Those who plan to ER in their 30's/40's...are you unfulfilled by your career?

[FIREd]

As an atheist, I don't pay any attention to it, either.

But people you care about might!

 

[Ready]

In that you're supposed to tithe 10% to the church, maybe. If 10% of your annual "earnings" is zero because you no longer work, I suppose the church would be upset!

Well, I suppose you could offer them 10% of your dividends and capital gains to appease them. Or...you could just spend the money on yourself and enjoy your life.

 

[ER Eddie]

Here are some Bible verses on the work ethic, fwiw:
What Does the Bible Say About Work Ethic?

The general theme seems to be that work is good, as opposed to being a lazy slacker. And by lazy slacker, they mean someone who is like that from the start, not after several decades of good work, i.e., retired ... there was no such thing as retirement back then, of course ... no pension for Paul, no 401K for Moses.

The secondary theme seems to be that you should work in alignment with God's purposes.

Paul does say to admonish the idle (1 Thessolonians), so I hereby admonish all of thee. Consider yourselves admonished. I know that stung, but it's for your own good.

 

[Calico]

Here are some Bible verses on the work ethic, fwiw:
What Does the Bible Say About Work Ethic?

The general theme seems to be that work is good, as opposed to being a lazy slacker. And by lazy slacker, they mean someone who is like that from the start, not after several decades of good work, i.e., retired ... there was no such thing as retirement back then, of course ... no pension for Paul, no 401K for Moses.

The secondary theme seems to be that you should work in alignment with God's purposes.

Paul does say to admonish the idle (1 Thessolonians), so I hereby admonish all of thee. Consider yourselves admonished. I know that stung, but it's for your own good.

Now that we've been properly admonished, are we free to return to our idle pursuits?

 

[ER Eddie]

Oh all right. Just don't let me catch you, or I shall be forced to admonish you a second time.

 

[Meadbh]

Speak for yourself!

+1

 

[Meadbh]

All I know is...I'm not going to work until I drop just because some guy got tricked into eating an apple.

 

[arebelspy]

I'm planning to FIRE in my early 30s.

I love my job. I enjoy going every day.

But that doesn't mean I can't think of other things I want to do, try, and spend time on.

By the time I FIRE, I will have been working for around a decade. That, to me, is plenty of time to do something, even something I enjoy a lot.

So it will be time for new challenges and a time to try new things (such as raising kids, which I'd rather be able to do full time, rather than after 5pm and on weekends).

I know lots of people ERing do so because they hate their job (Brewer?), but that's certainly not the case for all of us. Enjoying a job though doesn't mean there isn't a million other things one might want to enjoy and try, and doing the former for 40+ years doesn't sound appealing to me.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

One thing that I think makes corporate jobs in America even less appealing for some than in the past is the lack of security. Prior to the last decade or so, it seemed to me like people only worried about getting laid off if either they were having performance issues, the company moved, the company got bought out, the company was losing money or something along those lines. But we see more and more former co-workers, many getting laid off just because their jobs are being outsourced, sometimes after they have received great reviews at profitable companies.

So no matter how hard they work, really the only long term financial security is in being financially independent.

 

[eridanus]

A VP at a recent gig had a sign on her office wall, "Work is a form of worship." I hadn't heard that so I looked into it.

https://work4christ.wordpress.com/2012/11/23/work-is-worship/

God created us to work, and like everything else in our lives, it can bring glory to God and help us connect to our purpose.

I think the sign was also an excuse, or maybe even encouragement, to work very long hours. "But my/your 60 hour weeks are for Christ!"

 

[Spanky]

One thing that I think makes corporate jobs in America even less appealing for some than in the past is the lack of security. Prior to the last decade or so, it seemed to me like people only worried about getting laid off if either they were having performance issues, the company moved, the company got bought out, the company was losing money or something along those lines. But we see more and more former co-workers, many getting laid off just because their jobs are being outsourced, sometimes after they have received great reviews at profitable companies.

So no matter how hard they work, really the only long term financial security is in being financially independent.

The trend of RIF continues on a rise even though the company is profitable. A "reasonable" profit is simply not good enough. As an example, a local large medical device company reported revenue in the quarter had grown to $4.3 billion, an increase of 4 percent over the same period last year and profit growth by 28% to $991 million. Yet the company reduced its workforce by 5%. Achieving both growth (top line) and profit (bottom line) at a targeted rate is paramount. If these targets are not realized, layoffs will occur. Long-term employment with a company is a thing of the past. Employee loyalty also declines.

 

[comicbookgujy]

The trend of RIF continues on a rise even though the company is profitable. A "reasonable" profit is simply not good enough. As an example, a local large medical device company reported revenue in the quarter had grown to $4.3 billion, an increase of 4 percent over the same period last year and profit growth by 28% to $991 million. Yet the company reduced its workforce by 5%. Achieving both growth (top line) and profit (bottom line) at a targeted rate is paramount. If these targets are not realized, layoffs will occur. Long-term employment with a company is a thing of the past. Employee loyalty also declines.

My company makes billion every year, but it's still not enough. We're still laying off people because we aren't "efficient."

Everytime a new Executive comes onboard, the first thing he/she does is layoff people to make the bottom line look nice and get that fat bonus.
5 years later, he/she leaves and go to another company and do the same thing(to get that fat bonus).

It's all about the bonus nowaday for senior management.

 

[bo_knows]

My company is an offshoot of a big defense contractor. We were purchased by a Venture Capital group when we divested. Every year since then, this company has nickel-and-dimed the benefits right away from the employees, while still making profit (but apparently not ENOUGH profit for the Venture Capital group).

They recently completely eliminated our 4% 401k match, citing that they hadn't had high enough profits this past year. In an industry where people expect a 401k match of some sort, it sounds insane. I fully expect that during open enrollment this year, we find that our medical benefits are suddenly terrible.

As to the original question: I want to ER in my early 40s, because I have way too many other things that I want to do in life. I'm still not sure if we'll both be completely quitting our j*bs, as if they are flexible enough to allow part-time work (which we think they are), we might end up doing that while the kids are still around.

 

[Ready]

A VP at a recent gig had a sign on her office wall, "Work is a form of worship." I hadn't heard that so I looked into it.

https://work4christ.wordpress.com/2012/11/23/work-is-worship/

If I found that in my company, I would have instructed my HR Director to speak with the VP and have it removed before the end of the day. How inappropriate for a person at a VP level, who has others reporting to them, to bring religion into the workplace. Why can't we remove religion from our work and political lives and leave it in the churches, synagogues, and mosques, where it belongs?

 

[dunkelblau]

A VP at a recent gig had a sign on her office wall, "Work is a form of worship." I hadn't heard that so I looked into it.
https://work4christ.wordpress.com/2012/11/23/work-is-worship/
I think the sign was also an excuse, or maybe even encouragement, to work very long hours. "But my/your 60 hour weeks are for Christ!"

Then there's the promised land for atheists:
How do you respond to “The Grind”? | Abnormal Returns
When I tried yelling FIRE in a crowded conference room there was no rush out just lots of laughter.

 

[scrabbler1]

If I found that in my company, I would have instructed my HR Director to speak with the VP and have it removed before the end of the day. How inappropriate for a person at a VP level, who has others reporting to them, to bring religion into the workplace. Why can't we remove religion from our work and political lives and leave it in the churches, synagogues, and mosques, where it belongs?

+100.

As an atheist, I'd be offended by that kind of display. As an early retiree, I am glad I will never encounter something like that (and never did in my years of working).

 

[brewer12345]

A VP at a recent gig had a sign on her office wall, "Work is a form of worship." I hadn't heard that so I looked into it.

https://work4christ.wordpress.com/2012/11/23/work-is-worship/



I think the sign was also an excuse, or maybe even encouragement, to work very long hours. "But my/your 60 hour weeks are for Christ!"

OMFG. This piece of crap deserves the old "guppy in the radiator" trick.