To ask WHY you work

[BeatriceAlbert]

Got in a discussion about retirement/early retirement and why people actually go to work in the first place. I know it seems obvious to answer ‘for money’ but this was off the back of the parody about a fisherman.

A businessman on holiday spots a fisherman lounging by his small boat after catching a few fish for the day.

Businessman:
“Why don’t you stay out longer and catch more fish?”

Fisherman:
“Why would I?”

Businessman:
“Well, with more fish, you could buy a bigger boat!”

Fisherman:
“And then?”

Businessman:
“With a bigger boat, you could hire a crew, catch even more fish, and eventually own a whole fleet!”

Fisherman:
“And then?”

Businessman:
“Then you could build a company, go public, and become a millionaire!”

Fisherman:
“And then?”

Businessman:
“Then you could retire, relax by the sea, and spend your days fishing!”

Fisherman:
“…Which is what I was already doing before you interrupted.”

To have independence and choices. I can pay the bills and have fun. Free time is great but worrying about money, never being able to go anywhere or do anything is rubbish.

Edit: what on earth is that gif?! I definitely didn't add that on purpose and can't see how to get rid of it either

For the money mostly, as my job is incredibly stressful (I’m an GP) and I find it hard getting through the day sometimes. But every so often I make a huge difference to one person (a cancer diagnosis or helping someone in a desperate social situation).

We work part time, we can afford our bills, food and have low cost hobbies that we have more time to enjoy. Once the mortgage is paid we will reduce hours more. We like our work but really enjoy work life balance.
I'm with the fisherman.

I took it to mean why work harder and longer to get the bigger house, bigger car etc, just do enough to live, and have time to sit and enjoy nature/the sea etc

For money and for money only. I'd gladly stop and wouldn't work a day in my life. It doesn't give me any joy or 'sense of purpose', I'm perfectly happy and content not working. But my passion is traveling the world. Traveling the world requires money, and I don't have generational multi-millions behind me. So..

Simple - money. To allow me to live in a nice cosy house, eat high quality food, see the world, own fairly new maintenance free cars, make generous payments into a private pension plus work placed pension, save for a rainy day and generally buy whatever and whenever I want for my various hobbies.

Finally, if i don't end up in a care home, I will hopefully have a decent pot to leave to kids and grand kids.

Because it's frowned on to let my dc starve.

But being as how I have to work, I picked a job I believe does good in the world, cheesy as that sounds.

For money, no other reason. I’d stop work tomorrow if I could. I’m not lazy - I’d do voluntary work if I didn’t need to work for cash. I think it’s different if you have a career as opposed to a series of jobs.

Purely for money. I have a senior professional role with lots of perks and autonomy but I’d much rather be pottering about at home with the kids and animals. There are millions of things I’d love to do including more volunteering that I just don’t have time for.

I was a SAHM for years, and began working a fulltime job 18 years ago. I have found work to be overrated. During my years at home, I had no trouble finding "purpose" and things to do. Now it's time to retire, come January, and I have a long list of things that I've been putting off at home. We also have places we would like to go, as our son lives very far from us, and he also has a list of things that need done on his property. I am working now, for money and to accumulate a larger pension. Here in the US, it's rare to have a private pension that pays monthly AND our monthly Social Security, which is a government pension. As I said, work is overrated. Once I retire, nothing I did will be memorable for future employees, and like everyone else at work, I will be replaced. Only DH and DS see me as irreplaceable, and that keeps me grounded.

And, of course, to pay taxes to keep our welfare, education, health services going.

Then it comes down to a choice -

• do enough to live and have time to enjoy your surroundings, but do this for a long time
• Bust a gut to make as much money as possible, but retire very early so you have a long period of not having to work at all.

They probably equate to the same work/life balance proportion over a typical lifespan. There is a risk it won't for no. 2 if they die prematurely, but no.1 is more likely to have no retirement period at all before death.

I would carry on doing the same job I do now even if I won so much money I never had to work again. It’s what I’ve always wanted to do, it’s really creative and I love it. It’s hugely rewarding. I probably wouldn’t work quite so hard though, and I’d take more days off!

I retired at 42. Lots of people said I would get bored, but I haven't. My youngest is still in primary school and theres not actually that much time around drop offs and pick ups, but I do have a lovely routine now which some days include the gym, dog walks, seeing friends and family and shopping. Im so much more available for all of my children and all the house jobs are done so when they come in im present.

I went into work for money. I stay in Work because I enjoy problem solving and contributing towards something collectively. I also enjoy the social element of it, and whilst I haven’t always had the best teams, I have met life long friends through the work that I do.

I think ultimately we will always find something to do - and right now it comes in the form of work.

I retired at 60, but I really enjoyed my work .It was fulfilling and worthwhile. Of course I worked for the money. Like everyone else we had a mortgage to pay and food and heating to pay. However I got an enormous a.ount of satisfaction from my work. I retired at 60 because I could. I've never regretted it and I feel I earned it because I always put in 100%. I 'm like the fisherman. Only im a passenger on the sea watching the world go by these days.

I worked ridiculously hard until I had DD2 when I was 42. I returned to work after DD1 - I was 41. It was really hard. Their DDad was a SAHP for DD1 but I felt like I missed out on so much. I was always torn between DD1 & work commitments. After the arrival of DD2, now exDH said I would need to hire a nanny if I wanted to return to work. Just another thing to add to my mental and financial load … so I took my full maternity leave. Then I decided to take a career break until DDs started school - I simultaneously studied something I’d been interested in for years. Then I decided to home educate because I couldn’t find a school that felt right - both DDs have high functioning ASD. I never intended to stop working and I am just at the point where I could return to work … but I’m 58. And I don’t think I can be arsed.

I have to work for money, but I have no interest in continually chasing material things and working up the ladder (technically already at the top anyway, being as I'm SE).

I'm a bit like the fisherman in the original story. Work to live.

I think it is important to make money, but also to rest and take time out of the week to breathe. I would rather work 2 part time jobs than a full time job.

I want to say “to make a difference” and I would have said that 10 years ago.
However, if I said it now, it would be a lie. I would retire tomorrow, if I could. I work for the money. I still care about giving back to society, but I do that on a voluntary basis (less stressful and fewer hours than my job!).

If I didn’t get paid, I would leave my job immediately!

It’s the money.

She isn’t saying that, she is saying the complete opposite.

I'm currently off work due to accessibility issues (not caused by my employer, but the idiotic owners of the building we are in). For many people it sounds great: You get paid to sit at home and do nothing/watch TV/play games/browse the internet.
The reality is that it's been boring beyond belief. After the first few days where I just chilled out and caught up on sleep. I needed something to do.
Work gets me out of the house and meeting people. Admittedly, a fair number of those people are stress-inducing, but the alternative is crawling up the walls due to boredom. Yes, I could go places, but days out cost either money or petrol and my job doesn't pay huge amounts of money.

I work firstly for the money. But also to give my life some structure and keep my brain active. I’m not sure what I’d do without working- I don’t do well with purposeless time off!

It's was a strange way of wording it as it's usually worded that way in disagreement.