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I am a person from that middle ground - at times my job seemed like pure hell and at times it offered a lot of pleasure - but I stuck with it for 34 years and it put food on the table, paid the rent, provided me with enough money to enjoy hobbies and activities outside of work, and from it I now have a pension I can live on.
Let's see. Over the past 35 years, I've worked for full-time for 4 different companies. Everyone position before my current job was enjoyable until they were not. The 'nots' were mainly because a change in management/supervisors. Currently, I'm in a job that is not as enjoyable as it once was (mainly due to economic conditions), but it's not so bad that I want to move on, plus I think I can stick it out for the two years until retirement.
The questions you need to ask yourself are what type of job would you like to do and will it really make you any happier?
If I asked an adviser at the local college what I should study, they would most likely say study what I had a passion for. Sounds great I am sure. However, there are a lot of people out of work or working below their financial potential following their passion. A person can always follow their passion via a hobby,etc. Money is money and a job is really nothing more than a way to earn money. Go for the best job. Follow your Mom's advise.
I was able to stay on the job for 31 years with the same Corp. Changed positions every few years which felt like a new job each time. The key to being able to retire early is your ability to save enough money and to have health care.
I agree, and here's an example of following your passion.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mortpes
If I asked an adviser at the local college what I should study, they would most likely say study what I had a passion for. Sounds great I am sure. However, there are a lot of people out of work or working below their financial potential following their passion. A person can always follow their passion via a hobby,etc. Money is money and a job is really nothing more than a way to earn money. Go for the best job. Follow your Mom's advise.
Yep. I know a young woman, now 26 or 27, who majored in art history - even got a master's degree in it. Jobs in art history were very hard to come by even before the national economic downturn of 2007/2008 - way too many people majoring in it. Now, of course, things are even worse. Following the master's degree, she spent a little over a year living at home with her parents looking for a job in art history. During this time, she worked no job at all. Then finally, she got a part-time job at a local museum, in art history. Worked that job for a little over a year, eventually got tired of looking for a full-time job and decided to re-invent herself. Now she is off to another city to study international relations.
I had warned this girl's parents about the art history job situation while she was still an undergraduate, but no, their daughter was encouraged to follow her passion. Sorry if I offend someone, but I think a lot of people who are now in their late 20's were raised to be very self-indulgent, and now they are getting a reality check. (Not claiming that age group has a monopoly on self-indulgence, either!)
If following your passion turns out to also be a good way to make a living, that's great. Otherwise, so much for following your passion.
I spent 23 years at a place I hated. For the last 16 I loved what I did (took care of all their computers), but I hated the people I had to work for. If I hadn't worked my way into dealing with computers I probably wiould have died before I got out of there...
Well, you can't retire penniless. Being old, without savings or income, is not peace of mind.
The one career and couple of jobs I've had, I mostly liked. My first job out of high school absolutely I loved. Kept that for eight years until my son was born. My career - a few years later - real estate - I loved in the 70s. Was making a ton of money, had complete freedom. Met interesting people. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. Then we had the The Depression of my lifetime in the early 80's. Two years without an income. Almost ruined me financially, so I took a paying job which I mostly liked, the environment and coworkers in particular, but couldn't take the the 5day/40hr week - especially starting at 8:45 a.m. Not a morning person, still not. Nine to five, 5/days wk, 25-40 years, IS hard to take as someone said upthread. Fortunately, I was able to switch to a more flexible schedule with that employer working nights and weekends.
But not before I quit for a few months to try my real estate career again and realized I was no longer cut out for it and - it was no longer fun. Too much uncertainty, too many problems, too much liability, too much paperwork. Everything was soooo hard. I was MUCH better off (not to mention happier) working for a salary and benefits as an employee. Heck of lot more peace of mind all the way around. So, I went back to my 'day' job. Still had the flexible schedule, except for the last five years when I was forced to work days. Then they laid off over 100 people, me among them. 'Course I was 67 at the time, so a perfect target.
No, I wouldn't be able to stay with a job I HATED. But, I could tolerate a job that had good days and bad days.
You are wise to pay off the house and save, save, save. As Keeper said, employers don't keep their employees anymore. Where I worked they did dismantle whole departments along with shedding all the older, more expensive workers (salary, benefits). Hiring now for half of what I got paid. I knew a LOT and was very skilled - but the bottom line meant more than my institutional knowledge. Plus, I ended up with a 30 y/o supervisor who didn't like me. So, that was that.
All that said, retirement benefits/retirement planning is very important. Keep your eye on that ball.
Last edited by Ariadne22; 01-04-2012 at 09:13 PM..
Well, I'm "an old person who lived back in the day", and in the sense of the OP's question there is nothing new under the sun. Your mom was wrong about everybody hating their job. It has always been true that some people love their jobs, some people hate their jobs, and some people find their jobs a mixed bag with enjoyable and gratifying moments as well as frustrating and stressful moments. And it has always been true that each individual has to decide what to put up with in order to make a living. On one extreme you can jump from job to job seeking the perfect one and end up only with periods of unemployment and frustration at not finding perfection in the workplace. On the other extreme you can be miserable out of a sense of duty (if you really hate your job) and stay in that job for 30, 35, or 40 years while you destroy your physical and mental health. Lucky are those who have found something they love. Most of us inhabit a middle ground, is my opinion. I am a person from that middle ground - at times my job seemed like pure hell and at times it offered a lot of pleasure - but I stuck with it for 34 years and it put food on the table, paid the rent, provided me with enough money to enjoy hobbies and activities outside of work, and from it I now have a pension I can live on.
I would say this accurately describes the life that most of us retired folks had. Good post. The only think I would add for the OP is that you'll never get that 27 years back. So....try to enjoy the journey instead of looking for a destination way off in the distance....that you may never even get to.
The future is never guaranteed. Look at your post:
Quote:
Originally Posted by PinkAquarius
I was just wondering if you would work a job for 27 years that a job that you hate and you know for sure you can retire at age 50 with money that is 50,000 or more.
See I have a secured job.
1. You cannot know for sure you can retire in 27 years.
2. You have no idea what amount on money you will have in 27 years - everything in the economy and/or your life could crash around you between now and then.
3. No one has a secure job.
4. You may not even live for 27 years. In fact, you may not be alive week.
The only thing that seems certain is that you appear to have a job you hate. If you don't see your feelings about your current job changing, the only guarantee you have is that you will hate it as long as you are working there. That's a lot of time to be hating how you spend a good bit of your life. Given that is something you can control (unlike the other variables above), if I were in your shoes, I would seek a job I could at least tolerate, if not love.
I'm not advocating you simply live for today. It is always best to plan for your future, but know that future is not guaranteed. Being able to enjoy life along the way is equally important.
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I agree, and here's an example of following your passion.
