There has to be a better system than this.
Live in a country with a decent amount of vacation days.
Guess I gotta move to Iran for that 53 days off a year Wikipedia says they get.
Hot damn! And here I thought 30+ days was decent amount.
Yeah but those days in Iran where it’s insanely hot… I think we are better off in Europe. :)
I get 47 if my math is right, but not all at once. Next year I think it goes to 48.
I hope you can move to Canada and find a great job like mine. Immigrate for any healthcare at all, stay for the vacation days in the woods staring out over the ocean.
What industry and job is that?
and if in germany, get yourself a schwerbehindetenausweis and show it to your employer. they have to give you 5 extra days off when the GDB is at least 50.
I honestly prefer not being eligible for that to having extra vacation days.
schwerbehindetenausweis
What is this? I don’t speak German so Google wasn’t really useful
I’m curious also
It’s a certificate showing you’re disabled. Schwer = heavily, behindert = disabled, Ausweis = certificate.
Source: am deutsch, alla.
What if you’re not disabled?
well then you’re not getting it, but even the slightest autism spectrum disorder, ADHD, or even slight physical disabilities will get you one.
brb moving up from austria
Good luck finding a job, though.
i work in aerospace now. you don’t have to tell them when applying for a job.
In what is that a solution :) ? Working 40+ years except 30days per year still make you lose your time, no?
Thank God immigration is such a cheap and accessible option to everyone!
Or work for the government if you’re in the US
Don’t wait until retirement. Balance your life now. It’s going to be a long slog.
You don’t need to find an amazing career that you’ll love doing until you die. People who get that are extremely lucky, and it’s not the norm. You just need a job that will support you while still giving you time to do the things you enjoy.
Follow this: https://youtu.be/YHxwY3Fz2gU?feature=shared
As I tell my kids repeatedly. I am the exception not the rule!
It’s so bloody annoying a 13 year old is supposed to know what they want to do with their life. I fell into my career in IT at 25 after dropping out of college twice, running my own business unsuccessfully and generally doing my best to survive. Now I make 150k which is both too much and not enough money.
Point being, do what’s right for you and only you.
Live with underlying existential dread for decades. Watch as “doing what you love” becomes “hating what you used to love because you’re forced to do it so that there’s enough numbers in the computer to prove that you’re worthy of continued existence.” Contemplate the pointlessness of it all on a daily basis. Be reminded that your feelings are invalid because “other people have it worse” every time the topic comes up. Nod listlessly as “successful” people tout their own hard work while ignoring any factor luck and privilege played, then tune out when they shift into the dissonant duet of “I succeeded because I am exceptional” and “anyone can do the same if they just work harder.”
Wake up the next morning and realize there’s roughly 30 more years of this, barring a massive coronary or aneurism or something.
barring a massive coronary or aneurism or something.
Fingers crossed! 🤞
I need more therapy tbh
I dealt with it by choosing to not have kids years ago. I didn’t ask to be born, and I refuse to force that on anyone else.
Once things become too difficult, I’m pulling my own plug.
Incredibly based
How are you going to pull your own plug if the country you are in suddenly makes a law to prevent you from doing that?
Laws against suicide are notoriously difficult to enforce, for obvious reasons.
It already is illegal, and euthanasia while “tolerated” is also illegal to perform by a medical professional.
What are they going to do, arrest a corpse? Fine by me.
I’m not suicidal, but I have considered how nice it would be to diary in a date where I think “yep, i’ve had a titsful of life now, time to fuck off to sto’vo’kor” or whatever.
The only thing that stops me taking it seriously is the prospect that it may be subjecting others to criminal investigation or court process.
I think you need to die in battle if you want to go to Sto’Vo’Kor. Killing yourself would be without honor.
Good point. Might have to noise up the French on the border or something.
I’ve heard Switzerland is lovely this time of year
A lot of places have those laws already. They aren’t stopping anyone. What, someone suicidal is supposed to go “oh, guess that’s not allowed” and regain their will to live?
What are they gonna do about it? Kill me?
Lock you up with suicide watch. So essentially sleep deprivation by keeping the lights on and checking up on you every 15 minutes.
Are they gonna lock everybody up? How are they gonna know ahead of time?
Don’t hold on to things you haven’t done before you retire… It is a waste of time and regretting not doing stuff, which lasts for moments, is the folly of youth.
Also what/who you want to do changes as you get older…
/sauce greybeard who is 10 years off retirement.
Thank you HorseChandelier
Yep, your priorities will change, those big plans you had 15 years ago might not seem so important now, and that’s perfectly OK.
Here’s a hot take. Do what you want when you are young. Find a way. I spent my 20’s moving around, having shitty but fun jobs. I travelled. Saw all kinds of places and met all sorts of people. It wasn’t easy and sometimes it wasn’t fun. I found myself homeless even several times. I still wouldn’t change any of it. I found a wonderful partner and we moved together for a while before settling and having kids.
In my early 40s I was diagnosed with a really rare cancer that paralyzed me from the chest down for a year prior to surgery and left lasting disabilities following. Now in my 50’s with declining health I am so glad I lived. It means I don’t have a lot of things others have but I’ve never cared much for the Jones’ anyway. If Cancer taught me anything it’s fuck society and their expectations. Do you. Find a way. Be happy.
Would love to talk further with you. Mid 40s, narcolepsy, and some doubt that I’ll make it to retirement age in a way that makes SSA pay meaningfully.
Struggling thru the next twenty or so years seems like hell. Love my job, but doesn’t make up for the mess that is life for me.
On top of that, I made promises to my wife of fifteeen years, back when, and I’m bent on keeping them.
My disease is hardly akin to cancer, but I think you have some collected wisdom that would make a meaningful differentlce in our lives.
The alternative is much worse. I don’t want to be poor and/or homeless. I want to be able to take vacations and not worry about surprise expenses. I want to actually be able to retire someday.
The alternative is a much harder life to live, in my opinion. For me, giving up 40ish hours a week for the peace of mind it worth it. Yes, work is not how I’d prefer to spend my time, but it allows me to spend the rest of my time doing as I’d please.
There are more alternatives.
As a kid, I was traumatized by the idea that I’d need to work until I’m old and then maybe spend another decade or two being too old to do the things I wanted before I eventually die. I was so distraught over “the way things are” that I constantly fantasized about running away and building my own tree house in the woods to live in, à la Swiss Family Robinson style.
And this was a time before inflation and property prices got out of hand. We were still fed the idea that getting a college education and a good paying job would help us live comfortably, while still saving up for retirement.
Then I joined the US military, thanks to the advice of my uncle who was a retired Air Force Chief Master Sergeant. 20 years later, at only 38 years old, I officially retired and earned myself a pension equal to about half my monthly pay, which I will collect automatically for the rest of my life. Unfortunately, the military did away with the pension program about 7 years ago, so any newbies will have to do their new BRS program. (Basic Retirement System; basically the federal govt’s version of a 401K) I was lucky enough to be grandfathered into the old pension program when I retired 2 years ago.
On top of that, a bunch of physical and mental injuries accrued over 20 years (thanks to serving during wartime) has earned me the coveted 100% Permanent & Total disability rating with the VA, which means I get free medical and dental for life, as well as a monthly paycheck from the VA that’s bigger than my pension. I’m making more money in retirement than I did while serving! So I can be fully retired now.
My wife also served in the military, but she didn’t make it to retirement. She was medically discharged about 12 years into service. But fortunately, her medical issues also earned her the rare 100% Total & Permanent disability rating from the VA as well. So she enjoys all the same benefits as I do, including a sizeable VA paycheck every month for life.
While I was serving, I bought houses in 2 separate places I was stationed, and I rented them out when I left. I hired on a property manager to act as landlord in my absence (since they’re in different states from where I currently live) and they take 10% of the monthly rent as their pay, which incentivizes them to keep tenants in the house, as they don’t get paid if it’s empty. They literally take care of everything; I only get contacted if they need to make a financial decision, i.e. hiring a plumber, replacing a washing machine, etc.
I make sure to charge afforable rates for rent, not price-gouge like a lot of landlords do nowadays. I’m not relying on income from these houses, so I don’t need to squeeze every penny out of them that I can. I’m very quick to fix issues, too. These houses were in excellent condition when I lived there (one was a brand-new build when I moved in) and I want to keep them in immaculate condition, so I make sure to do quality repairs and not just cheap patch jobs. I charge just enough to cover my mortgage (which was really cheap when I bought them around a decade ago) plus the property manager’s share. When both houses are paid off, that rent money (minus 10%) is just passive income to supplement my pension and disability pay.
I’ve also been living in my childhood home for the past couple years, which my father owned until he passed away last week, so I will be inheriting the house and all 6 acres it’s on. Basically a free house. Oh, and the military paid me a separate monthly housing allowance to afford rent/mortgage payments while I was serving, so I didn’t have to spend any of my own money on the 2 houses I bought. The military covered my mortgage while I lived there and tenants are paying my mortgage now. So I technically own 3 houses that I didn’t need to spend any of my own money on.
Besides all this, I also have some investments going through my cousin, who works for an investment firm. I’m pretending those investments don’t exist until actual retirement age, so they’ll accrue in value over the next couple decades and hopefully be a sizeable retirement nest egg.
So through a lot of dumb luck (and some smart choices), I’ve managed to not only avoid working until I’m too old to enjoy life, but I actually have some decent income to live comfortably on. I’m not wealthy by any stretch of the imagination, but I’m living cozy enough to relax and enjoy the second half of my life at my own pace, without a job to afford my way of life.
This is what life should be like for everyone. We’re not here to work for the rest of our lives, that’s just capitalist propaganda, fed to us since grade school. We only get one shot at life, so it should be lived! There should be plentiful options to make passive income in the second half of your life so you can enjoy living. But the capitalist machine doesn’t work if there are no workers to power it, so we’re stuck in this broken worker bee system for the majority of our lives.
You’re making passive income from disability, a pension system that no longer exists, and owning 3 houses you didn’t pay for based off of programs no longer available to anyone starting out now. While collecting “market rate” rent (which conveniently always increases).
The disability, I’m fine with. My buddy had the same thing from the Marines and he more than earned the 100% rating, as I’m sure you and your wife did.
However, this whole thing where you’re talking about with retiring off of passive income… that was a LOT of words to say:
I’m a landlord
I really wish you would have said this first, because your long winded story about houses and “passive income streams” gives me the impression that you know the house-related part all boils down to being a landlord, and I get the impression you buried that fact to obfuscate it. You’re making money from other people’s work, in the form of the rent they pay to you (minus a small fee to the property managers), while doing literally no work yourself, as you explicitly explained.
I hired on a property manager to act as landlord in my absence (since they’re in different states from where I currently live) and they take 10% of the monthly rent as their pay, which incentivizes them to keep tenants in the house, as they don’t get paid if it’s empty.
He’s actually even more of a dick it turns out.
The problem is not landlords, which have existed for thousands of years. The problem is that the first time homebuyer programs suck ass. They’re like “only 3% down payment! But you have to pay extra PMI, so it’s still expensive monthly.”
If the government really wanted to subsidize housing, they would subsidize home construction workers and materials. Right now old construction workers have to retire due to age or become contractors. So there are a ton of crappy contractors who have no business sense and a lot of construction experience.
Imagine if you could go to school for free to build your own house! Land in the US is almost free outside of major cities. The expensive part is workers and materials.
Just because landlords have existed thousands of years doesn’t make the situation right. There are lots of harmful things society has been doing or did for thousands of years. Feudalism isn’t one of the high points of humanity, to say the least.
If he lived in his primary residence and did honest, productive work (Or hell, even just collect disability, pension, SS, every damn cent the government will give them, I’m all for that!) There would be 3 more houses that families could buy as primary residences (in an ideal world). Yes, I know there is nuance, PE firms like Black Rock and speculators will probably buy some of them up, etc. etc. so you don’t need to “actually” me here, just work with me here on the ideal that those houses would be bought fair and square by primary residents.
Home prices would be lower if landlords weren’t hoarding them, and 3% + PMI would be lower as a result. It’s simple supply and demand, most kids learn about that in Jr. High School. And when certain people hoard supply, there is less supply to meet the demand, therefore higher prices on the demand side. They are sucking value out of society and not giving back or doing an hour of fair work. Providing housing for over-inflated prices without giving equity is not giving back, it’s just taking. When landlords talk high and mightily about charging “fair rent prices,” that’s code for “as much as the market will let me exploit them.”
It’s easy to see everything as fair when you’re out of touch on top of an ivory tower.
“Kings are not a problem, they’ve lasted for thousands of years.”
landlord
It’s funny and sad at the same time that you had to expand so much on your landlord duties. I’m sorry this network has preconditioned you to this point.
Lemmy really has become an echo chamber of losers :(
A pivotal piece of advice once shifted my perspective on work. It was put simply: ‘If the thought of retirement is your main motivation, you might be in the wrong job.’ This implies that if you’re constantly counting down the years to retirement, you’re essentially wishing for time to fly by quicker. But those years are valuable, and letting them slip away in anticipation of something else isn’t worth it. The key is to find a career that reduces your stress and enhances your life now, not just in the future. While financial security is undeniably important, it’s also crucial to recognize when you have enough and to prioritize your well-being and happiness in the present.
Its an interesting sentiment… but ultimately it just rings a bit hollow yeah? As if nearly anyone would work 40 hours a week if they didnt have to. You think if 100 people were given enough money to cover their housing/food/leisure/travel they would go to a factory job 40 hours a week? Or even a job they enjoyed or had fun at? Or would they spend their time with loved ones, doing things they enjoy, filling their lives with interesting experiences they can enjoy in the moment and reflect back on?
I enjoy my job quite a bit, It even has value to me in that it contributes to society in a fulfilling way, but 100% I am looking forward to not being obligated to do it
Plan the things you want to do into your life. Drop the notion “when I retire I will…” If you can fit the stuff you want to do into your Annual Leave then that’s a big win. If not then you’ll need unpaid leave. One good time is between jobs.
Maybe this isn’t the answer you’re looking for: my job is my passion and the idea of retiring sounds horrible. I image it will only happen when I’m too senile to keep doing what I love, and that’s clearly not something to look forward to. But who knows… I know old people who are tired and just want to rest.
(I got lucky, since I happened to be passionate about computer programming. I know most other people don’t have the same option.)
(I got lucky, since I happened to be passionate about computer programming. I know most other people don’t have the same option.)
When I was in high school I was very passionate about PC stuff (I mainly used Linux) and while there were not many careers about this where I live the few related ones I stayed away from them because I felt like turning your hobby into your job would get rid of the fun of it (I still think it to a degree, I see it in many hobby type sectors, like gaming).
I kinda regret my decision nowadays though, but still I feel I wouldn’t enjoy my hobbies with timelines and crappy bosses, oh and making them rich in the process ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I love computing in general, it’s just fascinating that we put electric into a bit of sand and people can be as creative as making immersive worlds, or be as positive as making lifesaving machinery, or just make Fortnite porn.
I started my post-secondary school study at college, fucking about on a particular study topic with Visual C++ as it was at the time on a winter evening. The kind of evening where it got dark early, you got up in darkness and went home in darkness.
It was towards the end of a particular day, sat at a terminal on such an evening, and the lights were so bright that you couldn’t see out of the window but only your own reflection. I saw myself in the window, and honestly thought “fuck, do I really want to be doing this for another fifty years?”
…so I wrapped it that term, banked whatever qualifications I could, and fucked off into a different field where I’m out of the office at different locations most days. I get the benefit of both having a varied career and meeting people from vastly different backgrounds, while getting to go home and enjoy the nerdy tech life.
Admittedly, I have gone back to distance learning to tie off that loose end of working towards a degree in the field.
Nicely done. Find a job you love and you won’t work a day in your life.
This is exactly where I’m at in the same type of gig. I do get a bit burnt by the end of the day but by 8pm I’m just counting hours until the next day because I want to dive back into the problems I’m working on.
I feel very lucky I’ve found a vocation that I love and pays handsomely. It’s also working for fed gov so the benefits and work life balance are insanely great. Also, work from home.
If I went into the private sector I could probably make 50k more but I’m very comfortable now and the chance of me hating my life and job working to try and make someone else rich is not appealing at all. And that’s all if the company doesn’t fold or get acquired.
Fuck that noise
I’ve pretty consistently chosen less hours and better working conditions over pay since I started to have that choice. It’s made it a lot more tolerable. I’m currently on a four day week, with a minimal commute, good perks and a relatively stress free job that I took a pay cut for. My retirement savings look pretty slim, but due to my health the chance of a long one isn’t much higher anyway.
Not without it’s issues. Pay is pretty significantly below the median. Fortunately I’m not interested in having kids and I’m content living cheaply, even if it sounds boring. But I’m in a weird dead zone for government support; for instance - if I earned more, there are programs for “middle income” housing and the like that I earn too little to qualify for. Low income housing programs are a joke - with wait times being as much as a decade -but even if it wasn’t I’m not high priority anyway. Also no way on earth I’m ever getting a home loan, even though mortgage repayments would be less than rent and I could conceivably make the deposit.
Was just talking about how difficult work is going to make the next three days, so that I can’t wait until they’re over, but that’s another week of my life where I’m wishing for days to pass so I can try to be happy again. Lame. Lame as fuck.
If you don’t enjoy your job, try to change it. I don’t love my job, but I like it; and the people are so great that it’s a good fit. We still have to work, so make it something you don’t loathe.
Yep, and there are definitely ways to reframe work in your head so you can make the super shitty stuff either neutral or even fun in a way. Years ago I used to hate a specific meeting with a horrendous manager and I realized I was getting so sour and jaded leading up to and for a few hours after that meeting. Then one day I made a buzzword bingo card and handed it to my peers. It turned that meeting into an hour of fun.
I had an epiphany: we could control what we got out of that meeting. My peers and I decided to do random shit like try to leave the meeting with the least action items. Which lead to some pretty hilarious dodging and weaving and (good natured) 'backstabbing"–“I think Sam should do that task since he already has so much experience and you need it so quickly. I’ll shadow him.”
Of course there are better systems, but the rich and powerful hold all the cards.
I slack. Oh boy do I slack. I’d work so harder if I thought I would actually get something for it. In fact, when I started my latest job, I was doing just that, because it seemed this company was different, and it’s something I’m naturally good at. Got commended by my boss about how much I was doing, how quickly I was learning, how in a year I had already surpassed the next most recent hire that had been there for 2 years… Then time came for my review, and it was a “meets expectations”. Like wtf do I have to do to exceed expectations? Then not long after, they started denying me time off, saying I had taken too much. Supposedly we had unlimited PTO, of which I had taken 2 weeks so far that year (1 week in March, the rest just single days here and there), and my request was for a week in July… Anywho long story short, I’ve pretty much figured out exactly how much I have to fake being busy to not get negative attention, and I do that. I milk cases for all they’re worth. And I’m still getting more done than half my colleagues. I hate it, but it pays decently, so I have a hard time throwing it away for something that might be more fulfilling, but doesn’t pay as well…
That is shitty. My heart goes out.
Hello twin
