Did You Guys Worked Harder When You Were Younger?

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Yes I am trying to give my hours away for these newly grad pharmacist. And as for the cost of living I would say my city is low to medium, not too low but not San Fransisco either.

So they make decent incomes might be around 26 and thinking about marriage and kids in 5 years so they are living in the now. They are probably wanting to experience everything they missed during pharmacy school. They are just tired. For all you know (and I FIND this to be true) I bet a lot of them have no debt, a new car, and generous Down payment via parents. I think there is a study showing that people who go on for higher education are now more likely than ever to have parents who can afford to help them. Thus they are starting out in a better position. A lot of debt comes from people unable to finish undergrad or go to school for undergrad in low paying careers.

So it's probably not a fair comparison to say they "need" the money. My DH and I did not have such fortune but we went to schools that most of the students had free cars, extra money monthly, tuition paid for medical school/dental/law school, then generous cash gifts after and house down payment, paid for $100k wedding, and everything else. So it's not fair but I think it happens way more than you think. Could also be that DH and I went to top schools for grad school think ivy league and we saw the creme de la creme. You aren't going if you are dirt poor. Very very few. More likely you had every advantage academically like tutors and financial advantage of every opportunity.

Plus I think a lot of people are tax planning and giving money earlier.

[disneysteve]

So it's probably not a fair comparison to say they "need" the money.

Also, they may be in a position where they could use the money (couldn't we all) but they don't "need" the money. They value their time more than the potential extra income. Whatever they're making is sufficient to them.

[rennigade]

Wife and I were in hawaii some years ago. Rented a house on the beach through vrbo (house wasnt that great btw.) Person next to use was also renting a place, full time rental though. He has his buddies over so we joined them one evening. The three of them were basically day laborers/handy men. They would just work odds and ends jobs, make just enough money to survive...but they all seemed content. We all grilled, drank beers, got stoned and hung out. They were essentially "beach bums." Not the lifestyle I would choose but I did see the appeal of just taking it one day at a time. Enjoying the little/simple things. You could tell they had no interest in seeing 20 years in the future. Low stress.

[Fishindude77]

I am recently seeing this trend of young folks not working 40 hrs because of lifestyle choices. Their life practically haven't started, still haven't paid off their student loans and only dream of having a mortgage. I remember when I came fresh out of school, I picked up extra hours. My wife worked 6 days a week for a good 8 months so she can dump money into her almost 200k worth of student loans.

Is this a new movement? FIRE but without the FI? I find it kind of annoying. Was trying to give some hours to these people who tells me they need hours and money but rejects me almost every time.

I'm retired now but am well aware of what you are experiencing. Heard a lot of excuses why folks couldn't work late, weekends, etc. The same folks often had obvious financial issues and dad would have been much better off working Saturday earning overtime pay rather than chasing Johnny's soccer team around and spending himself further into problems.

Working extra hours and second jobs is how the average working person can really get ahead in life. Need to put in the time while you're young, healthy an able to set yourself up for later in life, but many won't do it.
I was raised in a working family where Mom raised kids full time and dad worked a lot. Was self employed for the majority of my career, so extra effort paid big dividends. 50-60 Hour weeks were the norm, and it wasn't all that tough.

Hard work and extra time and effort still pays off as much now as it ever did. Most of your financially heeled, well to do folks are not regular 8 to 5, 40 hour work week folks.

[disneysteve]

I was raised in a working family where Mom raised kids full time and dad worked a lot. Was self employed for the majority of my career, so extra effort paid big dividends. 50-60 Hour weeks were the norm, and it wasn't all that tough.

I think you do what you need to do to get by. If that means working 50-60 hrs/wk, than that's what you do. If you can manage without doing that, all the better. The point is that everybody's priorities are different. Not everybody is into chasing every last dollar. They'd rather be able to go to back to school night or their kid's baseball game or dance recital, even if it means being in debt longer or retiring later. Everyone's sense of balance is different. It isn't right or wrong. Now if you're buried in debt and behind on your bills and turning down extra income, that's an issue, but if you're making a good income and current on everything and happy the way you are and choose not to work more, that's fine too.

[Like2Plan]

Lots of generational studies that show this alternates generations and largely depends on your family structure growing up and it can be related to many other characteristics as well. Statistically, if you had an absentee father, you're more likely to prioritize family time. If you were a latch key kid in the 80 because both parents had to work full time to pay the bills, you're more likely to opt to be a stay at home parent or choose a job that gives you the flexibility to go to the PTA meetings and be at all the sporting events. On the flip side, women who had stay at home mothers are more likely to be career driven and want to "make their own way" vs relying on a husband to handle the finances. It's a cycle and the script will flip again.

That is interesting.

[~bs]

overall on average probably around the same. I've done around 60 hours a week since graduating high school. If you count college as being 20 hours with a 40 hour full time job. Currently working around the same amount.

Generally, one should be working harder when young because that sets the foundation for your career and you can coast a bit more when you get older and have less energy. Goofing off when you're young can set your career back quite and busting tail well into your 60s. Everyone has different priorities though, and we all sleep in the beds we make. Many millenials have far different priorities in life than their elders. Some may call it selfish and irresponsible, and others admire it. Some will ask the question of what's the point of working so hard until you're a graybeard, not getting to spend time with your kids, not being able to really enjoy your retirement because of failing health?

[Snicks]

Seems to me you can work hard in your 20's and earlier years and that allows you to coast a bit in your later 40s. Or if you party away your 20's those seem to be the ones working like dogs in their late 40's. Just an observation on my part. I do not mean ALL or EVERY.
For us, yes we worked a lot harder in our earlier years. Now that we are in our 50's we have dialed it back. I work part time now. I could work MORE but at this point in life, I just want some down time. DH was teleworking all thru covid and only recently went back. We live a very modest life, have banked all of our kids' college years in full and now our youngest is a freshman in college and we feel good that her entire 4 yrs is banked in a 529. We could have bought a lot more STUFF and taken more vacations and traveled but honestly we are homebodies who just enjoy a simple life. Works for us.

[kork13]

Seems to me you can work hard in your 20's and earlier years and that allows you to coast a bit in your later 40s. Or if you party away your 20's those seem to be the ones working like dogs in their late 40's. Just an observation on my part. I do not mean ALL or EVERY.
For us, yes we worked a lot harder in our earlier years. Now that we are in our 50's we have dialed it back. I work part time now. I could work MORE but at this point in life, I just want some down time. DH was teleworking all thru covid and only recently went back. We live a very modest life, have banked all of our kids' college years in full and now our youngest is a freshman in college and we feel good that her entire 4 yrs is banked in a 529. We could have bought a lot more STUFF and taken more vacations and traveled but honestly we are homebodies who just enjoy a simple life. Works for us.

This is my thought process exactly. I've worked hard throughout my career thus far, but I've saved aggressively for the very explicit intent of slowing down when I leave the military. By my math, I'll be roughly FI by then on a good glide path for kids' college & our retirement, so any work that DW & I do at that point is for enjoyment & staying occupied.

I have no guilt whatsoever about wanting to take it easy & prioritize time with my family. So long as you can swing it financially, I see no reason to kill yourself working.

[Like2Plan]

DH and I absolutely did work hard in our early years. DH put in an unbelievable amount of hours in his younger years. I think the model is to learn/establish/prove yourself. After you have some experience behind you, you become more valuable and you can get a higher salary.

I was reflecting on this and I was thinking maybe this is the new generational thing, but actually I have contemporaries who "put the brakes on" from the start. I think sometimes people think they are going to 20 something forever and they can pick up where they left off. But, the reality for a lot of people is that it is not easy to do that at age 50 or 60. I know some folks who are now really struggling because of it.

There are some careers that require a lot of hours to start off. A couple of examples: Folks in the military. Doctors learning to become Doctors. Real estate agents. Folks building up clientele/practices and so on. My old dentist worked a lot of hours to build up the practice. Then, he took on a couple of associates and he worked part time for years until he finally sold the business to his associates and retired last year.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

DH and I absolutely did work hard in our early years. DH put in an unbelievable amount of hours in his younger years. I think the model is to learn/establish/prove yourself. After you have some experience behind you, you become more valuable and you can get a higher salary.

I was reflecting on this and I was thinking maybe this is the new generational thing, but actually I have contemporaries who "put the brakes on" from the start. I think sometimes people think they are going to 20 something forever and they can pick up where they left off. But, the reality for a lot of people is that it is not easy to do that at age 50 or 60. I know some folks who are now really struggling because of it.

There are some careers that require a lot of hours to start off. A couple of examples: Folks in the military. Doctors learning to become Doctors. Real estate agents. Folks building up clientele/practices and so on. My old dentist worked a lot of hours to build up the practice. Then, he took on a couple of associates and he worked part time for years until he finally sold the business to his associates and retired last year.

My neighbor today just talked about how her husband is applying for executive positions at his company now that the kids are older 8 and 10. They feel more capable of handling it than before when she felt she needed more help when they both were working. I can easily see that. I also have a friend who has been unemployed since covid and she's not sure she wants to go back full time. She's 45 and with 3 kids is thinking and feeling now like stepping back more. She will look next year for something part time instead of both parents working all out full time.

And of course everyone i know whose a stay at home mom prefers a slower cheaper lifestyle. Yes I could be working but for what? More money? It wouldn't make life easier. We're better off managing what we make than chasing another $. Truth is if I worked it would HUGELY beneficial long term because you never jump off the earnings track so your position and salary goes up. But do you want to do that? In some ways being a stay at home parent is like FIRE because you choose work over life. You chose to make less to have a different life.

[Like2Plan]

My neighbor today just talked about how her husband is applying for executive positions at his company now that the kids are older 8 and 10. They feel more capable of handling it than before when she felt she needed more help when they both were working. I can easily see that. I also have a friend who has been unemployed since covid and she's not sure she wants to go back full time. She's 45 and with 3 kids is thinking and feeling now like stepping back more. She will look next year for something part time instead of both parents working all out full time.

And of course everyone i know whose a stay at home mom prefers a slower cheaper lifestyle. Yes I could be working but for what? More money? It wouldn't make life easier. We're better off managing what we make than chasing another $. Truth is if I worked it would HUGELY beneficial long term because you never jump off the earnings track so your position and salary goes up. But do you want to do that? In some ways being a stay at home parent is like FIRE because you choose work over life. You chose to make less to have a different life.

Yes, once the kids come along there are more requirements for your time. I worked way less overtime after our son came along. But, I had worked my way into a job that had a little bit more flexibility (and so did DH).

I'd say that you and your DH are probably pretty well situated because of all the hard work, preparation (education) and sacrifices you made early on. (Not that you don't work hard, now, too. ) But, I think you are probably in better shape for your DH to take a chance on that new job. That opportunity wasn't just thrown into his lap--he's got education/skills that are much in demand.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Yes, once the kids come along there are more requirements for your time. I worked way less overtime after our son came along. But, I had worked my way into a job that had a little bit more flexibility (and so did DH).

I'd say that you and your DH are probably pretty well situated because of all the hard work, preparation (education) and sacrifices you made early on. (Not that you don't work hard, now, too. ) But, I think you are probably in better shape for your DH to take a chance on that new job. That opportunity wasn't just thrown into his lap--he's got education/skills that are much in demand.

Maybe. I think that the people who put the brakes on early might just be used to the idea working longer because they have a smaller shovel to dig out of the hole or smaller house or less vacations. There are so many things to that. I didn't see us working harder in our 20s without kids. DH's cousin is 31 and I honestly don't see her working very hard. For sure her BF is not working hard climbing the ladder. They don't work weekends. They both don't work most nights. My DH still does. He did before I admit but he's a bit of a perfectionist. He's working harder now than 10 years ago because 10 years ago he stepped back like our neighbor when we had kids. He did not work as much on weekends or nights like he does now. He stepped back for our kids.

[Like2Plan]

I think that the people who put the brakes on early might just be used to the idea working longer because they have a smaller shovel to dig out of the hole or smaller house or less vacations.

It might just be generational. I am sure there are folks who expect to work longer. But, my contemporaries are now of the age that while working longer might have been the plan, their bodies might not be able to keep up with the plan.

That is why I think FIRE is brilliant. You reach FI early and you have so many more choices.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

It might just be generational. I am sure there are folks who expect to work longer. But, my contemporaries are now of the age that while working longer might have been the plan, their bodies might not be able to keep up with the plan.

That is why I think FIRE is brilliant. You reach FI early and you have so many more choices.

this is key! whether you work hard or not. If you FI you can do what you want! And part of FI Is also deciding what level of retirement you want.