What is your free time worth?

[vash]

if it were me..i would jump on the $$.

then use every bit of willpower i had to save the extra $$ for retirement. if he were living with "enough"..then the added money being whisked off to retirement shouldnt be a big deal. i was an eff up in my youth..by "youth" i mean my years under 30..okay 31. i missed out on a lot of retirement savings. time to fast track this beotch.

[Tobra]

My free time is like one of those credit card commercials, priceless.

I do however, see the wisdom in what Vash has presented.

[911SauCy]

Originally Posted by ckelly78z

If he is comfortable financially on his current 30 hour job....keep it forever, it makes having kids, marriage, and home project completion a whole heck of alot easier. No one on thier deathbed ever wished they had spent more time at the office.

Exactly this.

I'm learning this as a new dad of 2 (under 2), building a company and restoring a home...the moments are precious and I'm not taking it lightly when my elders recommend spending more time with the family.

[KFC911]

Everybody is different, with different motivations....no way in hell I'd have ever worked 50 hrs/wk....life is too short as it is

Walked away from a VERY nice corporate gig at 48, no regrets whatsoever seven years later and NO amount of money would ever tempt me to return. My time is all mine, and....

"Making money you can't spend, ain't what being dead's about..."

Life is all we've really got....spend those hours wisely

[ben parrish]

The offer came unsolicited from one of his current customers; he's in sales but the position is in management. He's about my age..late 40's and says he's not able to save a lot of money on his 60k. I told him that free time was great but if he hasn't saved enough he better get on it now because the clock is ticking.
Kid's approaching college age, little liquid savings and a fickle sales year could gang up on him quickly.
I still think he should give it a whirl and if in a year or two he's not happy look for something else.
I also warned him of the make more-spend more phenomenon. Told him the best thing he could do is save everything over his current salary and not fall victim of trying to "reward" himself with new toys.

[tangerine911S]

I value my free time much more now that I have basically none. I work for a very large computer company in Silicon Valley. Just returning from a 3 week trip to China working consecutive 110-115 hour weeks. Someday soon that will change though. I'm missing out on the stuff that I work in order to be able to do.

[onewhippedpuppy]

In his situation, sounds like he NEEDS the money vs WANTS the money. I've worked 50+ hours per week most of my career and still have plenty of time for my kids and their activities. Sometimes that means getting up early to get my hours in, or working late after they are in bed, but you can make it work. I take the responsibility to financially support my family very seriously, and ultimately isn't that why you work? The converse is that I'm saving pretty heavily for retirement, so eventually that 50 hours per week can become 0.

[vash]

Originally Posted by ben parrish

The offer came unsolicited from one of his current customers...he is in sales but the position is in management. He's about my age..late 40's and says he's not able to save a lot of money on his 60k. I told him that free time was great but if he hasn't saved enough he better get on it now because the clock is ticking.
Kid's approaching college age, little liquid savings and a fickle sales year could gang up on him quickly.
I still think he should give it a whirl and if in a year or two he's not happy look for something else.
I also warned him of the make more-spend more phenomenon. Told him the best thing he could do is save everything over his current salary and not fall victim of trying to "reward" himself with new toys.

well then.

i would take the gig. at least explore it, the person could be very well just blowing smoke up hisass anyways. he needs to save $$ ..you know the drill. 8 month reserve safety net..yada yada yada.

if he needs more time..quit watching TV or other extra BS that i promise makes no difference. what's he doing on all of his cherished "Free time" anyways? improving himself or things around him? seriously..improvement is not being someones burden in your golden years.

HEY!!! who jumped in my body and is all chatting responsible like..? i dont like it.

[Tobra]

Whoever it is, they need to jump into Tab's body and teach him basic English grammar

[ben parrish]

Vash..I asked him if it was a firm offer or just talk..he said nothing in writing yet. My advice was to get a written offer and then sit down and really consider what the money would do for him.
His free time is spent, as best as I can tell, on just farting around and complaining that he can't afford to go play

[vash]

Originally Posted by ben parrish

Vash..I asked him if it was a firm offer or just talk..he said nothing in writing yet. My advice was to get a written offer and then sit down and really consider what the money would do for him.
His free time is spent, as best as I can tell, on just farting around and complaining that he can't afford to go play

solid advice!!

i get unsolicited offers all the time..most times, it is just "Small talk" from some guy trying to stroke me into playing nice.

[sammyg2]

Originally Posted by ben parrish

I have a friend with an intresting question.
What is your free time worth to you?
he has a good position with a company and makes "enough" but has a lot of free time..works about 30 hrs a week. He has been offered a position with another firm that will, as he said, double his salary but add about twenty more hours per week and totally change his current job freedom.

My position was, at double the pay, I would take the position.

What says the brain trust?

I had to make a very similar decision several years ago.
I was working about 25 hours a week, sometimes more but was on call and often monitored things from the house and made a comfortable living.

Then I took a promotion that meant my hours per week basically doubled and my gross annual income nearly tripled in 5 years.

For me it was not really worth it, but I didn't do it for me.

If I were the only one involved I would have stayed in the comfort zone. but I did it for the wife and family.

They make it worth it to give up some of my happiness in exchange for theirs.
And it makes me feel good knowing that whatever happens to me, they won't have to worry financially.

[aigel]

IMHO most jobs that are laid back and require few hours are BORING as hell. I feel like pissing my life away on those jobs. Unfortunately, even at 7h/day, it is the majority of the day you spend there, being bored. NO spare time in the world will make up for that boredom.

That said, if it is a lateral move with equal growth opportunity, I'd probably pass. If it is a promotion with more exciting responsibilities and room to grow, I'd go for it.

G

[aigel]

Originally Posted by ben parrish

His free time is spent, as best as I can tell, on just farting around and complaining that he can't afford to go play

And that is the other effect a slacker job will have on you. You are so used to just hanging around in a job that doesn't matter that it seriously will affect your outlook. You will come home tired and de-energized and very unhappy with yourself!

G

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by aigel

IMHO most jobs that are laid back and require few hours are BORING as hell. I feel like pissing my life away....

G

Absolutely loved my career....From R&D fresh out of college and 25 years of always being on the leading/bleeding edge of systems/networking with the latest tech...most techies would have jumped at the positions I held fwiw. Would you rather be hunting or working ?

[sammyg2]

This morning my boss is sending me e-mails wondering why I'm not at work today.
Well it's my day off, and there's nothing going on there that requires my presence, so i stayed home to enjoy my time off.
Evidently i should be there JUST IN CASE.


Tell your friend to screw the extra money* and enjoy his free time. No one on his death bed ever said I wished I'd spent more time at work.


*Did i really say that?

[dad911]

Originally Posted by island911

We have time.

We all have things that bring us energy, and things that drain us.

The trick is to find the right side of the balance.

Thank you. I needed to read this.

[wildthing]

I would gladly work 50 hours a week for double my current salary. I'm probably working closer to 44 hours a week now.

[GH85Carrera]

When I was in my 20s and broke I would jump at that.

Now, no way.

Of course I would love to have more money even now but I have a nice house, fun toys and a good life with enough free time.

[rwest]

If he is debt free, has his kids college and his retirement saved for, then he should stay working the short hours, if not, he should be working the longer hours for more pay.