Author Topic: UK Guardian: 47% of people wouldn't quit work with £2 million  (Read 4523 times)

shelivesthedream

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UK Guardian: 47% of people wouldn't quit work with £2 million
« on: October 18, 2017, 11:55:11 AM »
https://www.theguardian.com/money/shortcuts/2017/oct/17/the-big-money-question-would-you-quit-work-for-1m

Fair point that you'd struggle to buy a house and retire in the South East with £1 million, so £2 million might be necessary for some, but more than that?! Seriously?! And apparently 12% wouldn't quit for any amount of money. Honestly?!

Quote
According to a poll, 45% of working Brits would retire immediately in return for the lump sum of £1m or less. For £2m, more than half (53%) of the public could be persuaded to put their feet up for good, while £10m would see two-thirds (66%) quit their day job on the spot. However, 12% of employed Brits said that no amount of money could convince them to walk away from the world of work.

But is £1m really enough? We asked workers how much they would need to be offered to say goodbye to the paycheck and hello to freedom.

Aya Taleb, 16, student
 Aya Taleb.
 Aya Taleb. Photograph: Graeme Robertson for the Guardian
A million is nowhere near enough. Maybe £8m. I would buy a lot of makeup and I would buy my parents a house. With the rest of the money, I’d try to meet Justin Bieber.

Sergey Titov, 41, financial professional
 Segey Titov.
 Segey Titov. Photograph: Graeme Robertson for the Guardian
You can’t do anything with a million. You can’t even buy a house. I think I’d need £30m or £50m to retire. It would be nice if someone gave me a million – I’d invest it or start a business. But £1m would be gone in 10 years.

Indi Jackson, 58, gardener
 Indi Jackson.
 Indi Jackson. Photograph: Graeme Robertson for the Guardian
People have to work, right? You need to do something. You shouldn’t just sit around with a pot of money: you can live on £20,000 a year. I don’t do cruises, so that brings it down a lot!

Mathew Carter, 28, actor
 Mathew Carter.
 Mathew Carter. Photograph: Graeme Robertson for the Guardian
In London, I think you’d struggle on a million. I’m originally from north Wales; you could get a castle there for that. To retire comfortably, you’d need £2m, but I’m a bit of a spender. I’d buy a property, not a car or excessive food. I don’t think I’d retire, though.

Andreas Philippou, 16, student
 Andreas Philippou.
 Andreas Philippou. Photograph: Graeme Robertson for the Guardian
You’d want a house at home, and a house abroad. You could buy a house in London, but not one I’d want, with a swimming pool, sauna, sports room, gym and cinema room. Everyone would be coming to my house. I’d be comfortable with £10m and I’d be more than happy not working.

Ying Wong, 39, accountant
 Ying Wong.
 Ying Wong. Photograph: Graeme Robertson for the Guardian
You’d need double that: £2m. You could satisfy your short-term financial needs with a million, but, where the economy is going, you want security. I’d pay off my flat and invest the rest of the money – I would have said in property, but not any more.

Sarah Walbank, 57, retired
 Sarah Walbank.
 Sarah Walbank. Photograph: Graeme Robertson for the Guardian
I decided to get my pension early, it’s £12,000 a year. A million sounds good – at my age, you don’t still have a house to buy. If I had more money, I’d go travelling. Imagine how much you could do with £1m!

Maya Menon, 23, student
 Maya Menon.
 Maya Menon. Photograph: Graeme Robertson for the Guardian
I think I’d be happy with a million – and, if I could buy a house, it would be enough for the rest of my life. I’d be more chilled … set up a studio and do something from home.

Hula Hoop

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Re: UK Guardian: 47% of people wouldn't quit work with £2 million
« Reply #1 on: October 18, 2017, 12:42:19 PM »
It sounds to me like a lot of people really enjoy their jobs and that's good news.  My parents are like this - they love what they do and refuse to really retire.  My GP is similar.  He's 65 and they're trying to make him retire but he's resisting as he loves his job.

kei te pai

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Re: UK Guardian: 47% of people wouldn't quit work with £2 million
« Reply #2 on: October 18, 2017, 12:45:06 PM »
Or they really have no idea how to be mustachian!

squirrel

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Re: UK Guardian: 47% of people wouldn't quit work with £2 million
« Reply #3 on: October 18, 2017, 02:59:48 PM »
I wouldn't quit but would be delighted with a million - more than enough returns to scale back my job to the thoroughly enjoyable level and still have the requisite escape/holiday funds when I'm ready!

mrmoolaman

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Re: UK Guardian: 47% of people wouldn't quit work with £2 million
« Reply #4 on: October 18, 2017, 10:35:01 PM »
Sergey Titov sounds like a scary financial planner, as he can't do math. "One million would be gone in 10 years, I need 30 million."

Do you plan to live to 300 years old Sergey? Even older considering the growth....

bacchi

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Re: UK Guardian: 47% of people wouldn't quit work with £2 million
« Reply #5 on: October 18, 2017, 10:47:08 PM »
A lot of people are going to be disappointed in life. How ever will they live on their old age pension?

martyconlonontherun

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Re: UK Guardian: 47% of people wouldn't quit work with £2 million
« Reply #6 on: October 19, 2017, 01:27:50 AM »
It's amazing how much people think they need but then don't do the math to actual figure out that high number is impossible anyways on their current savings. If you need $8M to retire, shouldn't you be crazy mustachian now to get there when you want to retire at 65?

I had an infamous conversation with my co-workers where I said I would retire (never allowed to accept compensation) for $50k (adjusted for inflation) tax-free annuity ($100k if you include my wife). Everyone was absolutely shocked and kept asking how could you live on that. Granted we are all big-4 accountants looking to make 6-figures during the peak of our careers but they couldn't comprehend being ok it. "You could never travel" "You could never eat out" "You couldn't save for your kids college" all of these comments that didn't make any sense.

Being tax-free, it would've matched our take home salaries at the time and since it was a hypothetical annuity you wouldn't have to save at all for retirement. Though I came from a city where the median Household income was $30k, I had a different perspective on how well people could live on a combined 6-figure household income.


cerat0n1a

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Re: UK Guardian: 47% of people wouldn't quit work with £2 million
« Reply #7 on: October 19, 2017, 02:24:55 AM »
It sounds to me like a lot of people really enjoy their jobs and that's good news.

Yes, I know quite a few engineers who have £2 million or more (and who live fairly sensibly and don't waste their money) who still turn up for work every day. I might have been like that myself in the past. That's because they love their work and would do it as a hobby otherwise. I know people in their eighties with considerably more than this who also continue to work. Not everyone shares our goals.

Most of the people the article quotes just aren't used to thinking about these kind of sums. I imagine they didn't go too far from the office to take the photos, outside of London no-one would say "you can't even buy a house for a million pounds"

SecondBreakfast

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Re: UK Guardian: 47% of people wouldn't quit work with £2 million
« Reply #8 on: October 19, 2017, 04:01:16 AM »
Yeah, to turn it around that's only 12% of the population who are truly happily employed doing work they feel is valuable and appreciated. Which is kind of a disaster for society!

I think that 12% are Mustachian, if you view Mustachianism as being about achieving financial independence to do what you really love. To a lot of us that's travelling or raising children of having our own time, so we need extra money in advance, but to others that's probably "be a respected family doctor". They've hit the fastest way to Mustachianism too, instead of saving to be done by 30 they've been living the life they wanted since they entered the workforce.

londonstache

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Re: UK Guardian: 47% of people wouldn't quit work with £2 million
« Reply #9 on: October 19, 2017, 06:25:42 AM »
The amount of financial ineptitude is striking. I imagine if they rephrased this as "if you had £80k income for life*, would you go to work?" we would see a different response. 


(* assuming 4% SWR)

cerat0n1a

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Re: UK Guardian: 47% of people wouldn't quit work with £2 million
« Reply #10 on: October 19, 2017, 06:54:52 AM »
"if you had £80k income for life*, would you go to work?" we would see a different response.

Pretty sure you're right (although, again, Lahndaners would probably say "I couldn't even get a mortgage on 80k per year")

RobFIRE

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Re: UK Guardian: 47% of people wouldn't quit work with £2 million
« Reply #11 on: October 23, 2017, 06:46:02 AM »
I interpreted the question to be along the lines of how much you would need to be paid to quit work and never be allowed to work again, rather than just an amount to quit your current job and not feel the need to work again in a similar job. If it were that question I could understand reluctance to accept "only" £1m or £2m, as should there be some years of poor investment returns/losses you wouldn't have the option of doing some paid work to make it up.

I think in general though it just shows how clueless most people are about bigger picture financial planning and spending. As mentioned, the responses may have been more reasoned had it been explained in terms of income/cash flow rather than net amount. I suspect many people, due to not trusting themselves/being able to plan, would prefer to have 4% of £2m as income for life rather than £2m in cash. Firstly because they could immediately see how it would replace their salary (or how much of it, if high earner) and secondly because of the guarantee. Though of course really it would (given average investment returns) make sense to take the cash, as it would provide the capital and the same level of income.

fattest_foot

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Re: UK Guardian: 47% of people wouldn't quit work with £2 million
« Reply #12 on: October 23, 2017, 10:17:47 AM »
This isn't that surprising, to be honest.

I've made a similar post before, but I have a finance degree, and not until I found MMM did I realize that I wouldn't need $3-5M to retire.

The 4% rule never really was on my radar prior to that. I always factored in inflation, but never investment gains. And if someone like me with a finance degree didn't put it together on my own, I can't even imagine what the rest of the population is thinking. Part of the problem was I never really thought about what my expenses were as well. In just 2 or 3 MMM posts though, my entire outlook on it changed.

Inaya

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Re: UK Guardian: 47% of people wouldn't quit work with £2 million
« Reply #13 on: October 23, 2017, 10:31:57 AM »
This isn't that surprising, to be honest.

I've made a similar post before, but I have a finance degree, and not until I found MMM did I realize that I wouldn't need $3-5M to retire.

The 4% rule never really was on my radar prior to that. I always factored in inflation, but never investment gains. And if someone like me with a finance degree didn't put it together on my own, I can't even imagine what the rest of the population is thinking. Part of the problem was I never really thought about what my expenses were as well. In just 2 or 3 MMM posts though, my entire outlook on it changed.


Before I discovered MMM, I'd never heard of the 4% rule. I was just told, "You'll need $8 million to retire." I took it at face value. I don't even remember where I heard it. I suspect you'd hear similar from the general populace.

honeybbq

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Re: UK Guardian: 47% of people wouldn't quit work with £2 million
« Reply #14 on: October 23, 2017, 11:04:29 AM »
They asked several 16 year olds. What did they expect? LOL