To ask if you would work (hypothetical)

[TheExtraGuineaPig]

There have been a few threads on here, plus the Bezos story that have got me wondering.

Would you work if you had a really well paid DP/DH/DW. Not as rich as Jeff Bezos (!) but in the 1%, £500k pa or similar. In my scenario you have kids at school - need care before and after plus holidays - and have had a career in the past but not one that really lends itself to part time work. Any PT work would be average pay.

I'm not sure what I would do.. would be worried about becoming unemployable in the case of disaster striking but also would find it very hard to get motivated to go out to work.

My husband recently was promoted to a new role in a new country. It was a nice bump financially and so I gave my notice at work and never looked back!! I had a high paying professional career but I also have a husband who works long hours and travels and 3 kids under the age of 6. Things are so much nicer now that I don't work. I have zero desire to go back unless I could work freelance and make my own hours so I could always have summers and school holidays off. Things are way less stressful for my husband now too, we don't have to juggle the kids and cleaning and cooking etc., he can focus on work and spend his down time relaxing and enjoying family time. I wish I knew what these magical unicorn jobs are that everyone talks about - that gives you "purpose" and confidence and stimulation and enjoyment lol.. I have always had nice jobs but at the end of the day it was just a paycheque.

No one has really answered the question about how you will all cope if you are made redundant or when you retire if you feel your job ‘defines’ you.

Well I have been made redundant. Twice actually. I got a new job. It was one of life’s bumps in the road and I dealt with it. I don’t see how enjoying work means you don’t have the coping strategies to deal with these things.

As for retirement having seen that it really aged my mum I’m not in a rush to do it. I’ll probably go very part time but also by that age I might feel tired and ready for a break!

Top 1% is £150k, I think most people seem to think there are loads of >£500k salaries out there but that’s not true...

Back to the question.... DH is Top 1% but nowhere near 500k. With small children, a significant part of my salary goes on childcare so giving up work wouldn’t make an enourmous difference to our financial situation. However, they won’t be little forever and once they are all at school I want to have a career! If I drop out now it would be very difficult to come back to my reasonably well paid, very interesting professional job. I’ve recently made the decision to go part time as this is an easier way to keep my career ticking over while the kids are small and I can go back to full time when they are bigger, this is quite a nice compromise between the two situations.

I think it's in response to people who have written that not working = being bored, being boring and not doing anything all day and have nothing interesting to talk to because of that.
Really? Perhaps they should have responded directly to any such comments, then.

I would expect to be building up some savings in my name if I gave up work because of dh's salary (never going to happen with my DH). With earnings of that much then both spouses could be building up a very nice savings pot. Then I would be happy to stop working, because I'd have a bit of security if we split up.

I would probably stop working at that point, but I'd want something else to do. I'd love to be a lady of leisure, have time to exercise properly, go for walks, employ a cleaner!! It's all a pipe dream for me though, I have to keep working as I'm the person paying the bills for our quite modest lifestyle.

I love my job, but it's incredibly stressful, and I'd get burnt out if I worked full-time. I have worked part-time (2.5 days a week) since before DH and I had our child. DH works in the same profession but enjoys working full-time, so that's what he does. We have a young child now, but even when he's older, I can't see myself increasing my hours. I'm lucky that I earn well, so even my part-time income is enough to make a substantial contribution to the family finances. And I'm very lucky that my husband prefers to have a happy part-time wife than a stressed full-time one.

Really? Perhaps they should have responded directly to any such comments, then.

if you read the thread, it's quite clear that it's an argument that comes back all the time!

Even if my dh earned 500k or if we won the lottery I would still work. My role is highly skilled and quite niche where a phd is needed. I've worked very hard to get where I am. However if money was no issue I would set up my own charity/social enterprise and work for free. My dh on the other hand would give up his work tomorrow as he hates it!

Just asked DH, he'd happily give up work. Then I explained he still had to do childcare 😂
We agreed he'd have to do the childcare I do now (SAHP, DS does 3 hours a day) and the same amount of housework I do, so agreed we'd get a cleaner 😂 he'd spend his free time Inn the studio drawing. Hopefully when DS is at school he'd have enough time to make it lucrative as he's very good and then we'd be even richer!!!!

I would probably just set up a little crafting business from home, something I enjoyed which brought me my own income.

DH is a very high earner and I haven't worked since we got married. At first I was studying, then I had the dc (still pre-school age currently). I don't have plans to get a job when they start nursery/school. I was busy with a lot of hobbies/voluntary work before we had the dc and I will probably spend more time doing that once they're in full-time education. I wouldn't get bored - I have a lot of family living nearby, some of whom need a lot of support, and we live in London, where there's always lots of creative things going on, and I enjoy my own company.

I'm planning to expand some creative interests and set up a business related to that, but I'm only planning to work on it part-time and partly as a way to fill the 'What do you do?' void.

Financially we're secure as I own a lot of investments in my name, have rental income etc.

I'd do a master's degree and then work part time - maybe two days a week.

My husband earns much less than that, 1/10th in fact, we don't have a mortgage and I rent a property out. I stopped working even on less income than you describe. I absolutely hated working. It doesn't matter that we don't have kids; I don't need to justify to anyone why I stay at home. What matters is that he is very happy that I am happy and it works for us.
So, yes some people will give up work even on much less.

Yes. However, I would probably open a business.
My father left my mother when I was a child.she had a career which is why she was able to bring us up
I just don’t want to rely on anyone