Drove 2.5 hours/day for 43 years

[mikefixac]

Two guys retired from NASA in Pasadena. One lived near work, the other took 2.5 hours/day driving for 43 years.

I did a quick calculation, averaging the man's time at a $5/hour value. That, along with gas, average market return, came out to $2.7MM. I did not add in the cost of vehicles, insurance, maintenance, tickets etc.

So at $2.7MM @ 5%SWR would be $135K/year.

These two gentlemen were my playing partners on the golf course. When I told them my numbers, the one who did the driving had no reaction, and the other just started to laugh.

I didn't tell him about the $135K/year. I wonder if he would have reacted to that.

[Gone Fishing]

Probably not the first time he had been called an idiot.

I guess being a rocket scientist didn't help him out much!

My dad worked with a fellow that had a similar commute that he performed with a full size 4x4 truck.  Dad figured out that it was costing him over half of his salary, it didn't make a difference. Around here, everyone has enough money for nice pickup trucks, cigarettes, and tattoos.

[okashira]

Two guys retired from NASA in Pasadena. One lived near work, the other took 2.5 hours/day driving for 43 years.

I did a quick calculation, averaging the man's time at a $5/hour value. That, along with gas, average market return, came out to $2.7MM. I did not add in the cost of vehicles, insurance, maintenance, tickets etc.

So at $2.7MM @ 5%SWR would be $135K/year.

These two gentlemen were my playing partners on the golf course. When I told them my numbers, the one who did the driving had no reaction, and the other just started to laugh.

I didn't tell him about the $135K/year. I wonder if he would have reacted to that.

Please tell me he wasn't an engineer.

[taekvideo]

I would sooner gouge my eyes out with a stick than spend a quarter of my life driving to/from work and working to pay for the privilege of doing that driving...
Of course I work from home and don't even own a car so it would be a pretty radical change for me...

[sol]

Some people think they are doing the right thing by commuting.  They tell themselves they are providing a better environment or school district for their children.  Or that it is closer to their spouse's job, or that they have to be near ailing parents.  There are lots of reasons why someone might choose to spend a ridiculous amount of time and money on living far away from their workplaces, which is a fact that MMM conveniently overlooks when advising people to live as close as possible.  It's good advice, just not always practical.

For the record, I recently moved from 1.5 miles away to 8 miles away from work, for some of the above mentioned reasons.  I still carpool or bike.

[mikefixac]

Hey Sol,

I asked him why and he gave me 2 reasons. Cheaper housing and they were supposed to extend the freeway to Pasadena. Never did extend the freeway.

[MrsPete]

Some people think they are doing the right thing by commuting.  They tell themselves they are providing a better environment or school district for their children.  Or that it is closer to their spouse's job, or that they have to be near ailing parents.  There are lots of reasons why someone might choose to spend a ridiculous amount of time and money on living far away from their workplaces, which is a fact that MMM conveniently overlooks when advising people to live as close as possible.  It's good advice, just not always practical.

For the record, I recently moved from 1.5 miles away to 8 miles away from work, for some of the above mentioned reasons.  I still carpool or bike.

And some of those people ARE doing the right thing by commuting!  Furthermore, since more and more people are telecommuting and working at home most days, the far-from-work option is looking more and more reasonable every day. 

Of course, that's probably not true of the guy in this particular discussion, but my brother lives two counties over from his office -- more than an hour's drive -- but he only goes in once every 2-3 weeks.  Most of the time he's working from his at-home office, wearing his sweatpants or shorts.  He's home when their kids get off the bus.  He eats lunch in his own kitchen.  I'd take that deal in a heartbeat.

[surfhb]

I drive 2.5 hours a day just because I like to surf, live near the beach and my career puts me in Hollywood.    Worth every penny IMO

[SnackDog]

Some people actually enjoy a bit of a buffer between home and work.  1.25 hours each is not that bad.  There are literally millions of people who do two hours each way on public transportation.  At least if he did it 43 years he avoided moving and had his house paid off and kids got to grow up in the same 'hood.  That counts for something.

[fujiters]

Some people think they are doing the right thing by commuting.  They tell themselves they are providing a better environment or school district for their children.  Or that it is closer to their spouse's job, or that they have to be near ailing parents.  There are lots of reasons why someone might choose to spend a ridiculous amount of time and money on living far away from their workplaces, which is a fact that MMM conveniently overlooks when advising people to live as close as possible.  It's good advice, just not always practical.

For the record, I recently moved from 1.5 miles away to 8 miles away from work, for some of the above mentioned reasons.  I still carpool or bike.

Indeed! Especially the aspect of schools. If your office happens to be in a terrible school system, you may have to put your kid(s) in private schools from K-12 in order to walk/bikr to work. That's worth $10,000 a year, at minimum for 1 kid.

[gimp]

That is a shit-ton of driving. I wouldn't want to do it, but I have coworkers who do worse.

On the other hand, I also know people who come into the office once a week. Their average commute is less than mine despite living much farther away. I love this field and area...