poll: suddenly rich- keep working or retire?
October 15, 2007 by Cash
I have a friend who is about to become very rich. Over the past few years, he and two partners have been working on an invention that will revolutionize a particular industry. Now their hard work is about to pay off, as a frenzy of investors line up to offer their support, and the nation’s largest distributors of their product are requesting meetings with them and their patent attorneys.
All indicators point towards a seven figure payday within a year. To me, the surprising part is not his pending success (he’s a creative genius when it comes to this area, and has an innate familiarity with the market they hope to tap), but rather his plans following it.
When discussing the exciting developments over sushi, I asked him what he planned to do with his newfound freedom of time, finally being freed from the shackles of his 9-5 work-a-day world.
His response?
“I plan to keep working, I like the security”. My jaw hit the floor, as my own resignation letter would no sooner hit my boss’s desk than I’d be on a flight to Thailand for my first mini-retirement.
How about you, Urban Monarch readers?
If you were suddenly rich, would you stick with your current job or explore new opportunities?
Don’t get me wrong, I love my job… but if I had my choice between this or.. pretty much anything else that’s not working, I’d take that.
However, that doesn’t mean I would give up working altogether. There are lots of things I’m passionate about that would be great as a new job (even if it would require additional schooling/whatever).
Some “job” ideas:
A sommelier at a fancy restaurant / wine shoppe.
A confectioner/chocolatier (could be self employed)
Underwear model
Or, what I would ideally do is take a “mini-retirement” and use my creative genius to think of additional products/ideas to increase my wealth.
Jess; I totally see where you’re coming from. The beauty of having the sudden financial infusion is exactly what you mention above. You could pursue something which right now might be considered financially ‘irresponsible’ without worry, just following your passion rather than your need to pay bills.
The key really is ‘at your current job’. I like my job, but if I were financially independent, I would choose other jobs, because I would have more lateral freedom to structure my job (or people I’d hire) as I see fit. The ability to structure work is really what capital provides you, and it ends up being the key. Leveraging what you have is therefore a pretty important skill.
For me, it would really depend on just how rich I suddenly became. $10 mil or more and I quit to travel and pursue other things. Less than that & I’m still working the job I currently love. Good points Jess. I guess I’m fortunate to be doing something I love. On a similar note, is “self employed Sommelier” a euphemism for wino?