Not Working for the Money

[willow]

We talk a lot about buying according to our values in this community. On the same token we all seem to be obsessed with super saving and early retirement.

I say all that to say, what keeps you working where you are now? And what parts of your job/life do you consider more important than a larger salary?

E.g. I'm fairly confident I could make an extra 10 to 20k a year easy by changing companies(and that's within the same city). However, I get paid a nice salary and it's more than enough of what I need. I have great friends at work, I'm learning a ton and pretty much get to take on whatever projects I want. At this point it would be hard to get me to change companies for 20k extra a year. To me, the money is not worth the risk. Even if, technically, the money would help me FIRE sooner.

Anyone else considered this trade off?

[The Beacon]

Well, extra 20k from a day job does not motivate me any more. I have been at my current job for a while. I am very comfortable with what I do day in and day out. Time is more precious to me than money because I need that time to improve my side hustle which will help me a lot more than that extra 20k a year.

[Indexer]

I agree 100% and I'm in the exact same boat.

I know I could make 10-20k doing basically the same thing for a different company in the same town, and several of those companies have tried to recruit me.  I like where I work, I like the people, I believe in the company, I believe in the product, and I know no one is ever going to ask me to do something unethical. 

Those other companies would ask me to do something "I" consider unethical on a daily basis. 

Being happy, taking pride in my work, and being able to sleep at night are worth a lot more than 10-20k.

[Retire-Canada]

We talk a lot about buying according to our values in this community. On the same token we all seem to be obsessed with super saving and early retirement.

I say all that to say, what keeps you working where you are now? And what parts of your job/life do you consider more important than a larger salary?

I could make $20K - $45K more per year moving back to the bigger market I left 4yrs ago to live on a coastal island.

I could take extra work on the island [I did that last year to earn an extra $28K] more regularly.

In general I don't pursue the extra income because:

- I love to ride mountain bikes, motorcycles, surf, fish, etc..
- although I started late I am still okay to move to part-time work and reach FI in a reasonable time
- I like where I work and I think they'll go for my switch to part-time
- I could make more, but I make enough to save 40-50%

The other issue is I've had quite a few people [~20] I know die young which keeps me motivated to enjoy each day and have some non-work fun times regularly. My parents are in their 90's so I expect to be long lived yet I don't want to count on that.

I work normal 40hrs/wk. I tend not to put in OT. I don't pursue extra sources of income although they do come to me and if they are sufficiently valuable on a $/hr basis I'll take them on.

Ultimately I don't care about money or FI so much I want to optimize my earning at the cost of other factors.

-- Vik

[lise]

Ultimately I don't care about money or FI so much I want to optimize my earning at the cost of other factors.

-- Vik

+1
 

[coppertop]

Why do I keep working where I am?  Because at my age, I am not all that marketable.  I did not need a degree for my job back in the day, but today, to do the job I do, employers want people with MBA's or CPA's.  So I am basically stuck unless I want to make substantially less money for the same 35 hours.  I'm saving, saving, saving so I can get out of the trap I feel I'm in.  I'm in a law firm and have gone as far as I can go without actually being a lawyer.  My job would be called 'controller' in any other business. 

[SaintM]

Working for a lifetime pension and health benefits that vests in 6 years...at age 44.

Last week a guy I work with asked if Person X is driving me crazy.  I said "no.  He rephrased: is Person X making your hair fall out.  I said, "Person X's problems are not worth my physical appearance or mental well-being."  Don't take all this work stuff too seriously.

[Rural]

I work for less than half the going market rate for professors in my field in order to teach poor first-generation Appalachian undergraduates at one of the least expensive colleges in the country, one they can actually afford. I know their stories - I lived them myself.


Also, it's driving distance from the mountain home my father and husband built for me. No plans to go anywhere until I retire, which may be soon or may be when I'm past 80, depending largely on my health and how much teaching I'm let to do going forward.

[Emilyngh]

I have very close to complete autonomy.   Outside of about 12 hours a week or so for about 30 weeks a year, I come very close to completely choosing what I work on the rest of the time and how much of that rest of the time I spend working.

I feel like I am good at what I do and that it genuinely helps people.

I find my work intellectually stimulating.

While many of the people I work with get on my nerves, I have a group of friends that I get to see regularly, like and share general values and world view with.

It's in a low cost area that's beautiful and close enough to my family that I can see them pretty much as often as I'd like.

I left a job making about twice what I make now that also had a much larger potential for significant wage increases for the one I currently have and don't regret it at all.   I like my job enough that I might consider still working at it after FI.