When would you turn down $1 million?

[NW-Bound]

More fantasy. How many us us are ever going to be offered $1mm for one year's work?

Yet we have spent a lot of posts discussing why we would never do it...

No, my posts were about how I would do it.

And it is true that nobody offers me $1M to do what I would, certainly not the people I last worked for. Heck, it would be worth it to them, but they will never find out now, will they?

 

[Shawn]

More fantasy. How many us us are ever going to be offered $1mm for one year's work?

Yes, as stated by the OP, it's a 1%'er question.

For myself, I often look at this issue using percentages. My financial networth (including pension) grows by about 10% for every additional year of work. That's sizable, but still in the noise. However, it grows by 50% for every 5 additional years of work. That's noticeable.

But there's the flip side, expressed well by calmloki above. How much of my life am I giving up by remaining in the workforce? I'm 54. There's a decent chance I'll live another 40 years. One year of my remaining life is 2.5%. Five years is 12.5%.

Obviously, it's much more complicated. There are other variables. There are often toxic costs to work. Job stress can reduce lifespan. There is no guarantee I won't die in ten years whether I work or not. Conversely, work doesn't put life completely on hold. I still enjoy my life.

But still, looking at it in this way, it costs me 2.5% of my life to receive 10% more in financial security and freedom. It costs me 12.5% of my life to receive 50% more. That's a lot of life to give up. But I still haven't retired.

 

[Spanky]

More fantasy. How many us us are ever going to be offered $1mm for one year's work?

Agreed - it's purely hypothetical. The chance of getting such offer is nil for me.

 

[Spanky]

But still, looking at it in this way, it costs me 2.5% of my life to receive 10% more in financial security and freedom. It costs me 12.5% of my life to receive 50% more. That's a lot of life to give up. But I still haven't retired.

Which is more important - your life or your money? What's the level of security are you seeking?

 

[Elbata]

I've already won. No reason to run up the score, especially since I no longer have any interest at all in playing the game.
__________________

I love this. Never thought about it this way, but how true.

Since I've never made anywhere near that amount in my life, I would do it just for the thrill of seeing what it's like to get big paychecks. Most likely though after a few of the paychecks, I'd quit.

 

[RunningBum]

I can't recall the exact numbers, but I faced something a lot like this during the dotcom boom, with unvested stock options, as did many of my co-workers. I hit my number, but I think I had somewhere between half and a full million in unvested options. All I needed to do was ride out another year or two, collecting a salary and bonus to go along with it, not to mention that the stock would surely continue to appreciate more during that time. Why leave the gold mine with a full bag when there's more just sitting there? So I stayed. And the market tanked, so poof!, the gold disappeared, including a lot that had been in my bag.

At some point I would've walked away leaving money on the table, but I wanted to pad my numbers more. By the time I did leave, the options were gone, so I left nothing behind.

 

[unclemick]

I'm having a very hard time believing most of these replies declining this offer. Either you guys are very good liars or ER is really as good as I hope it to be, please tell me you are not lying

Welcome to the diversity of this forum.

Toss in a trip into space beyond Earth orbit and $1 mil and I might sing a different tune.

heh heh heh - meanwhile 20 years of ER 'doing nothing in particular' has been pretty darn good - all in all.

 

[jerome len]

If you make 1 million or more a year do you give it up when you have enough or do you give it up when you can leave your kids a trust so they can be secure but not so secure that they don't have to work hard to enjoy a good lifestyle? A few million is enough until you read the weekend edition of the NY Times or LA times real estate section. Then you discover a home in either area will gobble up a huge percentage of that cash, even for a middle class home. So, when is enough, enough? I think it depends on family size, part of the Country you live in and your responsibility to your kids. If I had it to do over again I'd have lived and retired in Montana, had few kids and worried less about them than myself. Interesting blog......so many different points of view.

 

[jollystomper]

For example, what would it take for you to walk away from a job that let's you grow your wealth by $1 million a year and doesn't require any extreme sacrifices to your time or health. It just doesn't allow you to spend all your time the way you want.

If I were offered a $1 million dollar job now I'd do it for 1-2 years. The main benefit would be giving us total flexibility in choosing to move to places we like after ER. At that point the tradeoff between more money vs. potential time left on this Earth tips towards time being more important.

 

[Shawn]

Which is more important - your life or your money? What's the level of security are you seeking?

Both my life and my money are important. I would have retired when I was 18 if money wasn't important. Money can improve life. Money can improve the lives of others. Sometimes money can buy life. It sounds trite, but it is actually a complex question.

I can cover my own general living expenses and standard medical needs until the end of time. That is not an issue. What I want is the financial security to know that any realistic set of special events that I or those around me may face can be addressed ...

LTC for myself. LTC for my mother and step-mother. I almost had to buy my mother a house last year. One of my brothers is almost destitute but doesn't seek help - at least now. I may loan a friend money so she can buy a house. I spent over $40K in vet bills for my own pets and the pets of friends over the last two years. These are just a few scenarios currently on my mind. There are also the unknown future events. Not the asteroid impact threats, but real events that real people often face.

Interestingly enough, financial security seems to be on a moving scale. Currently, I'm considering paying the college expenses for the niece of a friend from the Philippines. This probably would not have even come up as a possibility five years ago. But today, because I have accumulated additional wealth by not retiring, the financial aspects of this decision are nearly irrelevant. The situation itself is complex but not due to financial constraints. Here is an opportunity to help a real person, perhaps change a young woman's life and allow her to live in this country, all due to the financial security and the value of money earned from OMY syndrome.

People often make comments like "time is greater than money," but in reality it is a lot more complex than this. At least it is for me and my decision to keep working or early retire. The million dollars mentioned by the OP could be put to good use.

 

[Alan]

Looking back to the year we retired, we had been FI for several years but had been hanging on to obtain retiree HI plus an immediate DB pension. Our salaries plus investment growth the previous year was over $500k and if we kept working another year we could expect similar, plus we wouldn't be drawing from the savings and I'd have another year's worth of DB pension (worth $3k/year for as long as I lived).

We decided to turn that option down and retired, but I honestly don't know if I would have stayed another year for $1m. I do know that I was desperate to be retired, made worse by the fact that 2 out 3 of our surviving parents died at the end of that year and we had been so looking forward to spending much more time in England with them when we retired. As it happened we did not stay on for the extra money, and our last surviving parent did die during that first year of our retirement, and we were able to spend 3 months over there before he died and with our siblings sorting out the house and estate.

 

[haha]

People often make comments like "time is greater than money," but in reality it is a lot more complex than this.

People tend to like things to be simple, even when they aren't
.

Ha

 

[EastWest Gal]

As I approach 55, I don't think the OMY will be worth it for me. However, if I were in my 30s, with so much more life ahead of me, I would most definitely go for it. The situation described does not seem inordinately stressful. I find myself in an environment of really great workers, the nurses and most of the physicians are fantastic. However, many of the leadership are entrenched bullies and have been harmful to both my health and my bank account over the years. Consider the extra $600K (after taxes) and what that will grow to properly invested will give you much more later. at an average 8% ROI over 30 years you will have 10x as much. Easier vacations, no worries about long term care, catastrophic illness, and the like. Come to think of it, if I could get that in one year, I would, but just for 1 year.

I wish I had your job--I would have retired in my 30s too.

 

[tuixiu]

For example, what would it take for you to walk away from a job that let's you grow your wealth by $1 million a year and doesn't require any extreme sacrifices to your time or health. It just doesn't allow you to spend all your time the way you want.

I'm 46, my wife is 43, and we are right on the cusp of retiring hopefully end of this year.

I think I'd take this million dollar job and do it for at least four years, even it meant I was sleeping with Robert Redford like in that movie. That is a lot of damn money and could do things we have never dreamed possible for us without worry.

 

[Spanky]

Both my life and my money are important. I would have retired when I was 18 if money wasn't important. Money can improve life. Money can improve the lives of others. Sometimes money can buy life. It sounds trite, but it is actually a complex question.

I can cover my own general living expenses and standard medical needs until the end of time. That is not an issue. What I want is the financial security to know that any realistic set of special events that I or those around me may face can be addressed ...

LTC for myself. LTC for my mother and step-mother. I almost had to buy my mother a house last year. One of my brothers is almost destitute but doesn't seek help - at least now. I may loan a friend money so she can buy a house. I spent over $40K in vet bills for my own pets and the pets of friends over the last two years. These are just a few scenarios currently on my mind. There are also the unknown future events. Not the asteroid impact threats, but real events that real people often face.

Interestingly enough, financial security seems to be on a moving scale. Currently, I'm considering paying the college expenses for the niece of a friend from the Philippines. This probably would not have even come up as a possibility five years ago. But today, because I have accumulated additional wealth by not retiring, the financial aspects of this decision are nearly irrelevant. The situation itself is complex but not due to financial constraints. Here is an opportunity to help a real person, perhaps change a young woman's life and allow her to live in this country, all due to the financial security and the value of money earned from OMY syndrome.

People often make comments like "time is greater than money," but in reality it is a lot more complex than this. At least it is for me and my decision to keep working or early retire. The million dollars mentioned by the OP could be put to good use.

Thanks for a detailed explanation. As you said, life is not simple. You appear to be very generous and caring for others. Wish you best in your endeavor to help others.

 

[Helen]

I can cover my own general living expenses and standard medical needs until the end of time. That is not an issue. What I want is the financial security to know that any realistic set of special events that I or those around me may face can be addressed ...

You will never have the financial security to know that any "realistic" set of special events for you or those around you will be addressed.

I almost had to buy my mother a house last year. One of my brothers is almost destitute but doesn't seek help - at least now. I may loan a friend money so she can buy a house. I spent over $40K in vet bills for my own pets and the pets of friends over the last two years.

I am glad you are here, but what drew you to the Retire Early forum? In all honestly, it sounds like you are swimming in an ocean of other people's financial needs.

I think you should take a year off and backpack the PCT.

 

[pb4uski]

I'm having a very hard time believing most of these replies declining this offer. Either you guys are very good liars or ER is really as good as I hope it to be, please tell me you are not lying

I'm not saying that I wouldn't hem and haw about it. Let's face it - that is a sh1tload of money.

But I'm 58. At best, I have 40 years left to live, but more realistically 25. I have enough unless an asteroid hits, so if I did accept this offer the end result is that my kids would be richer or I could donate more to charity, but I would be bringing into my life a whole bunch of stress and trading 2.5- 4% of my remaining life. That's a lot.

For why? It doesn't seem like a good trade for me. If I needed the money it would be different, but I don't.

I concede that it is probably a lot easier decision after you have enjoyed retirement for a couple years - the very thought of going back to work would make many of us want to puke. If I was currently working and FI, I might lean the other way.

 

[Ronstar]

I wouldn't work another year for 1m. One year is too long of a commitment. But that's around $5k per working day. I would work 2 days for $10k when the weather is nasty and I have nothing else to do.

 

[Independent]

Both my life and my money are important. I would have retired when I was 18 if money wasn't important. Money can improve life. Money can improve the lives of others. Sometimes money can buy life. It sounds trite, but it is actually a complex question.

I can cover my own general living expenses and standard medical needs until the end of time. That is not an issue. What I want is the financial security to know that any realistic set of special events that I or those around me may face can be addressed ...

LTC for myself. LTC for my mother and step-mother. I almost had to buy my mother a house last year. One of my brothers is almost destitute but doesn't seek help - at least now. I may loan a friend money so she can buy a house. I spent over $40K in vet bills for my own pets and the pets of friends over the last two years. These are just a few scenarios currently on my mind. There are also the unknown future events. Not the asteroid impact threats, but real events that real people often face.

Interestingly enough, financial security seems to be on a moving scale. Currently, I'm considering paying the college expenses for the niece of a friend from the Philippines. This probably would not have even come up as a possibility five years ago. But today, because I have accumulated additional wealth by not retiring, the financial aspects of this decision are nearly irrelevant. The situation itself is complex but not due to financial constraints. Here is an opportunity to help a real person, perhaps change a young woman's life and allow her to live in this country, all due to the financial security and the value of money earned from OMY syndrome.

People often make comments like "time is greater than money," but in reality it is a lot more complex than this. At least it is for me and my decision to keep working or early retire. The million dollars mentioned by the OP could be put to good use.

Good points.

 

[Independent]

$1 million per year, working 60 weeks (3,000 hours per year), amounts to an hourly rate of $333/hr.

I actually had the opportunity after I retired to work a consulting contract at $200/hr. That was 3x what I made when I was working full time.

The contract was for a lot less than 3,000 hours. I was happy to get it, but I would have turned it down for $100/hr.

Like Shawn, I've discovered that I'm spending more on other people than I had ever expected. It's not a lot of fun because of the reasons for the need. But, I'm glad that I can say "Okay" instead of "Sorry, we just can't afford that".

If I had another chance to work for that kind of money, I'd take it.

 

[Meadbh]

$1 million per year, working 60 weeks (3,000 hours per year), amounts to an hourly rate of $333/hr.

Could you explain how one could work 60 weeks in a year?

At the busiest point in my career I was working over 3500 hours per year, but it was spread over 52 weeks (and one day).

 

[REWahoo]

Could you explain how one could work 60 weeks in a year?

Dedication and commitment. Plus a few drugs...

 

[MRG]

Could you explain how one could work 60 weeks in a year?

At the busiest point in my career I was working over 3500 hours per year, but it was spread over 52 weeks (and one day).

But there's 8784 hours in 366 days. What did you do with all that time off? Sleep, eat, have a life?

One of the best reasons, in this world, not to go back, for d*ll*rs.

MRG

 

[NW-Bound]

$1 million per year, working 60 weeks (3,000 hours per year)...

Could you explain how one could work 60 weeks in a year?

I suspect a typo; he meant 60 hrs/week which translates to roughly 3,000 hrs/yr with 2 weeks off for vacation.

 

[butterfly]

Fascinating thread.

I would, only for a year though. But I am 38 and have committed to OMY, well 1 year and 4 months to be exact...unless our business sells and then it's FREEDOM.