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as long as she isn't sitting on her butt mooching off the government/taxpayers, who cares? It sounds like the rest of the family is jealous that she doesn't have to work.
If you were her parents would you be proud of someone who did this, retired at such an early age?
(* Many rich people who retire early worked like dogs to get to the point that they could live off of the dividends and interest income, my sister did not, she just inherited the money and is sitting on her butt getting fat.)
If she was my child I would be very proud that she knew how to handle money and not blow it.
No. "Society" is owed nada. Expecially since the realocation of capitol into fewer hands is now so obvious.
I love to hear stories of young women that manage their money rather than spend their time spending.
One of my sisters, who is in her 30s, inherited some money recently and stopped working. I have to give her credit, she did her homework and met with a financial guru with Fidelity Investments and turned $XXX into a modest income using a variety of REITS, Energy Trusts, Municipal Bonds and other high dividend investment vehicles. She will be living modestly on the dividends from her investments for the rest of her life without withdrawing anything from the principal amount.
The rest of the family is up in arms that she will use the inheritance and Life Insurance money Mom and Dad left us to sit on her butt for the rest of her life. She is only 36 years old (Single and Childless). The rest of the family think that Mom and Dad would have wanted her to use the money to supplement her income but stay active in the workplace and instead use the money for emergencies, charity and retirement.
She just sits at home doing nothing all day, day after day.
My two sisters think that a person owes society a hard days work in a career you have a set of talents in until retirement. Do you agree?
I personally believe a person owes it to society to use their gifts and talents to live a fulfilling life. If everyone really did this, it would make the world around them more enjoyable. When people are useful and fulfilled, they are happy. That happiness always touches other people. If she wants to live a fulfilling life, she should take a personality test (I like the Myers Briggs) to find out where her talents are and then do something with them, even if that means performing in community theatre or putting on dinner parties. Those things are not trivial and humanity does benefit from the happiness of others.
If I were her family and knew she was sitting at home doing nothing day after day, I would be more concerned that she was suffering form depression rather than passing judgment on what you think she should do with her life.
Without getting into a debate about welfare and social assistance, generally a person does not owe society a career of many years. If they did, we would be nothing more than slaves for our capitalist overlords. People, unless living in the remote wilderness, do however participate in the modern economy fueled by currency exchange. Jobs or careers, thus become necessary for people to obtain currency in order to survive. So even though we don't owe society work, we do so because of how we set up our current economic system and our innate need to fulfill our own biological survival. Those who are wealthy enough to circumvent the work cycle are certainly outliers and most likely did so by making good choices, or by winning the genetic lottery.
In regards to your sister, it sounds like she made the financially responsible choice of investing her money instead of spending her money on a bunch of useless stuff which is what so many other people would have done. For her financial prudence, she is rewarded with early retirement and a chance to enjoy life without the stresses of work. Many people would love to retire at 36 instead of at 62 or later.
My two sisters think that a person owes society a hard days work in a career you have a set of talents in until retirement. Do you agree?
what about occupations that are harmful to society... like ambulance chasing lawyers or lobbyists?? Better to have someone cashed up and sitting on their rump than out harming society with a slob job.
One of my sisters, who is in her 30s, inherited some money recently and stopped working. I have to give her credit, she did her homework and met with a financial guru with Fidelity Investments and turned $XXX into a modest income using a variety of REITS, Energy Trusts, Municipal Bonds and other high dividend investment vehicles. She will be living modestly on the dividends from her investments for the rest of her life without withdrawing anything from the principal amount.
The rest of the family is up in arms that she will use the inheritance and Life Insurance money Mom and Dad left us to sit on her butt for the rest of her life. She is only 36 years old (Single and Childless). The rest of the family think that Mom and Dad would have wanted her to use the money to supplement her income but stay active in the workplace and instead use the money for emergencies, charity and retirement.
She just sits at home doing nothing all day, day after day.
My two sisters think that a person owes society a hard days work in a career you have a set of talents in until retirement. Do you agree?
Nope.
There are many ways to contribute to society. Working 9-5 and paying taxes is only one.
Look at it this way, if she doesn't have to work, that is one more job available for someone who NEEDS TO WORK in order to feed their children. If she comes to the family looking for a handout in her later years though, her family is no way gonna give her any monetary help that's for sure.
Actually when Mom and Dad died in a terrible car crash they left all of us money and none of us have to work. We all could lead a modest living with the money we got in our inheritance and life insurance and Accidental Death payments, but the rest of us continue to struggle along because it is the right thing to do at our age.
That's just your opinion. You struggle along because you choose to have a higher standard of living than your inheritance allows, your sister chooses to live within those means. There is nothing wrong with that, investing the money is probably just just as much to help society as you struggling along in some job.
Exactly how many years of work is society due in your opinion? Is society due your labor until you can no longer work? That sounds a lot like slavery.
Her investments and spending of proceeds are contributing to society. If they're solid investments, as you indicate, and will provide her with a comfortable income for the rest of her life, she's justly providing herself and society with enough.
But I wouldn't advise her to sit at home and do nothing. I retired, or semi-retired, at 36 also. I'd built up a business that I sold at that point and figured my investments would provide an adequate income for me and my family for the rest of our lives. I'd planned to buy another business at another location, but then my wife decided she didn't want to move. I had "hobby businesses". I worked but didn't earn much.
A decade later I divorced my wife and gave her most of our assets. I then remarried and lost my second wife to an early death. More expenses. I tried to run away from the pain with traveling and spent too much. Then the recession got me. Investments are gone. I'm now 67 and working again, and it ain't easy making a comfortable income at my age. I get job offers, but only because they figure I'll work for less than someone in his prime. And the truth is, I'm not worth what I was in my prime. I don't have the drive and endurance to work like I did at age 30.
If I had it to do over again I'd have worked more when in my prime earning years. And that's what I think your sister should do. But does she owe it to society to work and earn more? No.
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