What were your expectations when you were a student? Did you think that once you graduated you’d be able to find an awesome job that will set you on the path to your dream life?
When I was in university I attended presentations by visiting recruiters. They wanted to find the “best and brightest” and did their spiel to sell their companies. They talked about the perks, the great training, and the exciting opportunities.
Some time later I was seated around a table at a social event, and the discussion turned to how the “real world” actually wasn’t what the recruiters promised. Many of us newly minted professionals were working long hours for low pay, and were not doing very exciting tasks. We realized not all companies were willing to give us that many opportunities so we needed to shuffle and figure things out on our own. Many of us were not happy with where we were.
“I can’t believe you guys are doing that to yourselves,” said one young lady, “I wouldn’t work in a job where I’m not happy”. Someone else at the table explained that sometimes you have to go through an unpleasant stage in order to get somewhere good later.
This lady left numerous jobs because she didn’t like being seated for 8 hours a day, or she didn’t like to be standing/moving around, or she decided she no longer liked what she studied in university so she moved away from the field… Lucky for her she was able to rely on the kindness of friends and family to help her out when she needed something she couldn’t afford.
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I had this classmate in university. Let’s call him S. After graduating I ran into S on the train. I asked if he was now working full time. He said “What? Working full time is so unhealthy for you, I might as well take up smoking!”
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Not everyone is into “moving up in the world”: working, getting a raise, buying a nice car, house, etc. The effects of stress, sedentary lifestyle, and other health-decreasing realities of the working world are well documented. I’m still undecided about exactly where my career is going, but long hours and a high amount of stress are simply not worth it for me.
But I don’t think it has to be this gloomy… Imagine you can diversify your income and create cash flow from passive sources. In your years of hard work you put enough aside to buy an income-earning rental property or a strong investment portfolio. In the future, you won’t need to work as much, or as hard.
It’s not just about not wanting to work. Anything can happen: illness, obsolescence of your industry/skills, lay offs at inopportune times, loss of energy that comes with aging… Have I become such a radical thinker? I don’t consider myself as such, but I look around and it seems everyone thinks things will be the way they are forever. Or maybe they think things will work out somehow, and the government will take care of us?
To be honest, I have no problem with someone who chooses to opt out. However, if this is done too early they will never get to a strong passive income stage. Which is also fine, as long as they are not being a burden on anyone else (whether it’s their aging parents or society in general).
Live Free Chipamogli 