To ask WHY you work

I have friends, who earn more than me, who claim they wish their jobs had a purpose. But none of them are willing to jack it in and re train!

Money and a sense of purpose - people who retire early do seem to get old faster unless they are very, very affluent and do huge dynamic projects involving lots of time with other people outside the home and remain very driven by that- which is a lot like working. Retiring to potter around the garden and do some vague amount of volunteer stuff which ends up only being a day a month seems to lead to quite an elderly attitude within five or ten years maximum, often a lot less.

People of my parents' generation who early retired 25-30 years ago on professional final salary pensions seemed to be quite full of the joys for the first few years, but slipped shockingly fast into a very pottering lifestyle, dominated by stretching tasks which they would previously have done efficiently in an hour after work out to take all week and spending the rest of their time worrying about their own minor health issues.

For 95% of people the world shrinks dramatically when they retire, or after the first handful of years of retirement if they do big "bucket list" travel etc. in the first few years.

Money.
I do a 'worthwhile' job, and I have always put it before family life and probably my own mental health at times. But increasingly, my job is not actually my job.
I love parts of it. It gives me a buzz. But it's killing me. I look knackered. My mind is on from 530am until I fall asleep.
I am mid 40s and dog tired. I fell asleep at 8pm tonight. That's not a life. But hey, as long as our results hold, we're doing fine.

If i could keep the salary I'm on, I'd retire tomorrow and do some tutoring to keep sharp.

PS. I also want to know what @ForZanyAquaViewer does!

I feel exactly the same.

My career was everything before children. Now they are everything and I find it hard to balance work and family. I want to give my all to everything, which is impossible, so currently feel that I’m failing at everything.

I do remember why I loved my job though, so I suppose I’m fortunate to have had that. I hope that I can keep going until the feeling returns. Or I win the lottery and quit.

Society wouldn’t function if people didn’t work, aside from a number of things, who would fund housing for all the people who didn’t work

I work because from a young age my father ( who had 4 daughters) drilled into us the importance of being financially independent and getting a good education…..if I had a load of money I probably wouldn’t work so much and retire early though

For money but also for sense of self - I'm not very good at many things but I am good at my job so I get quite a boost from it as generally in life I'm a bit under-motivated and below par. I do also love my job - it involves helping other people and I get a huge kick out of seeing them progress and hearing about their success.

I agree. I just think you could do that without working and probably enjoy it more, if you had the choice!

I don't disagree, but it one has to work it's extra satisfying it you feel like you also have a purpose /make a difference

Money primarily, but also mental stimulation, ambition, to contribute to society etc.

My mental health takes a nose dive when I'm not working.

Maybe we are just lucky to find the right job. There are plenty of jobs I would find mind numbingly dull

I don’t work, retired at 50. I have structure to my day . DH and I are creatures of habit.

Money.

People who say they would be bored, lack purpose, miss the conversation etc without work are among the people I least understand in the world.

@ForZanyAquaViewer oohh what’s your ‘very clever job’?

I work for money and for the company of my colleagues

Income, for food and rent and all that.

Money.
If I won the lottery tomorrow, I would stop working in a heartbeat.

Money and my sanity

Literally just for money. There are an million other ways to find purpose and fulfilment than working.

I work to mitigate risk.

I started as the higher earner, but working at a non-profit limits my earning power. DH has now lapped me multiple times.

I work in case he gets sick. I work in case he dies. I work in case he has a personality transplant and our relationship comes to an end.

I don’t want to have to struggle renter the workforce as an older woman without the seniority and experience I have developed with a significant gap in my cv.

so I work and my family benefits from the extra money, but mostly I benefit from the future security.

For money but also dignity. I have had some short periods without work (planned with savings) and it wasn’t good. Work can be hard but not working is worse. I definitely want the option to retire by 60.

Or, just because you don’t have kids, it doesn’t mean you don’t benefit from society. Those “handouts” you provide mean the people, stacking the shelves in Tesco can afford a roof over their heads because they aren’t paid enough by their employers, and their properties are so expensive because those employers and their mates buy up property as an investment so they can be even more rich. They also go to the people who provide the infrastructure you rely on, council workers who keep the place liveable. They also go to raising the kids of today who become the care workers who will wipe your arse when you’ve only got a couple of marbles rolling around upstairs.

If you want to be angry at the people who “waste” your taxes, try looking up the chain rather than down it.

same. Im there because i have to be.

At present, I work because I have no other choice. I hate my position, I hate my boss, I hate the work I'm doing. If I could quit, I would.

I don't want to not work at all though. I'd be bored. And when I don't have stuff to do, I sit around, watching tv, doomscrolling, and essentially getting depressed.

But yeah. Not having a fun time right now.

When I retire, I will almost certainly spend time each week doing a volunteering role that brings me some of the same satisfaction.

Likewise if I won the lottery I would have to find a way to replace all the other elements of my job that I like