Would you rather win the lottery or have the perfect job?

[Anje]

I'd say perfect job. And by "perfect" I would understand not the utopian never-going-to-happen sort of job with no stress, all fun and no frustration but a normal sort of "good and rewarding job". Because I'm not the sort of person that on my spare time pushes the limits of my abilities past the comfortable and into the realm of painful personal development. My (current) job does.

And it's made me a significantly better version of me. And I still have a way to go. I'd like to say I push myself on my spare time (and I do) but nowhere near as far. My brain just works better when I work.

Disclaimer: I live in a place where we have 5 weeks of paid holiday every year. Parents of infants get a full year of paid leave. If I want tomorow off for a impulse holiday my boss' only reaction will be to say "have a good trip". It's all fairly utopian already.

[TomTX]

I feel like this question really boils down to whether you'd rather be rich or be happy, and you're all choosing rich?

If I win the lottery*, I have a group of friends I want to fund into FI so that we have more time to play together.

We've actually all agreed to do so if someone wins the big jackpot.

...and yes, Mrs. TX will spend about $1 per month when the jackpot is reasonably large. It's a fair entertainment expense.

*A real 8-figure lottery winning. Not that "small and smaller" stuff referenced earlier with the Florida lottery.  They considered $50k big winnings.

[fuzzhead1506]

The perfect job for me would be King.  So the lottery would be pretty irrelevant at that point.   

My real answer is lottery enough to generate 150K per year.   There are no perfect jobs and I'm sure I could find an imperfect one very fulfilling if I set my own parameters.

I feel like the above is a completely underrated answer.  With the right government structure, you could be completely anonymous, give to all the right causes, and create real change in the world as a King --> all whilst sitting on your butt and playing video games all day or riding your bike around the park should you wish to do so?

I don't know if I really see a downside to it, no matter how much I think about it - there is the fact that you would know the ramifications of whatever your decisions might be... but that happens with our lives already, just on a much smaller scale, right?

also... if more people really feel this way about work and jobs, why are not more people wanting to experiment with a 5-6% withdrawal rate in retirement?  Sol's answer really resonated with me:

I'm confused about why anyone would choose lottery. . . Maybe only people who don't have dreams are the ones who choose lottery?

I am also mildly disappointed by the answers

 

[Daisy]

The perfect job for me would be King.  So the lottery would be pretty irrelevant at that point.   

My real answer is lottery enough to generate 150K per year.   There are no perfect jobs and I'm sure I could find an imperfect one very fulfilling if I set my own parameters.

I feel like the above is a completely underrated answer.  With the right government structure, you could be completely anonymous, give to all the right causes, and create real change in the world as a King --> all whilst sitting on your butt and playing video games all day or riding your bike around the park should you wish to do so?

I don't know if I really see a downside to it, no matter how much I think about it - there is the fact that you would know the ramifications of whatever your decisions might be... but that happens with our lives already, just on a much smaller scale, right?

also... if more people really feel this way about work and jobs, why are not more people wanting to experiment with a 5-6% withdrawal rate in retirement?  Sol's answer really resonated with me:

I'm confused about why anyone would choose lottery. . . Maybe only people who don't have dreams are the ones who choose lottery?

I am also mildly disappointed by the answers

 

And I'm surprised by those that say perfect job. Life isn't all about work. It's about contentment, being a good friend and family member, much more than what you do. Who you are is more important than what you do. Winning the lottery takes the mundane out of life and lets you focus on these things. And winning the lottery also allows one to create any work one would like to better society, but at your own pace and on your own terms. Seems like a slam dunk to me that winning the lottery is superiorly better than obtaining the "perfect" job.

[K-ice]

When I got my job I literally compared it to winning the lotto.

It is my dream job.

And doing the math, if I'm not fired, I will earn over 2million by the time I'm 65.

But there are many stressful days.

So honestly, I'd take that 2M today and consult if I'm bored.

[EscapeVelocity2020]

And I'm surprised by those that say perfect job. Life isn't all about work. It's about contentment, being a good friend and family member, much more than what you do. Who you are is more important than what you do. Winning the lottery takes the mundane out of life and lets you focus on these things. And winning the lottery also allows one to create any work one would like to better society, but at your own pace and on your own terms. Seems like a slam dunk to me that winning the lottery is superiorly better than obtaining the "perfect" job.

On the flip side, your answer is confusing to me.  I don't view my job as just 'work', it is a part of my whole life.  My kids are interested in what I do, my wife respects me for what I do, and the potential and challenges in engineering are engaging and pay well.  And my job isn't even 'the perfect job'.

But winning the lotto just gives me a defined stack of cash.  Sure, I could use it for charity and spend more time with my family, but wouldn't they just see me as a stack of cash lotto winner?  Wouldn't I start to see myself as noone special that just won the lottery and didn't really do anything for my great life?

I'd much rather have 'the perfect job' which is part of a 'perfect life' that is fulfilling and meaningful, and a big part of finding meaning is working at something that provides real purpose and benefits others, all while 'taking care of my family' through the income and benefits that said 'perfect job' provides. 

The best part is, if I ever get tired of my perfect job, I just take whatever time off I'd like, change it, and come back to it until I'm finally ready to fully retire.  And I'd know that I really want to retire, not just 'escape from a crappy job', because I'd be leaving something that I really loved. 

To me, having a 'perfect job' is a lot like 'early retirement', because even ER folks seem to still keep themselves quite busy investing, travelling, blogging, brewing beer, creating art, sports, homeschooling, growing stuff, etc. etc.  The 'lotto' alternative, to me, looks like getting a pile of money and be passively entertained until I die, which doesn't sound Mustachian at all.

Oops, hang on, just got pulled over by the Internet Retirement Police....

[Frugal D]

Center field, major league baseball.

Damn, what an answer. I was confused why the obvious answer wasn't 'win the lottery' until I read this. But assuming I can't change my genetic makeup, lottery is the correct answer.

On a side note, I would quit any job that required recurring 'getting to know you' sessions.

[partgypsy]

I would like to have the perfect job, and then win the lottery, so the lottery can never be used as an excuse why I am unhappy with my life. If I can only pick one, the lottery. There are a lot of perfect jobs out there for me that pay -0, so this way I could have both.

[zephyr911]

My #1 motivation for FIRE is to be able to do work that has more intrinsic personal meaning for me, so I'd absolutely take the perfect job. I even know what it is and failed to get it. Just a couple of months later is when I got on the track that led to my finding MMM and otherwise taking a hard right turn toward FIRE.

What's that quote? "Find a job you love, and you'll never work another day in your life", or something like that?

[zephyr911]

And I'm surprised by those that say perfect job. Life isn't all about work.

I answered "perfect job" and I don't think life is all about work. If I had the perfect job, I'd spend a decent amount of time there, but I wouldn't work overtime to the detriment of family, relaxation, exploration, or any of the other things that keep life in balance. I have almost enough of those things right now, even with 40-50 hours of weekly work in non-perfect jobs (FT+PT).

The funny thing is, if you live in "optimize everything" mode, results converge to essentially the same outcome regardless of your choice. I know if I won the lottery, one of the end results would be that I'd do my perfect job for as many hours a week as I wanted. Conversely, if you had your perfect job, which to me encompasses not just doing work you like but having appropriate hours and an ideal work-life balance, you'd be pretty relaxed and content overall, you'd need very little material consumption to make you happy, and any remaining financial goals would be very easily met.

[EvenKeeled]

I don't think my perfect job exists in the form that would make it perfect. There are things I'd like to do that I'm not as good at as I'd like to be.

If I won the lottery I could hire several mentors, coaches, assistants, and teachers and create the perfect set-up for me to grow in my work without any pressure from bosses, clients, uninteresting co-workers, and deadlines.

Kind of a profession as a hobby, but even better.

And I could take off and travel when I liked and come back to the work when I liked. Mmmmm, dreamy. :)

[Smevans]

Lottery. Then I can do my perfect job of opening a shelter and helping animals all day every day.

[sol]

Lottery. Then I can do my perfect job of opening a shelter and helping animals all day every day.

I don't think it's fair to say "lottery, so I can have the perfect job" any more than it is to say "job, so that I can win the lottery."  If what you really want is the perfect job, and the lottery is just the means to achieve that job, then shouldn't you answer "job"?

[Pooperman]

If I won the lottery, I could hire people to invent things kind of like bell labs. Couldn't do that with a dream job since the money isn't there to hire others. I wouldn't even need to actually have a job for that to work.

[sol]

If I won the lottery, I could hire people to invent things kind of like bell labs. Couldn't do that with a dream job since the money isn't there to hire others. I wouldn't even need to actually have a job for that to work.

I'm still confused.  There are people who have the job of running places like bell labs and apportioning the funding to worthy projects.  If what you really want is that job, why would say lottery?  The money doesn't have to come out of your personal pocket in order for you to have full control over it.

[Pooperman]

If I won the lottery, I could hire people to invent things kind of like bell labs. Couldn't do that with a dream job since the money isn't there to hire others. I wouldn't even need to actually have a job for that to work.

I'm still confused.  There are people who have the job of running places like bell labs and apportioning the funding to worthy projects.  If what you really want is that job, why would say lottery?  The money doesn't have to come out of your personal pocket in order for you to have full control over it.

I want the job of funding something like that. Sorta hands off but have it be unbiased for the sake of knowledge in a nasa kinda way.