We Trade Our Lives For Money

[Unkotare]

If a man doesn't find meaning in his work, he is in the wrong line of work or he just isn't really a man.

..., but if you were not getting a pay check would you still show up to your job?

Of course.

 

[Blues Man]

So you worked a barter system and they gave you assets in exchange for your time? What assets did you get in exchange for your time?



But I took those dimes and accumulated assets which are now paying me as well as ensuring I have a good retirement. I am good with the trade I get for my 40 hours.

Nope money wasn't the reason I worked.

I worked for the ability to acquire assets not for the money.

Then again I worked for myself my entire adult life so I never had to trade my hours to another person for dimes.

 

[braalian]

Says who?

We spend nearly a third of our adult life at work. Of course it’s going to be an important part of who we are.

 

[Unkotare]

Which word would you prefer?

You need to think about that. Everything you write on this subject suggests you see work as some kind of enemy.

 

[Harpy Eagle]

I worked for the ability to buy assets not for the money.

what did you buy those assets with?

 

[Harpy Eagle]

If a man doesn't find meaning in his work, he is in the wrong line of work or he just isn't really a man.

So I am not a man because I find more meaning in my family than my job?

That is a new one.

Of course.

Then you are an idiot and your employer is an even bigger idiot for paying for something you would do for free.

 

[Unkotare]

Me obviously.

And who the hell are you to decide for anyone else what is "too much"? Not everyone is a lazy slack-ass.

 

[Harpy Eagle]

You need to think about that. Everything you write on this subject suggests you see work as some kind of enemy.

Not an enemy, but also not "who I am". There are so many more things in my life that define me, things that mean so very much more than my job.

Ask yourself this, which would you rather lose, your job or your family?

 

[Blues Man]

what did you buy those assets with?

My time.

Like I said I didn't work for money I worked for the things I could buy with that money.

Many times I used borrowed money to buy a distressed or foreclosed property I invested my time into it and it became an asset that paid for itself and left me a profit.

None of those hours I worked on that project were traded for dimes.

 

[Unkotare]

So I am not a man because I find more meaning in my family than my job?

That is a new one.



Then you are an idiot and your employer is an even bigger idiot for paying for something you would do for free.

You have proven my point. Sad.

 

[Unkotare]

So I am not a man because I find more meaning in my family than my job?

....

That's not what I said, is it?

 

[Harpy Eagle]

My time.

Like I said I didn't work for money I worked for the things I could buy with that money.

Many times I used borrowed money to buy a distressed or foreclosed property I invested my time into it and it became an asset that paid for itself and left me a profit.

None of those hours I worked on that project were traded for dimes.

In the end it is all the same. You used your time to get your "assets", I do the same thing. And as long as my employer keeps giving me all the dimes he is giving me to do the work I do, I will keep taking them for the next 9 or so years.

 

[Harpy Eagle]

That's not what I said, is it?

Pretty much. You had to make it about "manhood" which makes me wonder if you know that women also work.

 

[braalian]

And working 8 hours a day at a job you hate just for the paycheck doesn’t automatically portray someone in a negative light. The guy doing that in order to put food on the table for his family deserves respect.

And manual labor isn’t always the soul crushing drudgery some make it out to be. Sometimes I miss being able to “zone out” and not have to think too much. The atmospheres more relaxed, there’s more camaraderie, more joking around. When your shift’s done, it’s done. No taking your work home with you.

 

[Blues Man]

In the end it is all the same. You used your time to get your "assets", I do the same thing. And as long as my employer keeps giving me all the dimes he is giving me to do the work I do, I will keep taking them for the next 9 or so years.

No it's not.

At the end of the week you had X dollars

At the end of the week I had an asset that provided me money for years to come.

I worked for the asset not the money.

You were limited by what someone would pay you for your hours and you limited the hours you worked to 40 therefore you were limited in what assets you could acquire.

No one paid me for my hours and I spent far more than 40 hours a week acquiring and keeping or selling assets

I paid lots of people for their time and they walked away with money. I never sold my time to someone else for money

 

[Blues Man]

And working 8 hours a day at a job you hate just for the paycheck doesn’t automatically portray someone in a negative light. The guy doing that in order to put food on the table for his family deserves respect.

And manual labor isn’t always the soul crushing drudgery some make it out to be. Sometimes I miss being able to “zone out” and not have to think too much. The atmospheres more relaxed, there’s more camaraderie, more joking around. When your shift’s done, it’s done. No taking your work home with you.

Right.

You don't have to love your job and most people don't.
That is in no way a reflection of the character of that person

 

[Unkotare]

Pretty much. ....

THAT'S NOT WHAT I SAID, IS IT?

 

[Harpy Eagle]

No it's not.

At the end of the week you had X dollars

At the end of the week I had an asset that provided me money for years to come.

And at the end of the next week I have transformed some of those dollars (the ones not spent living my life) in to asset that will provide me money for years to come, and now even if I wish to use it.

You were limited by what someone would pay you for your hours and you limited the hours you worked to 40 therefore you were limited in what assets you could acquire.

Not true at all, I could have chosen to work more hours at another job, I could have taken a job that offered me more money but a worse balance between life and work. And yes, I am limited in what assets I could acquire, as are you unless your name is Jeff Bezos.

No one paid me for my hours and I spent far more than 40 hours a week acquiring and keeping or selling assets

Suck to be you then, you had to spend more than 40 hours a week to get what you wanted. I can get it with just 40 hours a week, plus lots of vacation time and holidays off.

I paid lots of people for their time and they walked away with money. I never sold my time to someone else for money

I am happy for you. That seems to be important to you. What is important to me is the end result.

 

[Harpy Eagle]

THAT'S NOT WHAT I SAID, IS IT?

Uh, yeah pretty much.

 

[Blues Man]

And at the end of the next week I have transformed some of those dollars (the ones not spent living my life) in to asset that will provide me money for years to come, and now even if I wish to use it.



Not true at all, I could have chosen to work more hours at another job, I could have taken a job that offered me more money but a worse balance between life and work. And yes, I am limited in what assets I could acquire, as are you unless your name is Jeff Bezos.


Suck to be you then, you had to spend more than 40 hours a week to get what you wanted. I can get it with just 40 hours a week, plus lots of vacation time and holidays off.



I am happy for you. That seems to be important to you. What is important to me is the end result.

I retired financially secure at 51. I wanted financial independence and to be retired by 55. The end result was better than what I wanted.

That wasn't a waste of my time. Just think I saved 14 or more years working for someone else for at least 2000 hours a year than the average guy who works for a paycheck who retries at 65 or older. And in all honesty I could have called myself semi retired at 45 because at that point I don't think I spent even 20 hours a week managing my business so tack on another 6 years of working 1000 hours a year for someone else to my time saved.

Now my entire life is vacation, not just a couple weeks a year and ALL my time is my own.