Just on a side note for your example most accounting firms don’t close up shop after April unless they exist in a rural area or they are a sole proprieter.

Oh dear. I read _Your Money or Your Life_ last week (thanks for recommending it!), and I don’t think that’s the point Joe and Vicki are making at all. (Think of the example of the nurse-turned-truck driver.) Debbie M’s much more on the money.

Overall, I really enjoy your site, Trent. It’s full of good stuff. :-)

What if all you can get are low-wage jobs that will never pay enough to allow you to quit?

To me this was a big eye-opener. I’m always taking jobs that are sort of what I would like to do or near what I would like or in the same building as people who sort of do what I like, so that at least I’m around interesting people. On bad days, I sometimes think that if I’m going to hate my job anyway, I may as well be a programmer. (I have the brain for it, but it feels like mental sweatshop work.)

It’s nice if you can get work that you love or at least like, but it seems unlikely that everyone can get jobs they like. Some jobs are almost inherently unlikeable. Sure, some sanitation engineers enjoy working outside, and some custodians and clerks are control freaks who enjoy fixing things up, and some professors enjoy both teaching and research, but does the ratio of jobs and the ratio of people who like them match up perfectly? I doubt it!

As far as going without work some years while you’re young (and healthy and not dead yet), I’m all for it. Not that I’ve actually done it. What I do is work jobs that require only 40 hours per week, and often, I’m really only on call 40 hours and don’t always have to actually work the whole 40 hours, so that’s my version of taking early retirement. In return, I get low pay which means my Social Security payments will also be low.

However, I don’t expect this contract to last. We’ve been living on a budget that doesn’t require my income and we’ve been banking every dime I earn until my old company decides they don’t need me anymore. I have two more money-making projects queued up for that eventuality, plus my husband understands that the money we save by my housework/cooking/frugal shopping contributes directly to the bottom line as well.

Our goal is that I’ll never work full-time again unless it’s a project that truly moves me. My husband has a high-paying job he enjoys that only requires about 35 hours a week (he comes home for lunch each day) and we’re stashing money away in case that falls through some day, but life is so much better when the bulk of our energy is going to our family, not our employers.

““The only purpose for paid employment is to get paid …” That seems to be the rut many are stuck in but it doesn’t have to be that.” Yes, exactly. Up until this point I’ve tracked quite well with the book, but now I disagree with this point. Yes, for most paid employment is to get paid, but we all know of people who get much more satisfaction than just pay out of their work.

Personally, I think I’ll be facing this kind of choice in a few months: Stay at my current job, which after a year I no longer like (I’m no longer waking up with energy and eager to get to work, now I dread going to work) but it pays pretty good. Or take a job with a friend who is starting a new company – I have no doubt that the startup will pay much less than the current job (probably about $20,000 less/year) however, I know this person and he is determined to have fun at whatever he does – he brings an energy into any situation and he energizes everyone he works with. It sounds like this part of this chapter is saying that would be a bad move (to take a big paycut) – but I think I’d be much more willing to keep working for several years in this startup instead of just enduring my current job and possibly quitting in another year.

In terms of going for the top job – always a good idea. If you are doing what you are doing might as well make the most of that venture – financially, educationally, networking etc.

- Mark.

I think the book is right on in that regard, and I think our culture tends to think that you need to find a job to do FOREVER (until ‘retirement age’) and then do what you want. That doesn’t really make a lot of sense if you stop and think about it. That outlook will only keep you entrenched in our consumerism culture for good. Breaking free of that is the only way out in my opinion.