits and pensions and also not to need to worry about money in our old age.

So we have a high income and work towards maximising it because we want to be able to do these things.

@Swiftie1878
There’s a notable part of society who prefer more money to more time. This is after they have a baseline quality of life.
They would rather work more to afford a holiday or a new car than work less and not have the holiday or keep older car for example.

We should all try and respect that people enjoy living in different ways.
Occasionally people who prioritise certain aspects feel that others who choose differently are making “bad decisions” rather than simply different ones.

The high earners I know worked very hard to become qualified, then to rise up their careers.

There is often a correlation between effort and reward. If I put in more effort i could have gone for promotions. It would have worked longer hours, more workload and managing people. It would have come with substantial pay increases but I knew I wouldn’t have been very good at it.

are you talking about wealth?- that is different

Aaand here we go again. Goady post with a goady title from a poster with the usual three-part name, who really needs to get a life.

Maybe go and chase a bigger salary, OP? It would help with the chronic boredom that makes you post the same guff on here over and over.

You are naive if you believe high earners automatically become high earners because they put in more effort than low earners.

Couldn’t agree more. I’m somewhere in the middle i have earnt well but not as much as I suppose I could have done. I don’t begrudge high earners who have put more effort into their career than me. I don’t want them to have to pay more tax because I’ve not made the same choices as them

Naaah.

Beyond a certain salary, people can earn enough money for a house, a car and food.

Plenty of people don't stop there.

I am lucky enough to live a comfortable enough life, where I have the above, but I could have a bigger house, a better car and more fancy restaurants in my life if I had prioritised maximising my income.

I think some people might look at me and think I’m one of these people, but I’m not. I do live in a brand-new five bed house and we do have a brand new 2025 car. (And an older 10-year-old Car) but I don’t spend every waking moment in my life wanting the best things in life, and neither do I chase money. I earn 50k and my do earns ~70k. Neither of us are at the top of our career ladder, So we will go further, but that’s not for money, it’s because it’s our career and we enjoy it. The money has the bonus I suppose.

Naive.
People aren’t chasing money to fill up a bank account. They are chasing money to put food on the table, petrol in their cars and a roof over their head.
Life is expensive.

It is clearly implied. "I am a lovely, humble person and like a simple life, not like one of those horrid people who chase material success. AIBU?"

Posted twice.

I don’t judge people either way they can decide what they want to do. But it doesn’t always have to be one of the other you can earn well, enjoy the finer things and be happy and not stressed. I would think it’s all dependent on the persons capacity for things.
Holding down a high-pressure job that runs well for some people might seem like the worst thing in the world and that might make them unhappy, but to others it’s not a big deal. I agree, money shouldn’t be the absolute number one priority. Being happy should be the absolute number one priority, but unfortunately that’s not always the way life let us live.

Surely it's pretty obvious that not everyone is 'obsessed with making as much money as possible'.

If they were, there would be no teachers, no nurses, no academics, very few people who work in creative industries, nobody who retired early or reduced their hours etc. Frankly, there would be very people who had children.

In fact, I don't think I really know anyone personally who is primarily motivated by money. I know lots of people, including myself, who could be wealthier if they'd sacrificed other things like job satisfaction and leisure time. I have one friend who runs an SME business and although obviously the goal of the business is to make money for her and the other shareholders, even she doesn't put that ahead of everything else.

That's fine, make your own choices and decisions but then don't moan when others have what you don't and don't vilify those who make different choices ie "tax the wealthy" etc.

Where is the judgement in OP’s post?