If you had £2 million, would you still work full time?

[Summerlovin99]

You obtained the money through early inheritance. You are married, have two very young children and your house is already mortgage free. And if you wouldn't work full time, what would you do with your time?

I don’t work proper full time Without two million pounds, so no way would I do it with two million pounds! I currently do 4 days, so would look at either dropping that to 3 days or stop working completely but retrain to do something far more interesting and then work part time in that field. I would want to make sure there was enough left of the inheritance to pass down to the dc to give them a head start when they need it so not working at all wouldn’t really be an option. Also, IMO, the dc do need a positive working role model. Two million won’t last forever, so they would need a career to continue the lifestyle they would become accustomed to if we had that amount of money in their childhood.

I would work. 2 million doesn't go as far as not working again nowadays. At least for a while I would still work ft

Why would anyone want to live in London if work didn’t come into the equation?

Because you’re a lifelong Londoner and you love it and your whole life, family, friends, kids’ schools are here.

Not a chance! But I retired at 58 anyway.

No because someone else would need the income from that job.
£2m would last 50 years if you gave yourself £40k a year.

No I wouldn't but I have worked full time for over 30 years including have 2 DC with a tiny maternity leave. I enjoy working but now I have an empty nest and having been in this pandemic for nearly 500 days there is so much I want to do.

I dont work full time now so no. Also I'm 52 so I would be out the door (with a good chunk of my pension) like my arse was on fire! I always wanted to volunteer for the food bank so I would do that and buy a horse. I would be sooooo happy

Depends how old you are and what lifestyle you want.

You could invest it, draw down the money and could probably take £60,000 pa adjusted for inflation for the next 40years.

But the more free time you have the more money you spend!

No. I wouldn't waste the opportunity someone else had given me. Create work if you feel guilty. A little easy type business with a manager to manage everything and you overlook-sounds good in my head possible nightmare i suppose

I didn't get as much as 2 million but after I had a significant inheritance the first thing I did was ask my financial advisor to draw up different scenarios a) not working b) early retirement c) what level of salary might be most efficient tax wise etc The results reassured me greatly. I then left my fulltime well paid & prestigious nightmare job and now work part time (30 hours mainly during the school day) in a much less prestigious position & company and significantly less money. But it is interesting, I have a lot of freedom and my boss & team arr mainly great. If I do get annoyed about things - after all a job is a job - I look at scenario a) and tell myself that I could chuck it all in tomorrow and would be absolutely fine financially. That then gives me the confidence and motivation to deal with the annoying things in a much more constructive and assertive manner I would have done pre- inheritance.

I'd split the money between mine & DH siblings so we could all be mortgage free. I would then work but part time - maybe 2.5 days a week. £2m doesn't go far these days and I would want to retain my work skills to ensure I could always support myself in case the worst happened, and I think its important example to set my kids that you need to work & earn money etc.

Wouldn’t even think twice - I’d be back flipping out the door giving everyone the middle finger on my way out.

I don’t need to live the millionaire lifestyle, I’d be happy just being comfortable while getting my time back.

I’d invest as PP have said, draw down 2% a year for a 40K “salary”, be a SAHM until the kids are at school, then go back to Uni and retrain as a nurse.

To be honest even without the £2Million, even if I were “just” mortgage free, I’d be looking at nursing.

Definitely would not carry on working. I’d do some volunteering if I got bored.

You can't live of 2 mill if you are young it's just not enough money. I would work and use the money for nice things as a top up or buy a second home.

PT, 2 days a week just to keep active/busy.
But definitely change companies!

@TatianaBis

2 million will only yield around 60k per year.

That's hilarious, I presume you think that isn't enough to live on. Almost twice what I earn in a highly skilled NHS job with 30 years experience!

No, definitely not.
There are lots of way to be gainfully occupied and paying back any debt to the donors you think you owe that does not involve working for others for pay.
I'd pursue my interests, de stress from full time work and get involved in some voluntary pursuits I think I could contribute to.

As a full time working mum to a toddler who’s massively struggling with a busy life... I would instantly quit work and spend more time with DD, go shopping, take the dog on long walks/runs, go to the pub for lunch with DH, potter around in a greenhouse/garden growing fruit and veg, cook interesting food or bake, read books in bed, have 2 hour long baths, watch shit tv etc. I’d keep on doing all of that until it got boring.

I posted a thread kind of similar to this recently.

2 million invested wisely will provide enough of an income to live well without working. We sold a business and have invested the money from the sale (more than 2 mil) which gives us an income of about £180k per annum tax free.

We talked about early retirement but felt it was far too soon as DH has only just turned 40, we’ve decided to frame it as a 1 year sabbatical instead, though having said that I have a small business which ticks over with part time input from me which I will continue, providing another 30-40k per annum income.

We plan to travel, tour the UK in our motorhome, I’ve applied to volunteer, DH might pick up some consultancy work if he gets bored, cook, read, go to the gym, plenty of walks and wild swimming, I might go to college/uni.

We will reassess after a year and see how we feel.

I thought I would but I didn’t.

Well I did for about a year and then went back to work in a job that I really enjoy.

I found all the studying and exercise and gardening and shopping and decorating and lunching wasn’t enough.

@Sensateria. 2 million invested wisely will provide enough of an income to live well without working. We sold a business and have invested the money from the sale (more than 2 mil) which gives us an income of about £180k per annum tax free.

Exactly. Most of the posters here are assuming the money would sit in the bank and you would use the capital. Properly invested you wouldn’t generally need to touch the capital and it would also accumulate. It’s not something i would try and do myself. It’s the kind of money which needs to be managed by a decent investment manager

We sold a business and have invested the money from the sale (more than 2 mil) which gives us an income of about £180k per annum tax free

It must be a lot more than £2m to generate that kind of income.

[quote WhatsErFace2020]@Summerlovin99 I think you want to give up work but your inner dilemma comes from how hard the ‘gifters’ worked to leave you that money. I can only assume it’s parents. Ask yourself, if it were possible to have had your parents around more when you were younger, less stressed by life with no money issues etc would it have improved your childhood? If the answer is yes and your happy to do it then go for it![/quote]
What a wonderful perspective that I hadn't even considered. Thank you so much.

Go for it!! I would love do volunteer at my local food bank a couple of days and also spend all that time with the children whilst they're still young. You could always return to part time work when they've grown up a little bit?

I'd look at investing the money in a way that would bring a steady income. I might work but not in the way I have to now. I would try to work on my novels and get them published and have time to do so without the need to work to pay the bills each month. Id like to travel and do more rather than buy 'stuff'. So yes, I would stay busy but not work a 40hr week for a low wage.