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

Pussyhands

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.

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Twenty Grand

Sleeper12 wrote: »

I left school at 14. 50 now but they won't give me a state pension till I'm 68. I'll be working & pay tax 54 years before I get a state pension. Others might only be working 30 years between college & gap years. Doesn't make sense to me at all

I'm half your age yet pay the same health insurance even though I'm statistically much healthier and less likely to go to hospital.

The system is counter intuitive because the alternative is that a certain group would be severely disadvantaged. In your case if there was a fixed number of year required before a pension, some people would be working well into their 80s.

[Deleted User]

I left school at 14. 50 now but they won't give me a state pension till I'm 68. I'll be working & pay tax 54 years before I get a state pension. Others might only be working 30 years between college & gap years. Doesn't make sense to me at all

Conservatory

I have the odd day where I feel like this but I look at it more long term. I built 2 hotels this year. I pretend I’m self employed and getting paid 25000 a hotel. I get penalized for every day I’m not on site.

Would you rather foraging for food, losing most of your kids to hunger during the winter and struggling to find dry wood during the rain? Humans have never been more comfortable than they are now. It’s not a waste of a life.

Twenty Grand

shakeitoff wrote: »

This is true. So many people just get by on an appetite of Netflix and browsing internet and wonder why they're unhappy. Cinema is no longer a hobby in the way it may have been a few decades ago.

Thread here not long ago about what people do in the evenings.
Most people do nothing. Get home. Make dinner watch tv, browse internet, sleep. Day in day out, then wonder why they're not happy.
Fair enough I can understand people are tired and wiped after work, but it doesn't take much effort to go for a walk or even spend 30 mins tipping away at some project or hobby.

Variety is the spice of life. If you cant get it in work, you need to get it at home.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

shakeitoff

lsjmhar wrote: »

This is life. Bono sings the same songs every day and has done for 30+ years. Get a hobby!

This is true. So many people just get by on an appetite of Netflix and browsing internet and wonder why they're unhappy. Cinema is no longer a hobby in the way it may have been a few decades ago.

lsjmhar

Pussyhands wrote:

mid 20's.

This is life. Bono sings the same songs every day and has done for 30+ years. Get a hobby!

Tom Dunne

....... wrote: »

What kinds of jobs do people have when they talk about jobs they enjoy?

Education - making a difference to people's lives and great holidays.

Twenty Grand

....... wrote: »

What kinds of jobs do people have when they talk about jobs they enjoy?

Engineering.
Love it. Still put my 40 hours a week in and no more if I can help it. I have a few projects on the go at home, got the gym and a few other active pursuits for the weekends. Weekend city breaks often enough and one big holiday a year.

IMO it's not the job that's tiring, it's the commuting. I live 10 mins from work so I'm up at 8am to start at 8.30 and home with my feet up before 5.30pm every day.

R.D. aka MR.D

Dardania wrote: »

There's a lot of movement lately about the FIRE concept - Financial Independence, Retire Early.
Apparently, in the US, the big issues with achieveing the idea are:
- housing costs (buying too large a home)
- education costs (not such a problem for Europeans)
- car costs (do you change your car frequently etc.)

If you want to do something about the topic, I suggest you check it out. And also, this is a useful Reddit page to follow: https://www.reddit.com/r/EuropeFIRE/

Since getting interested in the topic, I have tentatively convinced my spouse to stick with our starter home, and that will give me the flexibility to maybe not work 40 hours per as a wage slave, and instead take on some consulting gigs for really interesting topics. But I would like to clear the mortgage first...

Husband and I are planning to retire early because we are DINKs (hoping to be DINKERs), it's amazing what you can achieve when you look into where you don't have to spend money.We enjoyed our 20s too and will use the next 15-20 years to maximise our finances until we can retire early. These middle years are the hard part!

.......

This post has been deleted.

shakeitoff

I wouldn't be in the 'just travel' mentality, when Irish people say that they more or less mean move to an English speaking country and just live with Irish people(and at best other English speakers) and live a regular life in a western country doing everything you would be doing in Dublin. There's nothing wrong with that, just what I've found to mean by 'travel'.

witchgirl26

I don't get this either/or attitude of enjoying life when you're young or old. I have a job I like. When I stopped enjoying the company I worked for, I moved to a similar position in a new company. I work long enough days but I don't spend the weekends trying to recover from it. It's a desk job so not that much to recover from! I spend my evenings and weekends doing things I like and enjoy and that are active. I save and go on holidays which I'm able to do because of my job. I've never done long trips but I've been to places I've always wanted to go.

mrcheez

Pussyhands wrote: »

mid 20's.

Mid 20s I did a RTW trip for 18 months after having saved up previous few years.

Best thing I ever did.

I met loads of retired folk that worked their entire lives only to start going travelling once they retired, and they were limited in the active pursuits they could take part in, not to mention not having the physical energy.

I'm 40 now and work every day but still regard my mid-late 20s as the best time of my life having travelled and not bothered about careers etc.

I still go travelling every year though, but not for 18 months

randomrb

shakeitoff wrote: »

In a way, he had the good life when it mattered. I'd rather have lived good in my 20's than be some old lad with money. You can't put a value on being young and having freedom, and not only that but your mate seemed to have a bit of cash at the same time. Not bad.

I suppose that's where people differ, I can't imagine anything worse than facing into a future of financial uncertainty. I wouldn't be able to enjoy the present without worrying about the future

shakeitoff

cbreeze wrote: »

I know someone who had a great life, travelling, teaching English here and there in hot places but he never saved money, never contributed to a pension or bought a house. He loved the fancy-free lifestyle. Now that he's old he's living on the means tested State pension and has to rent a room far away from Dublin because his income won't stretch to both rent and food. He keeps warm in public transport in the winter with the free travel. The people I know who stuck it out in jobs they either liked or tolerated are now quite comfortable: house paid off or nearly so, workplace pension, state pension, holidays, meals out, weekends away.

There were bits of my 10 hr a day job I did not like, and bits I did. I changed it from within and got promoted. I did a degree in my spare time and that helped as well.

A lot will happen in 40 years, and 50 and 60 years, so set the groundwork now for growth and enjoyment

In a way, he had the good life when it mattered. I'd rather have lived good in my 20's than be some old lad with money. You can't put a value on being young and having freedom, and not only that but your mate seemed to have a bit of cash at the same time. Not bad.

cbreeze

I know someone who had a great life, travelling, teaching English here and there in hot places but he never saved money, never contributed to a pension or bought a house. He loved the fancy-free lifestyle. Now that he's old he's living on the means tested State pension and has to rent a room far away from Dublin because his income won't stretch to both rent and food. He keeps warm in public transport in the winter with the free travel. The people I know who stuck it out in jobs they either liked or tolerated are now quite comfortable: house paid off or nearly so, workplace pension, state pension, holidays, meals out, weekends away.

There were bits of my 10 hr a day job I did not like, and bits I did. I changed it from within and got promoted. I did a degree in my spare time and that helped as well.

A lot will happen in 40 years, and 50 and 60 years, so set the groundwork now for growth and enjoyment

shakeitoff

It's a joke tbh, one day there will be an uprising when people realise that life truly is short and wasting hours in a job is such bollox. 6 hours is the absolute maximum time you should be working for each day.

The problem with this 'find a job you enjoy' advice is that a of us don't have the IQ to get jobs we enjoy. I don't get replies for entry level sales jobs, so finding a job that I enjoy is a pipe dream.

I graduated from college and work the same job I did throughout colege where I can pick my own hours and wear what I want. The money is terrible and work unfulfilling but the environment is nice enough and my managers and work friends are nice to be around. I feel it has kept me young and I have time to do most stuff I want to. I couldn't think of anything worse than suiting up everyday to go into some toxic work environment with highly competitive people all trying to outdo one another.

9-5 is too long a day, then you have to get the gym in(Gym is a necessity, some weird people enjoy the gym but for me it's a means to an end) make your dinner and then go to bed early so you aren't a zombie the next day. Absolute bollox.

Dardania

There's a lot of movement lately about the FIRE concept - Financial Independence, Retire Early.
Apparently, in the US, the big issues with achieveing the idea are:
- housing costs (buying too large a home)
- education costs (not such a problem for Europeans)
- car costs (do you change your car frequently etc.)

If you want to do something about the topic, I suggest you check it out. And also, this is a useful Reddit page to follow: https://www.reddit.com/r/EuropeFIRE/

Since getting interested in the topic, I have tentatively convinced my spouse to stick with our starter home, and that will give me the flexibility to maybe not work 40 hours per as a wage slave, and instead take on some consulting gigs for really interesting topics. But I would like to clear the mortgage first...

RichT

I have to work for the next 40 years? :eek:

Christ! I'll be 92 when I clock off. Well, I wasn't feeling sick, but I am now! :mad:

.......

This post has been deleted.

JC01

Nope I enjoy work and find myself getting antsy and bored after a week off, I'm often looking forward to getting back to work as odd as that might sound.

Now ask me that question 2 years ago and I'd tell you I would of givin up on life altogether before spending 40 years at what I was doing.

The important factor is doing a job you actually enjoy and that's down to nobody but you to make that happen. Retrain, study etc whatever you need to do to accomplish whatever your own goals are, I gaurentee you nobody else is gonna do it for you and that If you don't make a change you'll be one of the thousands of people getting grumpier and angrier by the year as you trudge through a job you've fallen into rather than chosen.

super_furry

With weekends and bank holidays, it's probably closer to 130 days off a year if that helps to focus on.

If you're a teacher, even more. Part of me really wishes I could go back and train to be a teacher but I suppose if you're doing it for the 'lifestyle' and holidays rather than an actual desire to teach, you may not enjoy it.

Fortune Wookiee_

What is a full day's work for you? It could mean 8-7 for some or 8-4. Are you working longer hours than you should?

Do you enjoy the work?

If not, what would you like to do? I don't mean become an artist or something (though you could), but what do you think you'd like that would enable you to live happily with a decent income?

How about you go to the gym before work or at lunchtime if possible?

If energy is a problem for you in the evenings (long hours aside), perhaps you're not eating right or getting enough sleep?

Try not to look at it as having to work for the next 40 years. Instead, set short-term goals for yourself and look at attaining a lifestyle you think you'd like. Give yourself 2-5 years depending on what that is.

Elessar

I saw a sticker once, stuck onto a traffic light pole at a junction. It simply read "It's not Monday that sucks. It's your job".

And it's bloody right. If you find a job that you actually like, and find interesting, you won't be dreading working it for years on end.

[Deleted User]

Pussyhands wrote: »

mid 20's.

Your 100% correct. It’s a waste of a life. It’s a shame society doesn’t encourage retirement for 50.

Trust yourself. Make a plan. Stick to it. And get out.

You’ll need to trust your plan and make hard decisions but don’t dilly or dally as you’ll be 40 before you know it.

Trust yourself. Make a plan. Stick to it. And get out.

Macker1

From time to time people will feel the same. Here's a motto that is worth ingraining in yourself.

I work to live
Not live to work

Important to realise the difference and have pleasures/rewards that working provides.

I have adopted that mantra and it really helps.

Tom Dunne

I'm in the very fortunate position of doing a job I love and making a difference to people's lives every day.

But it wasn't always like that. I did various jobs, but I got to travel to different parts of the world, got to meet amazing people and, most importantly, developed a skillset that enabled me to be in the position I am in now.

So take control of your career, ensure you have goals set so that you won't be disillusioned in 10, 20, 30-year's time and that you will be able to do a job that you enjoy.

I really sound like an old man. I'm not old. Honestly.

randomrb

There are two ways you can look at it. you need to find a job that you enjoy doing or you need to find a job that allows you do what you love outside of work.

The problem with a lot of people i see is that although they don't enjoy your job they have nothing to look forward to when they get home. Find what you love doing in life and get a job that allows you to do that like with flexi-time as one of the other posters mentioned.

If you can get both of the above then you are sorted. Maybe I'm Naive but if you already sick of working you need to look at what you are doing and decide if its right for you

looksee

You are assuming that life is going to go on the way it is at the moment. It is very unlikely to do that, you never know what is round the corner, good or bad.

Live for the moment (with reasonable consideration for ambition, retirement, things to look forward to etc) - by that I mean work at making life as enjoyable as you can, with outside interests and doing your best with the job you have, while keeping an eye out to change if you need to. Be willing to grab any opportunity, or make serious change, that comes up. Don't try and anticipate what 10 years ahead will be like.

Its absolutely natural, and too easy, to see life as a great shapeless blob of boring existence in front of you, rather than being depressed by it do your best to live with and also improve your situation. Take a chance, follow opportunity. If nothing else, go out on these long evenings and enjoy the sunshine, go for a walk, head for the countryside or the beach from work.