More and more often I find myself wishing for a more enjoyable job. I haven’t decided what I’d rather be doing but I know I’m not entirely satisfied in my current position. On one hand I consider alternative career paths, on the other, I consider the good benefits and pay of my current position. A more meaningful job certainly wouldn’t pay my bills and with two mortgages, one on my primary residence and the other on a beach property, I know I can’t give up my job without giving up my beach home. So when I weigh the pros and cons of quitting with the pros and cons of giving up my house I get in the car and drive to work.
Then yesterday as I was reading an article in the New York Times I found a quote that summed up my thoughts on the issue.
…they spoke as if a money-clock were ticking: many said they wanted to make as much money as fast as they could so that they could live in style later in life while doing less lucrative things like running a charity, working for the government, spending time with their families, or inventing new technologies.
The article focuses on young hedge fund traders at places like Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. My salary isn’t even close to the those interviewed and I don’t particularly want to live in style, but the overall sentiment is the same. I want to work today to support a more enjoyable more meaningful career and life in the future.
Is this attainable and when could a more meaningful career begin? That’s something I have yet to figure out on paper. For now, my husband and I are saving a good deal of our income, in the hopes that the future might be right around the corner.
Interesting. I would put myself in the same boat. I am so focused on getting to financial freedom because I want to deeply involve myself in less lucative things such as starting businesses and volunteering.
I feel the same way in terms of working harder now for more freedom later. But I am just starting my focus on financial freedom and how to achieve it
My fiance and I are only 26, but we’re working toward the same goal! We are living on just 35-40% of our meager income, and plan to do so until we’re 35. We have a lot of travel and creative ventures to pursue, but we’re willing to wait for our early “retirement” thanks to our current frugality.
I think most of those people in the article start out really intending on getting out of the rat race sooner rather than later, and then, their lifestyles and standards of living sloooowly demand that they keep working those high-paying, high-stress jobs. First it’s a Lexus, then it’s marriage to someone who expects you to maintain that level of income, a huge mortgage, and then kids to support…and you’ve effectively boxed yourself into only having that high-paying job.
I think very few actually follow through with quitting.
I agree. As most people attain more they desire more. Their goals constantly shift upward.
I try my hardest not to fit into that category, which is why I said I don’t particularly want to live in style. I want to work hard and pay off my mortgages. With my homes paid off the opportunities and flexibility of the world will be mine for the taking.
Those who are constantly looking for more and more money and more and more stuff will certainly find themselves stuck in the rat race. My goals are spiritual not material.
This discussion reminds me of the “retirement plan” outlined in “Your Money or Your Life.” To tell you the truth, I’ve only read the companion book “Getting a Life,” but the idea is essentially two-fold: 1) save as much money as possible and invest in reliable long-term forms of income; 2) reduce your spending to as little as possible while maintaining what is most important to you (this way, you don’t feel deprived but have in most areas simplified your life). You work until the point where your long-term interest income matches your minimized spending. Then you are FREE to do whatever your heart desires.
I look forward to the day when we have nationalized health care, because I feel this will free up many people who continue working simply for their health coverage. It will be a bigger revolution than many imagine, I think.
Glad to have found this blog! Thanks for writing!
I’m surprised no one’s mentioned this. The book has made me think more deeply about our “deferred lifestyle” plan, and I’m working on some of these things now. Might be one of the very few books I’ll buy instead of just borrowing from the libary, even after I’ve read it.