Work

Caan Berry over at Trading A  Profit on Betfair's Exchanges brings up the subject of being rich, prompted by his reading of the 2007 book "The 4 Hour Work Week" by Timothy Ferris.

I've come across a rather interesting book just recently, i'm not all the way through it yet although i don't think its going to be long! If i can find time to read it that is!

So far it's really made me think, what is rich?

Because everyones rich is different.... or so it should be. Does it really matter about the 6 figure bank balance? or is it just the lifestyle we hoped for that we associate with that?

I think for me, i have spent along time associating a great life, early retirement with large monetary values but its not always the case. What is the point in working 40 hours a week and living for 2 days where you spend one of them starting to relax and the other dreading the day after?

So when i think about it like that already, i'm already rich. I don't have a boss to answer to if i want a holiday or to check how much of my allowance is remaining, i don't need to fret and worry about working hours, i certainly don't have to work 40 hours a week and still i find myself in a position of well above the average income. To top it all off i enjoy doing this every day!!

So it seems like i already am in a great position although i think this last year has only really just been the start for me!!

Nothing else to report other than the usual, would be really good to hear some views on the above questions though? is it why you're interesting in trading the sports markets?

I'll update and talk about my thoughts on the book later next week as i'm having a long weekend this weekend!!

Leaving aside the wishy-washy stuff about richness being about family and friends and relationships and focusing on financial richness, it is of course all relative. Not only relative to others, but relative to your previous position in life. If you inherited  £5 million are are now down to £500k, you may not feel rich whereas someone from more typical humble beginnings starting out with very little might well consider themselves rich with that same amount.

I think I've written on here before that by one definition, the crossover point into richness is reached when income from investment exceeds expenses. It's at that point where earned income becomes technically unnecessary, although why so many people find their jobs so unfulfilling that they would rather quit at this point than continue to enhance their quality of life is a little baffling.

We are all different, but reaching the crossover point is immensely liberating, so even if you hate your job (which begs the question why didn't you change years ago to something more palatable) you can do something else. Caan talks about working 40 hours a week and then living 2 days a week. Perhaps this is true if you are working on a production line or employed in some form of manual labour, but I suspect most people reading this work in a more white collar environment, where work is not all work, but an integral part of our lives and probably something we take some pride in. Work is often more than just financially rewarding. After all, the first question after meeting someone for the first time is often "So what do you do?", and instant impressions are formed depending on the answer. It's something of a paradox, but in my experience, the more you enjoy your job, the sooner you will be in a position to leave it. If you enjoy your work, it ceases to be work and success (financial and otherwise) often follows.

The 'working' part of my week is blurred these days any way, but if anyone dreads going in to work on a Monday, they have some changes to make in their lives. Life is good every day.

I'd also say that I wouldn't consider myself rich if I ever needed to "check how much of my allowance is remaining", nor would I enjoy trading if it was my main source of income and "did this every day". There are easier ways to make money if that is your main goal in life. Early retirement sounds like a dream, but more and more successful people are now working way past the traditional retirement age, and not because they have to.

We live longer than we used to, and 'work' no longer means working 40 hours in an office between 8 and 5 with lunch between noon and 1. With telecommuting, many jobs now, including my own, are at least part of the time work-from-home. (At last week's training class it was stated that 28% of the company now work from home). I often put in hours from home myself (sometimes doing double duty with trading which is perfect) and take days or hours off to compensate, and the older you get, the more senior you become, and the more time off you are allowed and the better the benefits and bonuses. Work gets easier in other words. It's a bit of a shame to slave away and then quit just at the time when it is all about to become easier anyway.

On the other hand, I am not planning to delay retirement to the point where my time left to travel and physical ability to do so are limited. When that time is will be different for all of us, with a number of variables involved, but in my view 'work' shouldn't be thought of as the four letter word that it is.