Does anyone else get sick at the thought of working for the next 40 years?

witchgirl26

WhiteMemento9 wrote: »

Do you have a passion for the work, or are you just satisfied at being good at something? People who hate what they do, generally I find can't separate that while it may not be a real passion, you can find enjoyment at completing something, being good at it and the satisfaction that comes from that place. I will say that while I think you can make work bearable by telling yourself these half truths, it eventually takes it toll. Hence why we have so many people hopping from job to job to job. Maybe though internal auditing is a real passion for you though. People are weird and wonderful and I hope that is truly the case.

I wouldn't say it's a passion. To me that is more my hobbies that are my passions. But I do really enjoy my work and I don't mind coming to work every day. Do I have those days where I'd prefer to stay home and do I want to stay on holidays a little longer - course! I'm only human! But it's not because I dread going back into the office or doing my work. I genuinely like it. It helps that I'm good at it but that's not why I like it. I've liked doing accounting time work since I first did business studies in secondary school so there's been a lot of work to be good at it.

I don't tell myself half truths. And I don't hop from job to job. Sometimes though changing jobs is not about making it bearable. I've friends who change jobs every couple of years at most at the moment because while they know the area they want to work in, they're trying to figure out which exact part of it they want to be in. You can't judge that in abstract so you have to try it and give it a while to see is it right. I admire them because they aren't just settling.

TallGlass

Anyone else also thinking reading this. That by the time retirements comes around for us, will it be the same form as it is now? And will it be 70, I can see it been 80, with life expectancy rising and also the sheer volume of us retiring at once, can the state afford it?

Wanderer78

TallGlass wrote: »

Anyone else also thinking reading this. That by the time retirements comes around for us, will it be the same form as it is now? And will it be 70, I can see it been 80, with life expectancy rising and also the sheer volume of us retiring at once, can the state afford it?

can we not afford it?

howamidifferent

I'm 11 years away from retirement but I'd retire in the morning if I could.
Even though I have 35 years of work under my belt and only 11 left to go, it seems like a lifetime. Cant come quick enough. With my luck I'll probably never live long enough to retire...

Dial Hard

I think a lot of people on here are suffering from what I call "Conveyor Belt Syndrome". I've suffered bouts of it in the past myself and the worst thing about it is that you don't have to actively hate your job at all to fall into it, which is why I think a lot of people here are puzzled as to why they're feeling the way they do. It's very easy to fall into a constant cycle of work-eat-sleep, work-eat-sleep. Rinse and repeat. Add in a long commute (which I had for years, 3+ hours a day) and it's very, very easy to start asking yourself "Is this it?". But it's very rarely down to your job, per se, more an issue with your life/lifestyle as a whole.

I've worked in jobs I hated. I've worked in jobs that were "grand". I've had the good fortune to be able to take a couple of medium-length periods off work (6-9 months each) and still have money in my pocket. For me, certainly the whole "Ah you'd be bored if you didn't have to work" is a load of crap, I absolutely LOVED being off work.


I'm in a job that I enjoy at the moment. It's a 9-5, Monday to Friday, office one. Some people's idea of hell. But I enjoy the work (communications), my office has amazing facilities, my boss is a dream and the culture/atmosphere in the office is great. I don't bound out of bed every morning filled with the joys of spring at the thoughts of going to work, but neither do I actively dread it, and believe me, I know the value of that. I don't suffer from the Sunday work anxiety, which, again, I was all too familiar with in previous roles. If I won the lotto tomorrow I'd pack it in without a second thought but in the absence of a life-changing windfall, I'm happy with my lot.


In the evenings, I go home, I walk my dog. I pour myself a glass of wine, I put on a few tunes and I cook the dinner. Cooking is a great joy of mine. I tend my veg in the garden. I read. I couldn't tell you the last time I switched on the TV. At the weekends I meet friends or my family for drinks or food. I take my dog further afield. Sometimes I just chill the beans at home and that's fine too. I'll tell you what I don't do - I don't spend hours cleaning the house anymore. Getting a cleaner was literally the best thing I have ever done for my free time and I honestly cannot recommend it enough for anyone who works full time. It's amazing how much resentment will just flow out of your life if you don't have to spend hours of your precious weekend cleaning the house. Do it. Seriously.

TallGlass

Wanderer78 wrote: »

can we not afford it?

Honestly no idea, there is gonna be a serious amount of us. Are we even having enoght babies to keep the population aflaot so it's not all high ages in the future?

Wanderer78

TallGlass wrote: »

Honestly no idea, there is gonna be a serious amount of us. Are we even having enoght babies to keep the population aflaot so it's not all high ages in the future?

yea this is a difficult one, our planet cannot sustain our current consumption rates, encouraging more births will probably exasperate this, but there may not be enough people working in the future to sustain things, we better start looking at better ways of distributing wealth, and fast

WhiteMemento9

witchgirl26 wrote: »

I wouldn't say it's a passion. To me that is more my hobbies that are my passions. But I do really enjoy my work and I don't mind coming to work every day. Do I have those days where I'd prefer to stay home and do I want to stay on holidays a little longer - course! I'm only human! But it's not because I dread going back into the office or doing my work. I genuinely like it. It helps that I'm good at it but that's not why I like it. I've liked doing accounting time work since I first did business studies in secondary school so there's been a lot of work to be good at it.

I don't tell myself half truths. And I don't hop from job to job. Sometimes though changing jobs is not about making it bearable. I've friends who change jobs every couple of years at most at the moment because while they know the area they want to work in, they're trying to figure out which exact part of it they want to be in. You can't judge that in abstract so you have to try it and give it a while to see is it right. I admire them because they aren't just settling.

Thank you. I wasn't directing the half-truth comment towards you. That is more part of the problems I see around me in why people are so miserable. I know nothing about your life although you just gave me a slice and it sounds pretty good.

.G.

theyoungchap wrote:

I have no intention of working for 40 years. We are deliberately saving like crazy, live a very modest life, in the HOPE that we will be retired by 60 at the absolute latest. F this working till your 70 just to live a flashy lifestyle.

As you are aware there's risks with that too. You might die before then and then you've led a frugal life and never got to enjoy the fruits of it. For myself a lot of the men in my family die young so I'm not expecting old age although it'd be lovely!

I'm leveraging my position so I can earn as much as I can right now while doing the bare minimum of work for it. I value my time off that no amount of money would entice me to work extra hours. Work to live rather than live to work. Live for now.

seannash

Wanderer78 wrote: »

yea this is a difficult one, our planet cannot sustain our current consumption rates, encouraging more births will probably exasperate this, but there may not be enough people working in the future to sustain things, we better start looking at better ways of distributing wealth, and fast

They are introducing a mandatory pension scheme like they have in England. Your employer must contribute to the pension on your behalf and the government will pay a percentage too..
In turn they will reduce or scrap the retirement pension eventually as everyone will have a pension to some degree (Or so the theory goes)
Anyone who is employed and can afford it is crazy not to be investing in a private pension.

BarryD2

Pussyhands wrote: »

Doing the same thing. I mean, getting up early in the morning, doing a full days work, giving away the best hours of the day.

It's called being a productive citizen Paying your way and helping others who can't for whatever reason. It's how society runs.

Best thing is to just make sure you work at something you can enjoy, take a bit of pride in.

C3PO

The recession put paid to any possibility of me ever retiring but to be honest I really don't mind! As long as I have my health I'll be happy to keep working even if only on a part-time basis as I get older!

Wanderer78

seannash wrote: »

They are introducing a mandatory pension scheme like they have in England. Your employer must contribute to the pension on your behalf and the government will pay a percentage too..
In turn they will reduce or scrap the retirement pension eventually as everyone will have a pension to some degree (Or so the theory goes)
Anyone who is employed and can afford it is crazy not to be investing in a private pension.

will this actually work? i suspect it actually wont, but we have no way of truly telling this, pension funds tend to be very dubious things

WhiteMemento9

Lots of these posts are very me-centric. I am as guilty of that as the next person at times. The problem to fix all the issues we have as a society though are the questions that really need to be addressed. Believe it or not, we would all be much happier if society functioned better. Hopefully automation, AI etc makes us face some really tough questions and we come out the other side a better place for people to live. I have my doubts though. Too many good people standing by and not enough people standing up and being counted for the people struggling. Those who have found a way to make things good, just end up going with the flow and ignoring the badness. I am preaching here but you see in people where they don't end up just standing by but get involved in it. We have a hugely sick society, parts of it are amazing but much of it is really **** for people and if you truly have empathy then that should hurt us all. The things discussed here around shortening the working week would help but that is a small piece in a very large jigsaw.

seannash

Wanderer78 wrote: »

will this actually work? i suspect it actually wont, but we have no way of truly telling this, pension funds tend to be very dubious things

I think its a great idea. Even just to make people aware of it. You'd be surprised how many people have no idea what they will need to retire. Its scary.
The more aware people are the better off society will be and hopefully more people will prepare for retirement

Mutant z

Just be greatfull that you have a job and you're paid to do it not everyone is in that situation dont take what you have for granted because you may find as soon as soon as you no longer have it you want ìt more than anything.

seannash

Mutant z wrote: »

Just be greatfull that you have a job and you're paid to do it not everyone is in that situation dont take what you have for granted because you may find as soon as soon as you no longer have it you want more than anything.

With respect I think if you are willing and able to work you can get a job in Ireland as it is today.
Might not be your dream job but you can definitely find work if you are willing and able

randomrb

WhiteMemento9 wrote: »

For many people though that isn't easy. You are lucky to be born with drive, intelligence and all that good stuff. Well done you on finding something that makes you happy and you find interesting. Do you ever consider the people doing awful stuff that they hate, killing themselves doing things they hate just to keep the head above water or do you look around the world and think things are exactly as they should be? I ask not from a place of judgement but just interested in what other people think about these things. Like in that job you will see incredibly immoral people, would you question those things or just go along cause . . .

While I do agree with you on some points I was lucky that I was born with a good level of Intelligence but I think people use that as an excuse to much. Everyone is good at something but a lot of people ignore the hard work that others put in and just begrudge the end result.
People always say that you are lucky to be born intelligent but that just makes little of the hours weeks and years of hard study that I did to get here.

All good jobs take hard work whether thats physical or mental it should make no odds. You wouldnt say to a a carpenter that he was lucky to be born with such practical skills they worked hard to be good at it.

f@steddie

Wanderer78 wrote: »

pension funds tend to be very dubious things

In what way? They have high fees but otherwise it would be good if you backed that up...

OP - You don't have to follow a conventional path and retire after 40 years. There are other options.

https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/01/13/the-shockingly-simple-math-behind-early-retirement/

WhiteMemento9

BarryD2 wrote: »

It's called being a productive citizen Paying your way and helping others who can't for whatever reason. It's how society runs.

Best thing is to just make sure you work at something you can enjoy, take a bit of pride in.

That all makes perfect sense. I think though the lack of pride in work comes from other pressures in the society we have created to live. People are perfectly reasonable to question the current state of the world. I actually think those who don't are the ones who have lost touch with reality.

.......

This post has been deleted.

WhiteMemento9

randomrb wrote: »

While I do agree with you on some points I was lucky that I was born with a good level of Intelligence but I think people use that as an excuse to much. Everyone is good at something but a lot of people ignore the hard work that others put in and just begrudge the end result.
People always say that you are lucky to be born intelligent but that just makes little of the hours weeks and years of hard study that I did to get here.

All good jobs take hard work whether thats physical or mental it should make no odds. You wouldnt say to a a carpenter that he was lucky to be born with such practical skills they worked hard to be good at it.

So you are saying that you think people are purely a product of the hard work they put in. They don't at all get scared, moulded, shaped by life. We all have the same access to opportunities. We all have the same parents to motivate us. The bombardment from the world about doing something great with your life. We all have that inner drive and intelligence to succeed despite our circumstances? Stop drawing such straight lines in your head that people use that as an excuse and are bitter because that is who they are. If you dig into people enough you will generally find reasons as to how life has ended up leaving them feeling like that. A bit of compassion and understanding will make you a better person too. If you are solely about the career and getting ahead. Have at it. I hope it makes you happy.

randomrb

WhiteMemento9 wrote: »

So you are saying that you think people are purely a product of the hard work they put in. They don't at all get scared, moulded, shaped by life. We all have the same access to opportunities. We all have the same parents to motivate us. The bombardment from the world about doing something great with your life. We all have that inner drive and intelligence to succeed despite our circumstances? Stop drawing such straight lines in your head that people use that as an excuse and are bitter because that is who they are. If you dig into people enough you will generally find reasons as to how life has ended up leaving them feeling like that. A bit of compassion and understanding will make you a better person too. If you are solely about the career and getting ahead. Have at it. I hope it makes you happy.

I'm far from all about career, if you read my previous post on this I said that one of the keys is to find out what you enjoy outside work and find a job that makes time for that if you can.
I'm also well aware that life can deal very harsh hands to people and luck can also play a part but your attitude to this seems overly broad as well and gives everyone an excuse. I don't its too ridiculous a statement to say that people are mainly a product of the hard work they put in.

begbysback

It's a common state of mind when relatively young, "the thought of working or paying a mortgage for the next 40 years".

Don't fret op, life is such that the day will come when you would be happy to have 40 years left.

seannash

I think the biggest problem people have is the mortgage.
If I was to give anyone advice starting out I would say give serious consideration into not buying a big house. (Or more correctly not getting a big mortgage in relation to your earnings)

Its one of, if not the, largest bills you will have as an adult.

WhiteMemento9

randomrb wrote: »

I'm far from all about career, if you read my previous post on this I said that one of the keys is to find out what you enjoy outside work and find a job that makes time for that if you can.
I'm also well aware that life can deal very harsh hands to people and luck can also play a part but your attitude to this seems overly broad as well and gives everyone an excuse. I don't its too ridiculous a statement to say that people are mainly a product of the hard work they put in.

This is a deep conversation. Things in life happen to everyone that is horrible. That is an inevitably. Some people sail through life untouched for a long time but eventually, everyone is touched. I see many people who never really recover themselves. It happens to many people younger, in some cases, it is just a state of mind but you can't understand the internal struggles of another person. Those horrible places give you an understanding of things I am trying to get across. Life, when you are young, can feel like a computer game. Those people struggling are just like you in many ways. If you feel connected to the world then you should feel their pain. Hard work is a tiny piece of the puzzle. We have too many people who don't feel connected and if you look around this world with open eyes and think you see a good place, you are not really looking.

Fizzlesque

Pussyhands wrote: »

Doing the same thing. I mean, getting up early in the morning, doing a full days work, giving away the best hours of the day. Coming back, not really being able to do anything major.

Weekends spent trying to rest as you're bollixed from the week.

20 days off a year.

Stuck at a desk all day, probably leading to health problems later on.

The hope of not doing it keeps me going but deep down the likliehood is I'll have to keep working.

I hear you and I completely understand where you are coming from. Since leaving school, 30 years ago now, I have questioned the general acceptance that what we should should do is get to work and stay in work, all day, every day until there aren't that many more days left on our horizon. I remember clearly the shock to my system when I left school and took my first steps into the world of full time work. The slow dawning that this was something I was supposed to do for 40+ years filled me with horror & that horror has never fully left me even though I've managed to wrangle small bouts of escape here and there over the years.

I have worked in a lot of jobs, I have been unemployed (more than once), I have traveled, I've lived in other countries, I have been fired from jobs, I've walked out of jobs and I had one job that I absolutely loved, which the pesky recession stole from me. Having said that, my life had begun to stagnate a little by the time I was in my sixth year in that job, so when I was made redundant, two years later, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

Last year, I decided to work part time and find a way to survive on the reduced wage that decision brought with it. It is the best decision I have ever made. I'm broke but I'm happier than I ever was when I was earning a decent, full time wage. I know not everyone can make that choice, for various reasons, but for me it was the only way forward. Before that, I would get out of bed and sit at the edge, unable to move, unable to get a message from my brain to my legs to get up and get moving because I knew I was going back to the same building, to do the same thing, for yet another day, week, month, year and something inside of me was slowly dying. My spirit, perhaps.

Anyway, I could waffle on for ages about this - one of my pet topics - but it's lunchtime & I'm starving. So, all I will say is, if you're finding yourself questioning a life spent working full time, keep questioning and looking for solutions. They're out there, but you may need to do a lot of unearthing & digging to find the right one for you. Never accept that it's "just the way the world works" as I was often told when I expressed my unhappiness with the daily trudge.

The very best of luck to you

Dial Hard

....... wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

I've been that soldier, believe me.

I was unemployed for a period last year and killed myself trying to come up with the few bob to keep paying the cleaner because we knew that if we let her go for a few months, she'd be snapped up elsewhere and we wouldn't be able to get her back once I was back on my feet. I had serious issues with myself trying to justify the cost of a cleaner when I wasn't even working myself, but in the end, I was glad we were able to hang on to her. The irony is, I was dead set against the idea of getting a cleaner in the first place. I was like "We're young and we've no kids, why in God's name do we need a cleaner?" but my sister (who I live with) was dead-set on the idea and wouldn't take no for an answer. And like I said, it ended up being one of the best decisions we ever made.

If things improve for you (and I certainly hope they do), keep it in mind!

JJayoo

Don't get married or have kids and you will save a fortune.

seannash

Dial Hard wrote: »

I've been that soldier, believe me.

I was unemployed for a period last year and killed myself trying to come up with the few bob to keep paying the cleaner because we knew that if we let her go for a few months, she'd be snapped up elsewhere and we wouldn't be able to get her back once I was back on my feet. I had serious issues with myself trying to justify the cost of a cleaner when I wasn't even working myself, but in the end, I was glad we were able to hang on to her. The irony is, I was dead set against the idea of getting a cleaner in the first place. I was like "We're young and we've no kids, why in God's name do we need a cleaner?" but my sister (who I live with) was dead-set on the idea and wouldn't take no for an answer. And like I said, it ended up being one of the best decisions we ever made.

If things improve for you (and I certainly hope they do), keep it in mind!

I second this. Its a great investment. The amount of time you save is great. And if its possible to get one who will iron for you then you are living the dream.
One thing I want to do is invest in a robot vacuum cleaner. I think that it'll help with keeping things clean.