4 ms·

this seems to be "people who have to work are less happy than people who are free to do what ever they want whenever they want"

by sgt101 2y ago

Earw0rm 2y ago
The question I'd ask of people making 500k is, what's stopping them from living frugally for a few years and then spending the rest of their life in the "do whatever you want" category. But I guess it's selection bias. If you're the sort of person who likes living frugally and otherwise doing whatever you want, you're less likely to end up making 500k to begin with. It's kind of like asking why are assholes and psychopaths over-represented in the ultra-rich, it's possible to make it to eight figure net worth on talent, hard work and good luck, but to make it that far and wanting to just keep on going says... something.
- jajko 2y ago
  Frugal living is very easy when single, still OK when in couple with compatible person, but gets darn hard with kids. Not impossible, just much, much more constant friction, and choices done easily by you for you gets harder when they negatively impact your own children.
  - vouaobrasil 2y ago
    I'd argue that a lot of people who are wealthy and don't have children might influence the over all data. Not having children in itself can be a great source of happiness for some.
  - Earw0rm 2y ago
    True, but at $500k, being frugal means living a $250k standard of living, which is still way more than most people have. I guess it comes down to what you see as negative impacts. I'd never been further than maybe 1500 miles from home until my mid teens, so I don't feel like my kids miss out by not having the kind of globetrotter holidays that people on $500k can do. If I had that kind of money, I'd rather save it and escape the grind ten or twenty years earlier. But I guess if your $500k peers are all going to Dubai and Singapore with their families you might feel differently. Same with cars, clothes and so on. I'm not talking about barebones ramen living, more trying to take an objective view on the relationship between spend and quality of life, and outside of a few of the most expensive cities, there's a pretty sweet spot well below the 500k mark.
mapcars 2y ago
That is not true, if you are forced to do a job that you have no interest for of course you will feel unhappy. Now being forced means on many levels, today in most developed countries you can survive even with basic jobs but you want to have a house of this size, a car of this brand etc etc then you are forced. But if you find a job not because you want to keep up with your neighbour but the one which you personally see useful and do it with a sense of purpose then you can easily work extra hours and be happy.
- Viliam1234 2y ago
  There is a big difference between working when you want to, and working when you have to. Even if you find the most fulfilling job in the world, you may still wish you had more flexible vacation, possibility to work from home, etc. Working extra hours is nice when that is your choice, and it sucks when it means you have no time for things that happen in your personal life. If I had enough money to be "early retired", I would probably still spend most of my days doing something meaningful, but the difference would be that I could take a break any time I would want to, change my focus anytime I would want to, etc. So it would feel completely different from having to follow someone else's rules.

this seems to be "people who have to work are less happy than people who are free to do what ever they want whenever they want"

by sgt101 2y ago

this seems to be "people who have to work are less happy than people who are free to do what ever they want whenever they want"

Earw0rm 2y ago

The question I'd ask of people making 500k is, what's stopping them from living frugally for a few years and then spending the rest of their life in the "do whatever you want" category. But I guess it's selection bias. If you're the sort of person who likes living frugally and otherwise doing whatever you want, you're less likely to end up making 500k to begin with. It's kind of like asking why are assholes and psychopaths over-represented in the ultra-rich, it's possible to make it to eight figure net worth on talent, hard work and good luck, but to make it that far and wanting to just keep on going says... something.

jajko 2y ago
Frugal living is very easy when single, still OK when in couple with compatible person, but gets darn hard with kids. Not impossible, just much, much more constant friction, and choices done easily by you for you gets harder when they negatively impact your own children.
- vouaobrasil 2y ago
  I'd argue that a lot of people who are wealthy and don't have children might influence the over all data. Not having children in itself can be a great source of happiness for some.
- Earw0rm 2y ago
  True, but at $500k, being frugal means living a $250k standard of living, which is still way more than most people have. I guess it comes down to what you see as negative impacts. I'd never been further than maybe 1500 miles from home until my mid teens, so I don't feel like my kids miss out by not having the kind of globetrotter holidays that people on $500k can do. If I had that kind of money, I'd rather save it and escape the grind ten or twenty years earlier. But I guess if your $500k peers are all going to Dubai and Singapore with their families you might feel differently. Same with cars, clothes and so on. I'm not talking about barebones ramen living, more trying to take an objective view on the relationship between spend and quality of life, and outside of a few of the most expensive cities, there's a pretty sweet spot well below the 500k mark.

mapcars 2y ago

That is not true, if you are forced to do a job that you have no interest for of course you will feel unhappy. Now being forced means on many levels, today in most developed countries you can survive even with basic jobs but you want to have a house of this size, a car of this brand etc etc then you are forced. But if you find a job not because you want to keep up with your neighbour but the one which you personally see useful and do it with a sense of purpose then you can easily work extra hours and be happy.

Viliam1234 2y ago
There is a big difference between working when you want to, and working when you have to. Even if you find the most fulfilling job in the world, you may still wish you had more flexible vacation, possibility to work from home, etc. Working extra hours is nice when that is your choice, and it sucks when it means you have no time for things that happen in your personal life. If I had enough money to be "early retired", I would probably still spend most of my days doing something meaningful, but the difference would be that I could take a break any time I would want to, change my focus anytime I would want to, etc. So it would feel completely different from having to follow someone else's rules.