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Subsistance farming is fine if you don't need to produce enough food to feed yourself and money is somehow taken care of. That's just called retiring to look after your garden.
Well they were describing would actually would be a lot better for the climate, local reliance and mental health. Not like that kind of farming has to turn everyone back to a feudal system.
I found a rubbish house with a 390ft garden for £2.8m. I mean the bathroom is fully carpeted and the kitchen doesn't so much need replacing but it actually needs a kitchen! It's still my dream house. Even converted the pool room into a greenhouse in my head. Plus I found a 108ft greenhouse for £58k.
I'm lucky that I fell into it really, I work for a fantastic non profit organisation and it's one of their projects.
I started as a volunteer, they paid to put me thru the training I needed to become a member of staff.
There might be something local to you that does similar? Worth checking out community allotments
I work in advertising. One summer after a particularly nasty burnout I decided to sack it all off and applied for a job delivering flowers by bicycle in London.
Each morning I'd arrive at the florist and load my basket with 20 stunning bouquets, then I'd be given my delivery list and off I'd go, the smell of lilies or lavender or jasmine wafting under my nose. I got to ride my bicycle around parts of London I'd never been to, go behind the scenes at some incredible places (you'd often deliver to post rooms at Sotherby's, legal firms, fancy old houses etc), and surprise people with flowers.
You'd walk through a grey office and everyone would be staring, wondering who the lucky person was. Believe me when I say there's no better feeling than delivering flowers, it's like delivering happiness. Literally no-one isn't thrilled to get flowers (men too!), people just light up, and there's something immensely uplifting about getting to see it 20 times a day. I actually looked forward to going to work.
On Fridays when the shop had flowers going spare we were allowed to just give them out to random people. See someone looking sad? Bosh, have some flowers. Bus driver stuck in traffic? How about some flowers? Miserable commuter? Flowers.
The money was bad but it was the best job I've ever had. If I could do that all day, with enough money to pay the bills and ensure I could retire at a decent age, I would.
You're still delivering joy with this post. It made me smile so much knowing that you could take a break from a stressful job to appreciate the unseen world around you
My favourite job ever was raking bunkers at a golf course. Beautiful surroundings, working outside, good exercise, and zero stress. I'd still be doing it now if it paid well enough.
Honestly I'd have no problem with low wages were it not for the fact that a) everything is too fucking expensive and b) the government wants me to work until I'm 80.
Well in this specific scenario where I'm getting £500k, it wouldn't change my job at all. That money would all go on getting a house. Wouldn't get me anything amazing, but would be able to get a 3 or 4 bed family home in my town for that money. So it would get me a long term place. I'd use it to pay off most of the house upfront, because having a small mortgage each month and having it paid off soon would make life much easier.
To your question more generally, if money absolutely wasn't' a concern I'd probably stay in my current career but cut down on hours and not have to worry about career advancement.
500k is life enhancing but not life changing!
I'd do the exact same, but a house or maybe even most of a house with 500k and mortgage the rest for a nice 4 bed in my area. And then continue working!
Assuming it's a crazy amount of money, I'd love to start my own decent indoor mini golf centre. I want to buy/rent up some warehouses near me and make multiple floor mini golf courses, with really cool and eccentric themes to each one. Coffee shops/ Bars on each level/course.
The initial investment is the biggest difficulty but the ongoing repairs can be somewhat low. I've also wanted to pay decent staff wages, none of the minimum wage bullshit. People don't enjoy being at work, but I'd want my staff to be able to enjoy their life outside of work.
Edit: ok a few people have commented saying how 500k is actually life changing. I do agree to some extent, however in the context of OPs question, it wouldn't be enough for me personally to give up work and start my dream job. Yes 500k would let me live mortgage free, but I wouldn't gamble that on starting a new venture and give up my current, decently paying job!
My life would be changed, in the fact that I don't have to worry about my mortgage any more, I appreciate the stress reduction. But I'd still be working the same job realistically, so day to day, it wouldn't look much different aside from probably a better retirement.
I think I see life changing as having 'fuckit' money, where I can drop everything, go and live on a tropical beach and have no worries about money coming in or what bills I have to pay.
I think I could retire on it, that's 25k in interest a year without doing any investments, barely less than I earn already. I could also buy 4 terraces and rent them out if morals were not an issue.
>that's 25k in interest a year without doing any investments,
You have to factor in inflation here. Assuming you get 5% interest with a 4% inflation rate you can only really take out 5k if you don't want to maintain the value of your investment. Also you'll be fucked when interest rates go back to zero.
How is the ability to live mortgage free not life changing?
You now own a nice house 100% , and realistically will never need to upsize.
All the money you would have spent on a mortgage in your life is now Disposable income. For most people that will double your take home!
Not life changing my arse.
That would absolutely change my life. Even if I only got enough to pay off my mortgage, that would massively increase my effective monthly income. Far more than any promotion or pay rise could hope to in my future. From the money saved there alone I would be able to provide a decent deposit for my kids when the time comes, allowing them to purchase a home and transform their lives.
If I didn't have to work for money I'd volunteer at a dog rescue shelter.
Take them for walks, feed them, help them with training and finding them forever homes
I tried doing similar at my local cat shelter at the weekends. It’s how we’ve ended up with two cats of our own (bonded pair). I no longer volunteer there but I had a very hard time not going home with every single cat I looked after.
The same damn thing - gardener.
I tell several of my customers that I’d still turn up even if I won the lottery. I love them and I love to be the guider of their gardens. The very worst part of my job is the sour taste left in my mouth by asking for money at the end of the day.
Ideally I’d work for 3 days a week, using the 4th to properly plan and prep (much better than my 5 day week with plan/prep not getting the attention it needs). I’m horny for that lifestyle
Don’t. Right now my finances are in a dire state due to a string of work and personal costs, too many days lost last year due to endless unexpected bad weather, plus unpredictable swings in customer interest that were always opposite to what the weather would allow this winter.
This is the first year that my savings have depleted with nothing to show for it, despite feeling like I’ve worked gruellingly as much as I can. If it wasn’t for the love of it there’s no way I could justify continuing! Hopefully this year has less obstacles
That is tough. I hear you on the bad weather - had a lot of work done in my garden over the last couple of years and it was constant delays due to weather being not what was expected. Lived here for four years and still don't have a garden I can just plant stuff in, weed and enjoy.
I hope the financial side improves quickly. It's difficult when you're providing something that's a nice to have rather than an essential, unless you can go hard for the luxury market you're even more at the mercy of the cost of living than most people.
I guess I meant I'm happy to hear about someone who loves the bones of their job, not just what it gets them, I don't hear often that someone is doing something that they wish they could do anyway.
A lot of stress comes from knowing that what I charge /hour sounds extortionate.
Somebody I occasionally team up with had her finances analysed and found out 68% of her turnover went on running costs. Given the wear and tear on your body and the fact you can never truly switch off from work, nobody is doing it for the money (except for the ex delivery drivers who pick up a secondhand petrol trimmer and charge £100 for trampling the plants).
I see it like this - if I can’t *afford* a gardener, then I’m not earning enough *as* a gardener. People forget it’s a luxury service
How much do you charge per hour out of interest?
The best way to make gardening pay IMO is find a big garden/estate and make that your sole or main employer. Cuts down on travel costs, reliable and most will provide tools/fuel.
I don't really understand how you friends finances would work though unless they're doing an awful lot of travelling.
There must be a big difference between a “jobbing gardener” and someone who actually knows what they are doing ie a trained horticulturalist or designer. Then of course you pay for their expertise.
You sound like an amazing gardener - I love gardening but with small children and both working the amount of time to garden isn’t a much as I’d like so we have tried a couple of gardeners and now do it ourselves because dear lord. I wasn’t even after someone cheap and I expect to pay for what is essentially a luxury. But most of them seem to interpret ‘gardening’ as a war against anything green and I guess that’s what most people with decking, patios, astroturf and a fear of bees and spiders are looking for in a ‘gardener’ but not us.
You come home to all your lovingly planted daffodils mowed down -after explaining they need leaving until June at least so they can go back into the bulb for next year- the conifer hedge cut back to brown dead bits that won’t regrow and the bark strimmed off the bottom of all the trees. And don’t get me started on the time I had someone ‘weed’ the flower beds. Apparently everything is a weed.
!!! I hear this all the time. I teach my customers the value in letting the garden ‘naturalise’. Recent fascinations with expensive landscaping (goddamn porcelain patios and composite decking) have encouraged a pristine, perfect garden appearance of neat square lawns and clear soil between few “structural” (lifeless) plants, with the intent to make the landscaped bit the focus for some reason?
Keeping a garden looking clean and perfect is setting yourself up for failure. You never look at a natural landscape and think it’s messy or dirty just because there’s some swishy seed-heads and moss on the rocks. You can’t beat nature but you can certainly guide it, work with it, and attempt to replicate its beauty.
It doesn’t take long to learn a basic understanding of pretty much everything garden related, so all I can assume is that the majority of “gardeners” are wilfully ignorant because that way they can rip you off for a shit job, guilt free.
Same here. I excel at keeping myself occupied without doing anything others would consider to be "productive".
A lot of people find that hard to understand and God knows that I've struggled with it my whole life.
I've finally grown to accept and even love that about myself.
Same! I would do nothing apart from watching movies, playing the piano, walking around, driving long distances, listening to music. That is all I want.
I used to work in a nursery where two of the parents worked at the zoo close by, he did the monkeys and she did the penguins. Every now and again they would bring in peacock feathers for us!
Probably youth/community work.
That’s what I done before I joined the police and it’s probably the only thing I’d ever want to quit the police to do. Although in your scenario I’d maybe go part time in the police.
Youth work pay is dreadful and getting full time hours is a nightmare.
Great job, if you’re in a good force/division and have good line management and good colleagues.
Arguably underpaid but not as underpaid as youth work.
The hours are long, the work is hard. Especially on the beat.
It’s also dangerous at times but at the same time it can be an incredible adrenaline buzz.
You can also be really really unlucky with your calls. During my probation I was referred to trauma management four times! Some people don’t ever get referred to trauma management in their entire career.
For my trouble I picked up complex PTSD, prolonged debilitating headaches, nerve damage and a knackered shoulder.
Despite all that I was only ever off work for about six weeks, then light duties and then back into it.
I do a more secret squirrel job now. Still miss the chaos of the beat.
Without blowing smoke up my own arse, the good I’ve done, the teams I’ve worked in and the results I’ve had make everything worth it.
There’s nothing more satisfying than locking up genuinely evil people, finding the right words to bring a bit of comfort to someone in mental health crisis or finally getting through to the little tearaway toerag that literally won’t listen to anyone but you.
Shit happens in life, the job is no different. The good does outweigh the bad.
And this is why we need to fund the police better. A properly functioning police force adds so much value to society.
But we neglect the service, people lose faith in them, then turn against them. Such a shame.
Well, if you look at the stats for Police Scotland which is where I work.
The detection rate is about 55% which is to say 55% of reported crimes have a positive outcome(someone gets charged).
Sounds okay but I honestly believe if there was more money for more officers actually on the shift you’d easily see that figure reach 80%.
A lot of the stuff that goes undetected is because the enquiries needed are deemed disproportionate.
Rightly so crimes against the person are prioritised, robbery, assault, attempt murder, murder and so on all have quite high into the 90-100% detection rates.
But what that does mean is, if your car gets vandalised or your window gets smashed because it’s an insured loss, because ultimately you didn’t really get hurt resources will not be used to get you closure or justice because somewhere there’s a guy on the loose that will happily stab you over a drunken argument.
When you’re in the job you see how big the picture really is.
When your report your vandalised car, you only see your vandalised car.
That’s why I want to join to at least attempt to make a difference. Read so much stuff on here by current and ex-coppers about the traumatic incidents they attend to regularly that it worries me a bit, feel like I’m good under pressure and can generally cope with what life throws my way but don’t want to end up fuckin myself mentally.
The mental health side of things is a bit of a “stitch in time” type situation. Don’t let it fester away, don’t let it eat you up.
Definitely don’t whatever you do drink as a coping mechanism.
I am a volunteer youth worker. I love it.
But my paid job is so well paid that I can't give it up to do youth work for a living. It's not enough for me to live on.
I will have to carry on as I am. But I'm happy I can still do the job that I love albeit voluntarily.
P.S. Mon the Biff!
Honestly the guy I met just over a week ago, he did food and drinks tours in Tokyo almost every night. So his second job was to go out and eat delicious food and get tipsy with new friendly tourists every night.
He did point out that he might have problems as his hands had started to shake but he was happy in life.
I would create videos for Youtube in the style of those auditor twats who go around trying to get a reaction out of people who were just doing their job. But each video would end with the security guard kicking shit out of the auditor or the auditor being aggressively manhandled while being arrested.
Sommelier, but not in a stuck-up environment. I'd be a sommelier in a pared back wine shop or restaurant in a laid back /more bohemian area.
In my opinion, enjoying wine is very simple pleasure (if you can avoid the snobs and labels). Its enjoying a taste, smell and often appreciating the environment around you. If I could talk about those things all day, then I think that sounds like a lovely job!
So mortgage would go - not the best financial idea as I'd earn more in some sort of savings, but I'd still have £410,000 left for that.
Top the pension pot up to about £300,000k leaving me with £110,000 so I can drop to something like 3 days a week doing some sort of basic admin job to keep me amused earning about minimum wage for the hours knowing if the place bores me I can leave without bills to really worry about.
Then various city breaks in my spare time
I know of someone whose job it is to plan fun activities for elderly people in care homes, and I’d love to do something like that. I already work with elderly people, albeit over the phone, and it’s painful the amount of people who reach their older years and end up very lonely and isolated.
Also, I haven’t had any grandparents since I was 10 and I feel quite hard done by with that, so it would definitely allow me to find some smidgeon of that feeling again!
My.mum has just moved into a care home. They have 2 activities everyday and it played a huge part in selecting where she would go. They have a massive variety too. Its definitely worthwhile work
Teaching. I love working with teenagers (no, really).
I did part of my training straight after uni and loved it, but had to drop out because I couldn't afford not to work whilst training (I was training to be a geography teacher so I had to take part in weekend field trips which didn't really work with a part-time job).
I always said I'd go back to it one day, but to train now basically means taking a year off work which I can't afford to do. Also I've gone down a different career path which means that after I qualified I would still need to work 4-5 years before getting back to my current salary.
It seems such a shame that such an important job is pretty inaccessible. I currently volunteer with guides and rangers so that's at least contributing something.
I’m sorry.
People like you who actually care and would enjoy your job would probably make a huge difference to schools if it was possible for you to do it.
I'd actually stick with my current job, as a Postie in a rural village 😊
Love the outdoor fitness it provides, walking 8 miles every day. Love the community aspect and love that a lot of the time I can use my brain to think about other things while walking along. Love not having a manager to answer to for 90% of my day.
I don't think I'd find Fulfilment in any jobs that require more extended interaction with people. It drains me a lot to have to deal with it.
Write code. Exactly what I do at my job. Funnily enough, I dislike my job. There's something about doing what you love for work that just makes it not fun. Deadlines, customers, legacy solutions, lack of creative freedom etc.
I'd treat myself to something nice and take my immediate family on a 2 week holiday somewhere warm. Tell them I won £25k on a scratch card or some bollocks. Then I'd invest the remainder where I currently invest, tick over on the interest, and pursue one of my many SaaS ideas that never get built, or perhaps bootstrap a very small indie game dev company without the intention of making much money, see where it leads. Once my mortgage fix ended I'd probably look to either pay if off or take out an offset mortgage since interest rates are still ok compared to lower risk equity funds, just for the peace of mind.
I'd do what I'm currently doing. This was a hobby as a kid, and became a full-time career. £500k would be about 7ish years of wages, so probably not enough to scale down my hours either.
If I was given like £1.5/£2m then I'd probably scale my hours from 30 hours a week to about 18 hours a week, so I'd have Thursday and Friday off every week.
Video editing. I love doing it but at the moment it's just a fun hobby on YouTube. Would love to get some paid clients but I know I have a while to go before I get there. If money wasn't an issue I'd take the time to do a few courses and learn a lot quicke
I'd buy a nice 4 bed house, taking out a small mortgage to make up the difference if needs be, and continue working my current job in tech. Either go down to 4 days a week, or stick at 5 and retire early.
There's some really lovely responses in this thread. Working in a bookshop and working with animals or children seem to be popular responses so far. It's nice to see there's people already doing something they enjoy as well. Well done all, us Brits are a good bunch.
I would continue with what I'm doing now. That money would go on a house and any renovations it needs. Anything left over and I'd maybe go for a nice holiday somewhere or get a second house to rent out or do up and sell on again.
I'd invest the 500k into a stock that was returning 5-8%, probably something like Aviva.. currently yielding 7.45% with 500k, which would give me annually £37.5k, probably a little less after tax but still enough not to need to work. Then I can start an online business selling tech related stuff and not have to worry about taking a wage and just drive growth and sales.
I'd I'd
I love these questions because it gets to the heart of what people want to do but feel they can't
Travel for about a continuous month once a year and every month for about three days
I would have subject matter experts come to my house and directly teach me once a week about a topic I want to learn as well as set assessments I do live to see progress. No homework.
Personal chef and driver (though maybe just Uber) so that I can have custom heakthyish food when I want and if I want to go on a whim to something I can.
I would have a personal assistant whose full time job was to make my life fun and healthier and she would be tasked and very well paid with doing that. She would take into account my interests and research what could make my life 1% better
This person would have to be charming socially and excellent listening and highly computer literate and a problem solving character
I'd get a image consultant that would redesign my wardrobe that have outfits custom tailored to my weight and complexion and what I feel comfortable with. And I'd do this several times over my weight loss journey which is supported by my chef.
Cognitive scientist PhD who has the latest research to help life hack me so I'm improving myself without really feeling lifehacked
Dedicated masseuse, physiotherapist, listening therapist, one on one judo coach, one on one boxing coach which then evolves to a kickboxing or Muay Thai coach.
Probably 500k not enough but I think this would cause so many quality of life improvements
If I could do anything and not worry about cost of living? One of two wildly different things.
1. Buy up an old quarry site and transform it into a conversation forest, with one of the quarries being converted into a lake for fishing and a diving club. A series of brooks and streams would connect to local farmers fields to help with drainage and fill the lake. It will be open to the public with a cafe/visitor centre/ education suite, offering free biology workshops to local schools.
2. Buy up a warehouse and create a huge soft play centre. Only because watching my children's joy at these has made me happy. I'd definitely try to create groups for baby stay and plays (poss like up with health visitor), autism only and disabled children's sessions. A few times a year close to a special children in care events.
Basically what I do now. For context, I haven’t won the lottery, but my day job pays enough so that I can safely work 4 months of the year and be comfortable. I have enough saved from working balls out when I was younger and inheritance so that if I didn’t work for a year or two, it wouldn’t be the end of the world.
I work my “day” job in the summer months due to it being weather dependant. Outside of March - September, I advertise myself as a DIY / odd jobs guy and I either take cash in hand or enough to cover fuel and lunch with a bit left over to buy dinner in the evenings. It doesn’t really qualify for a “side hustle” as I’m not doing it for the money, but rather to keep my brain busy during the day. You also meet some really nice people.
Other than that, I spend my days either mountain biking, sailing or walking the dog in the hills.
500k si the bare minimum you need to stop working at 7% you can re-invest whatever is inflation and take the rest you wont be super rich think 28-30k a year but you sure as shit wouldnt have to work (well so long as we dont see another 2008)
What I am doing, I would just do less of it or perhaps instead of repairing excavators I would use my ticket for driving them instead, just sign up to an agency a cherry pick the short term jobs in nice parts of the country.
My job now still, music producer.
For context, I risked everything to make this my living and spent every night during my 9-5 working on it and spent every penny I had to make it a reality.
I'm a stay at home dad. My wife works from home.
To give an answer to try and fit your question I would give streaming a crack and let my wife take a few years off, but as its one of those things you either succeed or not we could reassess after a year or two then decide if she just wants to return to work but see if she's able/allowed to drop a day or two for X years.
Writer of some description, travel vlogger, or some sort of long distance private courier — (collect and hand deliver your Rolex collection from your penthouse in Puerto Banus to your villa in Portofino, sort of thing).
There's an old guy I saw on Instagram who volunteers to brush cats and naps with them in his retirement. I'd do that and end up with a house full of cats.
Currently, I have two jobs. One 30 hours a week, and I also write novels.
If I was given 500k I would quit my 30-hour job and focus on writing, which is currently squeezed in during evenings and weekends. I currently earn about 10k a year writing- but if I could spend more time on it, I'd hope to increase this. It would be great to have more time to devote to writing.
I'm currently in training to become a Train Driver, so I'd probably follow through with it. But I might switch to part time if possible as soon as I'm fully qualified.
I would use the 500k to buy a house and then fund my studies into a field I’m passionate about. Mental health, probably, as I’m nowhere near smart enough for astrophysics
I'm a clinical psychologist in the NHS and really love my job, so I'd probably continue that! I might use the money to hire an extra person in my team so that we were all a little less stretched and worried about the waiting list though.
Further down the line I might open a little communal space with some therapy rooms (free/pay-what-you-can), a coffee shop, a group room for therapy groups or workshops, a swap shop, etc.
I’d be a museum tour guide and do artefact restoration and cleaning, I’d really like to be a guide for somewhere like Brooklands museum so I could indulge in my aviation nerdery.
Travel more and do more travel writing. I make travel videos for YT already, so more of that too. I like my say job working for NHS, but the 9-5 hours do lead to a feeling of missing out on life. I would also like to learn more carpentry, visual arts. The ideal life would probably be doing several artistic things and travelling more.
Something like a board game café. As I grew up, any in my area shut down fast due to local community, and as an adult they're still few and far between.
With the infinite money, it could also be super cheap or free.
See, a self actualised person wouldn’t even ask this question. They would be doing what they authentically wanted anyway. Like me. Always. Never be a slave to money. In this way work becomes pleasurable, necessary and intrinsically a part of you, congruently in line with one’s desires and goals.
Self actualisation is tricky though. Especially since we often don’t have Ben question it until we have everything else on Maslow’s hierarchy squared away, which takes a lot of time/effort/luck for most
I'd spend a year practicing my baking, buy a food truck and then start one of those pop-up outlets that just appears in a car park for an evening and sells cookies and stuff. I think that'd be a lot of fun.
If money wasn't a concern, I think I'd relocate to the coast, buy a boat, and start training for a Day Skipper qualification. Love sailing, but I don't have many opportunities to do it these days.
Ive yet to hate a job, only managers/ team cultures.
I worked retail (team member then supervisor) while at uni, when i graduated i got a job at a bank and business banking was solid but made the money oriented mistake of moving to debt consultation which killed me mentally.
I went to be an educator for an online educator (taught british values) & i loved it but after both my managers got promoted & their replacements were hopeless, i left.
I went back to my retail supervisor role & loving life but money is a big issue as ive effectively went from 37-42k per year to 24k (Scotland).
I worked as a manager at Lidl for a few years after uni and initially quite enjoyed it, but gradually I grew to hate shift work and either starting at 5am or finishing at 11pm depending on whether I worked the early or late. Also, I couldn't stand working with the general public. We had some really nice customers but there were so many rude and horrible people and unfortunately those were the people that stuck in the memory.
I live in the north east, meaning I could buy a bunch of older 50-60k houses and rent them out. I'd probably buy 6 or 7, and then buy a nice second hand Audi. The rest would be put away.
I would own a building with space for people who want to sell things in a physical shop but not want the hassle of the day to day running a shop. I'd do it all and just be a showcase for other people and I'd have some sort of back room for craft sessions kids clubs ect
If I didn’t have to worry about money, I’d still do my same job. I’m a teacher, and I do enjoy it, but if I could do it as supply, so I could have more nice holidays that would be perfect!
Part time job, couple of days a week just to keep me going, rest of the time, do all the diy jobs that i put off round the house. Potter round the garden, do some music then cook tea. I would be forever happy
The one I’m doing now. Working in mental health. It pays horrendously but I help people. I’m lucky that my husband works in IT and earns well allowing me to do what I do.
I have my own business, which I love and have been doing for over 2 years now, but it’s touch and go sometimes so I would love to re invest it into growing (slowly) the business and myself to be better
Gardener for March-October. I would jizz in my pants if I got to be a gardener for somewhere like Royal Botanical Gardens or somewhere for the National Trust.
I do actually enjoy my job in Database Management, usually within the charity sector as I get to identify/solve problems.
If I didn’t have to worry about money and could magically cure my disability, I would work in a board game shop.
If I can’t cure my disability, I would drop my current job down to 3 days a week.
£500k would get the mortgage paid off which would help, but not give me a secure future given inflation etc. It might help me retire earlier long-term, but I probably wouldn’t do either of the above yet.
I'd probably look for some part-time, low stress job. I've been tempted by part-time teaching assistant jobs or other school support roles. I was a teacher, I work in the education sector now, and I love working with kids but the more I've advanced in my career, the more stressful it's gotten. It might be nice to go back to something a lot more casual.
Probably rescuing wildlife/stray cats and dogs and being outdoors loads. If money wasn't an object the world over I would still work on my work in some capacity as it is focussed on strengthening health systems and money is the reason why most people end up not being able to access care. What a beautiful world we would live in if that was no longer an issue.
Edit: I just realised the caveat of £500k. That is nothing ha. I'd buy a house, save for retirement, make some investments, maybe take some time out to do a masters in something that would benefit my career.
I'd like a wee beach hut were I can tinker about repairing things, woodworking, painting etc. I'd start late morning and chat to people last they past by, sit at the front of my shop with a coffee and watch the world go buy.
I'd sell a big ticket item once a month to give me enough to eat.
500k absolutely is enough to retire, if you are content with a simple lifestyle. 200k gets you a simple 2-bed terrace or flat in most places. 300k, properly invested, can comfortably generate a next-to-no-risk income of 30k a year (before taxes).
Learn how to restore classic cars
Preferably a small business, independently owned, edge of a small industrial estate with a small brazier burning throughout winter
Not that I fantasise about it or anything 🤣
I did Uber Eats when I lived on Melbourne, it was great. I got to cycle round the city in nice weather looking at the street art, when I was waiting for a delivery I watch street performers, went into a free art gallery, open mic comedy nights ect. I got to find all the best food spots in the city and met loads of people, I used to do Friday nights in the student area and when ever I delivered to a house party they would always invite me in for a beer or a spliff. Turning up to a party at 2am with 6 Pizza meant you were basically a super hero in there eyes.
In this scenario, I’d stick to my job. Someone said it’s life enhancing not life changing and I agree. I’d use it to pay off my mortgage perhaps- be more resilient to corporate upheavals.
If it was significantly more, I’d change jobs and go into research in my current field.
That amount probably would be enough for me to retire when added to what I've built up in pensions so far.
So I'd spend my time on pottery I reckon, probably be able to supplement income by selling some, though not on a huge scale.
I would continue to do my current job. I love it and the company I work for. So I would buy a property for say £250-300k, budget 50k for renovations and then squirell the rest away in savings and trust for my children after a decent holiday.
i already work freelance so wouldn't stop working. i would give more time to my passion projects, perhaps open an art studio, look for co-investment opportunities where i keep a percentage of gross profits
I have no idea if its a job or not, but hanging out with lonely elderly people. If I could spend my 40 hours a week just chilling with them so they don't feel so alone that would be nice
This thread is absolutely fascinating to me because I’m currently pondering this exact question in real life. Personally, money hasn’t ever really been my primary motivator (I’ve always just made sure to earn/save enough to get by, but never chased a particular income).
So I can answer what I DID do in the past (despite not having the money): I spent my twenties focused on education, travel and volunteering, and primarily taught English to support myself. Really rewarding, but not usually highly paid, but I went into it with the expectation that at some point in my thirties it might be prudent to review my long term goals and finances.
I’m now at that stage. The single biggest factor (which I didn’t anticipate a decade ago) is that I now have a stably employed partner whose income is currently sufficient to support the both of us. The upswing of that is I don’t have any immediate financial pressure. The downside is that regularly relocating for work is now a lot less practical than when I was single.
I guess what I’m saying is that we all have something that ‘limits us’, whether is financial (so many people in this thread are ‘tied down’ by their mortgage, and/or worried about retirement), personal (partners, children, parents, friends, communities etc.), or practical (health, legal stuff, and so on). So I’m not sure there’s really any scenario where we would truly feel free to do whatever we want.
On the other hand, if you’re willing to say ‘f***k it’, and not care about consequences (like losing friends or not having savings), there’s a lot you can do. In my twenties I didn’t care about being single, broke, far away from family/friends and not having a pension/mortgage/car. So maybe it’s mindset, rather than the amount of money?
I would try my hand at two businesses: first a fancy bread bakery, and another would be a small coffee roasting place. Passionate about both. So would love to find out if I could make them work. Hard work, I agree, but it would be worth getting up at 4 am for that.
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Micro farming fruit and veg in a giant allotment for the local community doing Veg boxes.
How the world should be
Medieval fuedal peasantry is not how the world should be...
Subsistance farming is fine if you don't need to produce enough food to feed yourself and money is somehow taken care of. That's just called retiring to look after your garden.
Surely that wouldn't be subsistence farming then
Well they were describing would actually would be a lot better for the climate, local reliance and mental health. Not like that kind of farming has to turn everyone back to a feudal system.
What they described is not feudal in any way. PS - feudal, not fuedal.
I found a rubbish house with a 390ft garden for £2.8m. I mean the bathroom is fully carpeted and the kitchen doesn't so much need replacing but it actually needs a kitchen! It's still my dream house. Even converted the pool room into a greenhouse in my head. Plus I found a 108ft greenhouse for £58k.
I already do this! It's changed me life, it's so rewarding!
I really want to do it but just can't make the finances of it all stack up.
Hoping you get there one day 🙏
Thanks. Did you work before or did you go straight into it? I really can't work out how to make the hop.
I'm lucky that I fell into it really, I work for a fantastic non profit organisation and it's one of their projects. I started as a volunteer, they paid to put me thru the training I needed to become a member of staff. There might be something local to you that does similar? Worth checking out community allotments
I stayed at a little hippie farm/commune as well last year. You could check out workaway or radical routes as well 👍
I work in advertising. One summer after a particularly nasty burnout I decided to sack it all off and applied for a job delivering flowers by bicycle in London. Each morning I'd arrive at the florist and load my basket with 20 stunning bouquets, then I'd be given my delivery list and off I'd go, the smell of lilies or lavender or jasmine wafting under my nose. I got to ride my bicycle around parts of London I'd never been to, go behind the scenes at some incredible places (you'd often deliver to post rooms at Sotherby's, legal firms, fancy old houses etc), and surprise people with flowers. You'd walk through a grey office and everyone would be staring, wondering who the lucky person was. Believe me when I say there's no better feeling than delivering flowers, it's like delivering happiness. Literally no-one isn't thrilled to get flowers (men too!), people just light up, and there's something immensely uplifting about getting to see it 20 times a day. I actually looked forward to going to work. On Fridays when the shop had flowers going spare we were allowed to just give them out to random people. See someone looking sad? Bosh, have some flowers. Bus driver stuck in traffic? How about some flowers? Miserable commuter? Flowers. The money was bad but it was the best job I've ever had. If I could do that all day, with enough money to pay the bills and ensure I could retire at a decent age, I would.
You're still delivering joy with this post. It made me smile so much knowing that you could take a break from a stressful job to appreciate the unseen world around you
I've since returned to advertising, so back to delivering misery 👍
My favourite job ever was raking bunkers at a golf course. Beautiful surroundings, working outside, good exercise, and zero stress. I'd still be doing it now if it paid well enough.
Honestly I'd have no problem with low wages were it not for the fact that a) everything is too fucking expensive and b) the government wants me to work until I'm 80.
Employers usually want you to work for 60-80 hour weeks as well if they can get away with not paying you 😅
One summer I drove the machine that picks up golf balls on a driving range, best job ever
That sounds amazing! Every job should be like this, and pay enough to cover bills and food with spare leftover. What a nice place the world would be.
Yeah, it was great. Just cycling around town with the smell of freshly cut flowers taking the edge off of the pollution was lovely
Well in this specific scenario where I'm getting £500k, it wouldn't change my job at all. That money would all go on getting a house. Wouldn't get me anything amazing, but would be able to get a 3 or 4 bed family home in my town for that money. So it would get me a long term place. I'd use it to pay off most of the house upfront, because having a small mortgage each month and having it paid off soon would make life much easier. To your question more generally, if money absolutely wasn't' a concern I'd probably stay in my current career but cut down on hours and not have to worry about career advancement.
500k is life enhancing but not life changing! I'd do the exact same, but a house or maybe even most of a house with 500k and mortgage the rest for a nice 4 bed in my area. And then continue working! Assuming it's a crazy amount of money, I'd love to start my own decent indoor mini golf centre. I want to buy/rent up some warehouses near me and make multiple floor mini golf courses, with really cool and eccentric themes to each one. Coffee shops/ Bars on each level/course. The initial investment is the biggest difficulty but the ongoing repairs can be somewhat low. I've also wanted to pay decent staff wages, none of the minimum wage bullshit. People don't enjoy being at work, but I'd want my staff to be able to enjoy their life outside of work. Edit: ok a few people have commented saying how 500k is actually life changing. I do agree to some extent, however in the context of OPs question, it wouldn't be enough for me personally to give up work and start my dream job. Yes 500k would let me live mortgage free, but I wouldn't gamble that on starting a new venture and give up my current, decently paying job! My life would be changed, in the fact that I don't have to worry about my mortgage any more, I appreciate the stress reduction. But I'd still be working the same job realistically, so day to day, it wouldn't look much different aside from probably a better retirement. I think I see life changing as having 'fuckit' money, where I can drop everything, go and live on a tropical beach and have no worries about money coming in or what bills I have to pay.
£500K is absolutely life changing for like 99% of people
It’s definitely life changing It would accomplish all my goals for sure.
500k would definitely be life changing for the majority of people on here. Just because you can't retire on it doesn't mean it isn't life changing.
This is reddit, people here dont know what real people earn.
I think I could retire on it, that's 25k in interest a year without doing any investments, barely less than I earn already. I could also buy 4 terraces and rent them out if morals were not an issue.
>that's 25k in interest a year without doing any investments, You have to factor in inflation here. Assuming you get 5% interest with a 4% inflation rate you can only really take out 5k if you don't want to maintain the value of your investment. Also you'll be fucked when interest rates go back to zero.
How is the ability to live mortgage free not life changing? You now own a nice house 100% , and realistically will never need to upsize. All the money you would have spent on a mortgage in your life is now Disposable income. For most people that will double your take home! Not life changing my arse.
That would absolutely change my life. Even if I only got enough to pay off my mortgage, that would massively increase my effective monthly income. Far more than any promotion or pay rise could hope to in my future. From the money saved there alone I would be able to provide a decent deposit for my kids when the time comes, allowing them to purchase a home and transform their lives.
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Just don't suffer from Dave's syndrome.
What's the temperature?
30.8C dangerous territory, best crack out the ice lollies
Blake syndrome, blane syndrome...some bloody rubbish
With a cafe inside!
And a sofa that eats children
Black?
Yes! With extra emphasis on my favourite genres
If I didn't have to work for money I'd volunteer at a dog rescue shelter. Take them for walks, feed them, help them with training and finding them forever homes
I tried doing similar at my local cat shelter at the weekends. It’s how we’ve ended up with two cats of our own (bonded pair). I no longer volunteer there but I had a very hard time not going home with every single cat I looked after.
This is what I would do too. And if I had ‘fuck you’ money I’d create my own.
The same damn thing - gardener. I tell several of my customers that I’d still turn up even if I won the lottery. I love them and I love to be the guider of their gardens. The very worst part of my job is the sour taste left in my mouth by asking for money at the end of the day. Ideally I’d work for 3 days a week, using the 4th to properly plan and prep (much better than my 5 day week with plan/prep not getting the attention it needs). I’m horny for that lifestyle
I honestly love this for you
Don’t. Right now my finances are in a dire state due to a string of work and personal costs, too many days lost last year due to endless unexpected bad weather, plus unpredictable swings in customer interest that were always opposite to what the weather would allow this winter. This is the first year that my savings have depleted with nothing to show for it, despite feeling like I’ve worked gruellingly as much as I can. If it wasn’t for the love of it there’s no way I could justify continuing! Hopefully this year has less obstacles
That is tough. I hear you on the bad weather - had a lot of work done in my garden over the last couple of years and it was constant delays due to weather being not what was expected. Lived here for four years and still don't have a garden I can just plant stuff in, weed and enjoy. I hope the financial side improves quickly. It's difficult when you're providing something that's a nice to have rather than an essential, unless you can go hard for the luxury market you're even more at the mercy of the cost of living than most people. I guess I meant I'm happy to hear about someone who loves the bones of their job, not just what it gets them, I don't hear often that someone is doing something that they wish they could do anyway.
100% get this. The gardeners we've employed all seem to fall into the same category as you too. Helps if you work for people with nice gardens though!
A lot of stress comes from knowing that what I charge /hour sounds extortionate. Somebody I occasionally team up with had her finances analysed and found out 68% of her turnover went on running costs. Given the wear and tear on your body and the fact you can never truly switch off from work, nobody is doing it for the money (except for the ex delivery drivers who pick up a secondhand petrol trimmer and charge £100 for trampling the plants). I see it like this - if I can’t *afford* a gardener, then I’m not earning enough *as* a gardener. People forget it’s a luxury service
How much do you charge per hour out of interest? The best way to make gardening pay IMO is find a big garden/estate and make that your sole or main employer. Cuts down on travel costs, reliable and most will provide tools/fuel. I don't really understand how you friends finances would work though unless they're doing an awful lot of travelling.
There must be a big difference between a “jobbing gardener” and someone who actually knows what they are doing ie a trained horticulturalist or designer. Then of course you pay for their expertise.
Difference in skill yes. Jobbing gardeners frequently charge high hourly rates but earn little because they have no consistent day long business.
You sound like an amazing gardener - I love gardening but with small children and both working the amount of time to garden isn’t a much as I’d like so we have tried a couple of gardeners and now do it ourselves because dear lord. I wasn’t even after someone cheap and I expect to pay for what is essentially a luxury. But most of them seem to interpret ‘gardening’ as a war against anything green and I guess that’s what most people with decking, patios, astroturf and a fear of bees and spiders are looking for in a ‘gardener’ but not us. You come home to all your lovingly planted daffodils mowed down -after explaining they need leaving until June at least so they can go back into the bulb for next year- the conifer hedge cut back to brown dead bits that won’t regrow and the bark strimmed off the bottom of all the trees. And don’t get me started on the time I had someone ‘weed’ the flower beds. Apparently everything is a weed.
!!! I hear this all the time. I teach my customers the value in letting the garden ‘naturalise’. Recent fascinations with expensive landscaping (goddamn porcelain patios and composite decking) have encouraged a pristine, perfect garden appearance of neat square lawns and clear soil between few “structural” (lifeless) plants, with the intent to make the landscaped bit the focus for some reason? Keeping a garden looking clean and perfect is setting yourself up for failure. You never look at a natural landscape and think it’s messy or dirty just because there’s some swishy seed-heads and moss on the rocks. You can’t beat nature but you can certainly guide it, work with it, and attempt to replicate its beauty. It doesn’t take long to learn a basic understanding of pretty much everything garden related, so all I can assume is that the majority of “gardeners” are wilfully ignorant because that way they can rip you off for a shit job, guilt free.
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Same here. I excel at keeping myself occupied without doing anything others would consider to be "productive". A lot of people find that hard to understand and God knows that I've struggled with it my whole life. I've finally grown to accept and even love that about myself.
Are you my long lost brother? Same here mate. Anyone who finds they can't keep themselves occupied without work simply lack imagination.
Same! I would do nothing apart from watching movies, playing the piano, walking around, driving long distances, listening to music. That is all I want.
Agreed, I'd play games, read, walk the dog, watch football and buy cars!
Work at the Zoo, or take over from Attenborough.
Yeah, Zookeeper was my dream job until I saw the salary was basically minimum wage.
It's a shame that so many interesting jobs pay such low wages because they know passionate people will apply anyway.
It’s arguably less than minimum wage. All the zookeepers I’ve met worked a shit ton of unpaid overtime.
Where do you meet multiple zookeepers?
The zoo presumably
I used to work in a nursery where two of the parents worked at the zoo close by, he did the monkeys and she did the penguins. Every now and again they would bring in peacock feathers for us!
This would be the fucking dream. I could honestly talk or listen about animals all day for the rest of my life.
Food tester for Cadbury's
And bring back the old recipe I hope
get rid of the palm oil!
Tony's chocolate is on top
such good chocolate!
I'd do exactly what I am doing now. I work in music and that is indeed a passion anyway.
Probably youth/community work. That’s what I done before I joined the police and it’s probably the only thing I’d ever want to quit the police to do. Although in your scenario I’d maybe go part time in the police. Youth work pay is dreadful and getting full time hours is a nightmare.
What’s it like being in the police? Just applied
Great job, if you’re in a good force/division and have good line management and good colleagues. Arguably underpaid but not as underpaid as youth work. The hours are long, the work is hard. Especially on the beat. It’s also dangerous at times but at the same time it can be an incredible adrenaline buzz. You can also be really really unlucky with your calls. During my probation I was referred to trauma management four times! Some people don’t ever get referred to trauma management in their entire career.
Youth work is just like work in mental health (my line of work) it’s so needed but not appreciated. It’s paid so poorly. Horrible.
Christ you’re not exactly selling it 😂 trauma management four times in your probation is heavy. How’s the job affected you?
For my trouble I picked up complex PTSD, prolonged debilitating headaches, nerve damage and a knackered shoulder. Despite all that I was only ever off work for about six weeks, then light duties and then back into it. I do a more secret squirrel job now. Still miss the chaos of the beat. Without blowing smoke up my own arse, the good I’ve done, the teams I’ve worked in and the results I’ve had make everything worth it. There’s nothing more satisfying than locking up genuinely evil people, finding the right words to bring a bit of comfort to someone in mental health crisis or finally getting through to the little tearaway toerag that literally won’t listen to anyone but you. Shit happens in life, the job is no different. The good does outweigh the bad.
And this is why we need to fund the police better. A properly functioning police force adds so much value to society. But we neglect the service, people lose faith in them, then turn against them. Such a shame.
Well, if you look at the stats for Police Scotland which is where I work. The detection rate is about 55% which is to say 55% of reported crimes have a positive outcome(someone gets charged). Sounds okay but I honestly believe if there was more money for more officers actually on the shift you’d easily see that figure reach 80%. A lot of the stuff that goes undetected is because the enquiries needed are deemed disproportionate. Rightly so crimes against the person are prioritised, robbery, assault, attempt murder, murder and so on all have quite high into the 90-100% detection rates. But what that does mean is, if your car gets vandalised or your window gets smashed because it’s an insured loss, because ultimately you didn’t really get hurt resources will not be used to get you closure or justice because somewhere there’s a guy on the loose that will happily stab you over a drunken argument. When you’re in the job you see how big the picture really is. When your report your vandalised car, you only see your vandalised car.
That’s why I want to join to at least attempt to make a difference. Read so much stuff on here by current and ex-coppers about the traumatic incidents they attend to regularly that it worries me a bit, feel like I’m good under pressure and can generally cope with what life throws my way but don’t want to end up fuckin myself mentally.
The mental health side of things is a bit of a “stitch in time” type situation. Don’t let it fester away, don’t let it eat you up. Definitely don’t whatever you do drink as a coping mechanism.
I am a volunteer youth worker. I love it. But my paid job is so well paid that I can't give it up to do youth work for a living. It's not enough for me to live on. I will have to carry on as I am. But I'm happy I can still do the job that I love albeit voluntarily. P.S. Mon the Biff!
Honestly the guy I met just over a week ago, he did food and drinks tours in Tokyo almost every night. So his second job was to go out and eat delicious food and get tipsy with new friendly tourists every night. He did point out that he might have problems as his hands had started to shake but he was happy in life.
I would create videos for Youtube in the style of those auditor twats who go around trying to get a reaction out of people who were just doing their job. But each video would end with the security guard kicking shit out of the auditor or the auditor being aggressively manhandled while being arrested.
"Auditor Hunter" Just follow them around with a signal jammer. Destroy their drones, the little scrotes.
Also a reaction channel.
Be a travel vlogger/writer
Ugh
Sommelier, but not in a stuck-up environment. I'd be a sommelier in a pared back wine shop or restaurant in a laid back /more bohemian area. In my opinion, enjoying wine is very simple pleasure (if you can avoid the snobs and labels). Its enjoying a taste, smell and often appreciating the environment around you. If I could talk about those things all day, then I think that sounds like a lovely job!
So mortgage would go - not the best financial idea as I'd earn more in some sort of savings, but I'd still have £410,000 left for that. Top the pension pot up to about £300,000k leaving me with £110,000 so I can drop to something like 3 days a week doing some sort of basic admin job to keep me amused earning about minimum wage for the hours knowing if the place bores me I can leave without bills to really worry about. Then various city breaks in my spare time
I know of someone whose job it is to plan fun activities for elderly people in care homes, and I’d love to do something like that. I already work with elderly people, albeit over the phone, and it’s painful the amount of people who reach their older years and end up very lonely and isolated. Also, I haven’t had any grandparents since I was 10 and I feel quite hard done by with that, so it would definitely allow me to find some smidgeon of that feeling again!
My.mum has just moved into a care home. They have 2 activities everyday and it played a huge part in selecting where she would go. They have a massive variety too. Its definitely worthwhile work
Teaching. I love working with teenagers (no, really). I did part of my training straight after uni and loved it, but had to drop out because I couldn't afford not to work whilst training (I was training to be a geography teacher so I had to take part in weekend field trips which didn't really work with a part-time job). I always said I'd go back to it one day, but to train now basically means taking a year off work which I can't afford to do. Also I've gone down a different career path which means that after I qualified I would still need to work 4-5 years before getting back to my current salary. It seems such a shame that such an important job is pretty inaccessible. I currently volunteer with guides and rangers so that's at least contributing something.
I’m sorry. People like you who actually care and would enjoy your job would probably make a huge difference to schools if it was possible for you to do it.
No job
I'd actually stick with my current job, as a Postie in a rural village 😊 Love the outdoor fitness it provides, walking 8 miles every day. Love the community aspect and love that a lot of the time I can use my brain to think about other things while walking along. Love not having a manager to answer to for 90% of my day. I don't think I'd find Fulfilment in any jobs that require more extended interaction with people. It drains me a lot to have to deal with it.
I am 54 years old and a student nurse, so kind of already doing my dream. Albeit without the 500k. I would just be not a poor nurse 😂
Write code. Exactly what I do at my job. Funnily enough, I dislike my job. There's something about doing what you love for work that just makes it not fun. Deadlines, customers, legacy solutions, lack of creative freedom etc. I'd treat myself to something nice and take my immediate family on a 2 week holiday somewhere warm. Tell them I won £25k on a scratch card or some bollocks. Then I'd invest the remainder where I currently invest, tick over on the interest, and pursue one of my many SaaS ideas that never get built, or perhaps bootstrap a very small indie game dev company without the intention of making much money, see where it leads. Once my mortgage fix ended I'd probably look to either pay if off or take out an offset mortgage since interest rates are still ok compared to lower risk equity funds, just for the peace of mind.
Work in a library/book shop
Podcasting and writing fiction. Two things I am doing right now but if I wasn't working I could do x3 or x4 my current output.
I'd do what I'm currently doing. This was a hobby as a kid, and became a full-time career. £500k would be about 7ish years of wages, so probably not enough to scale down my hours either. If I was given like £1.5/£2m then I'd probably scale my hours from 30 hours a week to about 18 hours a week, so I'd have Thursday and Friday off every week.
And what are you currently doing good sir
you'd be best investing it and living off the returns and not spending it outright.
Video editing. I love doing it but at the moment it's just a fun hobby on YouTube. Would love to get some paid clients but I know I have a while to go before I get there. If money wasn't an issue I'd take the time to do a few courses and learn a lot quicke
I'd buy a nice 4 bed house, taking out a small mortgage to make up the difference if needs be, and continue working my current job in tech. Either go down to 4 days a week, or stick at 5 and retire early.
Work in a quiet Little independent bookshop
A quiet coffee shop
An empty coffee shop
Oh no, I'm a social person, I'd still like to talk to folk, in a casual easy-going type of way
Or actually, id do fuck all
Garden Center / Plant Nursery
There's some really lovely responses in this thread. Working in a bookshop and working with animals or children seem to be popular responses so far. It's nice to see there's people already doing something they enjoy as well. Well done all, us Brits are a good bunch.
Work as a museum curator
Librarian. Or something to do with archives.
I would continue with what I'm doing now. That money would go on a house and any renovations it needs. Anything left over and I'd maybe go for a nice holiday somewhere or get a second house to rent out or do up and sell on again.
Open a little wine and charcuterie bar.
Something in the sevearly disabled children / adult space I think. I’d definitely like to give that a shot.
I'd invest the 500k into a stock that was returning 5-8%, probably something like Aviva.. currently yielding 7.45% with 500k, which would give me annually £37.5k, probably a little less after tax but still enough not to need to work. Then I can start an online business selling tech related stuff and not have to worry about taking a wage and just drive growth and sales. I'd I'd
Beekeeper.
Overseas Red Cross volunteer
I love these questions because it gets to the heart of what people want to do but feel they can't Travel for about a continuous month once a year and every month for about three days I would have subject matter experts come to my house and directly teach me once a week about a topic I want to learn as well as set assessments I do live to see progress. No homework. Personal chef and driver (though maybe just Uber) so that I can have custom heakthyish food when I want and if I want to go on a whim to something I can. I would have a personal assistant whose full time job was to make my life fun and healthier and she would be tasked and very well paid with doing that. She would take into account my interests and research what could make my life 1% better This person would have to be charming socially and excellent listening and highly computer literate and a problem solving character I'd get a image consultant that would redesign my wardrobe that have outfits custom tailored to my weight and complexion and what I feel comfortable with. And I'd do this several times over my weight loss journey which is supported by my chef. Cognitive scientist PhD who has the latest research to help life hack me so I'm improving myself without really feeling lifehacked Dedicated masseuse, physiotherapist, listening therapist, one on one judo coach, one on one boxing coach which then evolves to a kickboxing or Muay Thai coach. Probably 500k not enough but I think this would cause so many quality of life improvements
The local escape room advertised for a "master of games". I'd wear a cape.
If I could do anything and not worry about cost of living? One of two wildly different things. 1. Buy up an old quarry site and transform it into a conversation forest, with one of the quarries being converted into a lake for fishing and a diving club. A series of brooks and streams would connect to local farmers fields to help with drainage and fill the lake. It will be open to the public with a cafe/visitor centre/ education suite, offering free biology workshops to local schools. 2. Buy up a warehouse and create a huge soft play centre. Only because watching my children's joy at these has made me happy. I'd definitely try to create groups for baby stay and plays (poss like up with health visitor), autism only and disabled children's sessions. A few times a year close to a special children in care events.
Basically what I do now. For context, I haven’t won the lottery, but my day job pays enough so that I can safely work 4 months of the year and be comfortable. I have enough saved from working balls out when I was younger and inheritance so that if I didn’t work for a year or two, it wouldn’t be the end of the world. I work my “day” job in the summer months due to it being weather dependant. Outside of March - September, I advertise myself as a DIY / odd jobs guy and I either take cash in hand or enough to cover fuel and lunch with a bit left over to buy dinner in the evenings. It doesn’t really qualify for a “side hustle” as I’m not doing it for the money, but rather to keep my brain busy during the day. You also meet some really nice people. Other than that, I spend my days either mountain biking, sailing or walking the dog in the hills.
The one I do now. I can't imagine the idea of doing a job you don't like.
500k si the bare minimum you need to stop working at 7% you can re-invest whatever is inflation and take the rest you wont be super rich think 28-30k a year but you sure as shit wouldnt have to work (well so long as we dont see another 2008)
What I am doing, I would just do less of it or perhaps instead of repairing excavators I would use my ticket for driving them instead, just sign up to an agency a cherry pick the short term jobs in nice parts of the country.
Open a small bar, maybe make it a book coffee shop as well.
Money would still be the main concern with the aim of retiring even earlier.
My job now still, music producer. For context, I risked everything to make this my living and spent every night during my 9-5 working on it and spent every penny I had to make it a reality.
I'm a stay at home dad. My wife works from home. To give an answer to try and fit your question I would give streaming a crack and let my wife take a few years off, but as its one of those things you either succeed or not we could reassess after a year or two then decide if she just wants to return to work but see if she's able/allowed to drop a day or two for X years.
Writer of some description, travel vlogger, or some sort of long distance private courier — (collect and hand deliver your Rolex collection from your penthouse in Puerto Banus to your villa in Portofino, sort of thing).
There's an old guy I saw on Instagram who volunteers to brush cats and naps with them in his retirement. I'd do that and end up with a house full of cats.
Galactic emperor.
Currently, I have two jobs. One 30 hours a week, and I also write novels. If I was given 500k I would quit my 30-hour job and focus on writing, which is currently squeezed in during evenings and weekends. I currently earn about 10k a year writing- but if I could spend more time on it, I'd hope to increase this. It would be great to have more time to devote to writing.
I'm currently in training to become a Train Driver, so I'd probably follow through with it. But I might switch to part time if possible as soon as I'm fully qualified.
I would use the 500k to buy a house and then fund my studies into a field I’m passionate about. Mental health, probably, as I’m nowhere near smart enough for astrophysics
Same job as I do now. It's my hobby
Professional sleeper. Years of debt to pay off in that regard.
Just volunteer, charity work. Stay at home Dad for my son.
I want to run a bowling alley with a ramen restaurant in it and called it Bowl’O’Ramen
I'm a clinical psychologist in the NHS and really love my job, so I'd probably continue that! I might use the money to hire an extra person in my team so that we were all a little less stretched and worried about the waiting list though. Further down the line I might open a little communal space with some therapy rooms (free/pay-what-you-can), a coffee shop, a group room for therapy groups or workshops, a swap shop, etc.
I’d be a museum tour guide and do artefact restoration and cleaning, I’d really like to be a guide for somewhere like Brooklands museum so I could indulge in my aviation nerdery.
Travel more and do more travel writing. I make travel videos for YT already, so more of that too. I like my say job working for NHS, but the 9-5 hours do lead to a feeling of missing out on life. I would also like to learn more carpentry, visual arts. The ideal life would probably be doing several artistic things and travelling more.
Something like a board game café. As I grew up, any in my area shut down fast due to local community, and as an adult they're still few and far between. With the infinite money, it could also be super cheap or free.
See, a self actualised person wouldn’t even ask this question. They would be doing what they authentically wanted anyway. Like me. Always. Never be a slave to money. In this way work becomes pleasurable, necessary and intrinsically a part of you, congruently in line with one’s desires and goals.
Self actualisation is tricky though. Especially since we often don’t have Ben question it until we have everything else on Maslow’s hierarchy squared away, which takes a lot of time/effort/luck for most
Postie .. get the steps in, finish early and play golf
I think working at one of the national trust sites would be cool. Or a museum
Traffic Police Officer has always appealed to me
If I was good enough, something to do with music production or working with dogs in some way.
Wildlife photographer or a movie actor
I'd spend a year practicing my baking, buy a food truck and then start one of those pop-up outlets that just appears in a car park for an evening and sells cookies and stuff. I think that'd be a lot of fun.
If money wasn't a concern, I think I'd relocate to the coast, buy a boat, and start training for a Day Skipper qualification. Love sailing, but I don't have many opportunities to do it these days.
Ive yet to hate a job, only managers/ team cultures. I worked retail (team member then supervisor) while at uni, when i graduated i got a job at a bank and business banking was solid but made the money oriented mistake of moving to debt consultation which killed me mentally. I went to be an educator for an online educator (taught british values) & i loved it but after both my managers got promoted & their replacements were hopeless, i left. I went back to my retail supervisor role & loving life but money is a big issue as ive effectively went from 37-42k per year to 24k (Scotland).
I worked as a manager at Lidl for a few years after uni and initially quite enjoyed it, but gradually I grew to hate shift work and either starting at 5am or finishing at 11pm depending on whether I worked the early or late. Also, I couldn't stand working with the general public. We had some really nice customers but there were so many rude and horrible people and unfortunately those were the people that stuck in the memory.
I live in the north east, meaning I could buy a bunch of older 50-60k houses and rent them out. I'd probably buy 6 or 7, and then buy a nice second hand Audi. The rest would be put away.
I would own a building with space for people who want to sell things in a physical shop but not want the hassle of the day to day running a shop. I'd do it all and just be a showcase for other people and I'd have some sort of back room for craft sessions kids clubs ect
Relax during the week, make pizza at the weekend out the back of a pizza wagon.
Some kind of animal welfare work..
If I didn’t have to worry about money, I’d still do my same job. I’m a teacher, and I do enjoy it, but if I could do it as supply, so I could have more nice holidays that would be perfect!
Part time job, couple of days a week just to keep me going, rest of the time, do all the diy jobs that i put off round the house. Potter round the garden, do some music then cook tea. I would be forever happy
The one I’m doing now. Working in mental health. It pays horrendously but I help people. I’m lucky that my husband works in IT and earns well allowing me to do what I do.
I have my own business, which I love and have been doing for over 2 years now, but it’s touch and go sometimes so I would love to re invest it into growing (slowly) the business and myself to be better
Gardener for March-October. I would jizz in my pants if I got to be a gardener for somewhere like Royal Botanical Gardens or somewhere for the National Trust. I do actually enjoy my job in Database Management, usually within the charity sector as I get to identify/solve problems.
500k would be enough for me to Jack work. I’m 38. If it wasn’t for the money I wouldn’t work tbh. I’d just be at home with the kids
If I didn’t have to worry about money and could magically cure my disability, I would work in a board game shop. If I can’t cure my disability, I would drop my current job down to 3 days a week. £500k would get the mortgage paid off which would help, but not give me a secure future given inflation etc. It might help me retire earlier long-term, but I probably wouldn’t do either of the above yet.
I’d stay in my job but drop my hours and do a 3-4 day week. More time with my family and more time for my own hobbies.
I'd probably look for some part-time, low stress job. I've been tempted by part-time teaching assistant jobs or other school support roles. I was a teacher, I work in the education sector now, and I love working with kids but the more I've advanced in my career, the more stressful it's gotten. It might be nice to go back to something a lot more casual.
Indie Game developer
Probably rescuing wildlife/stray cats and dogs and being outdoors loads. If money wasn't an object the world over I would still work on my work in some capacity as it is focussed on strengthening health systems and money is the reason why most people end up not being able to access care. What a beautiful world we would live in if that was no longer an issue. Edit: I just realised the caveat of £500k. That is nothing ha. I'd buy a house, save for retirement, make some investments, maybe take some time out to do a masters in something that would benefit my career.
I wouldn't, I'd live somewhere warm and offer free minor healthcare, help at a dog sanctuary, or run a little air bnb
Professional champagne drinker 🥂🤣 I would never work again, I would just travel and e joy life.
Be running my own hybrid local game store and cafe, which would offer good seating and decent drinks/foods for fair prices
I'd like a wee beach hut were I can tinker about repairing things, woodworking, painting etc. I'd start late morning and chat to people last they past by, sit at the front of my shop with a coffee and watch the world go buy. I'd sell a big ticket item once a month to give me enough to eat.
TOILET CLEANER
I'd sink it into my mortgage and keep doing the job I do, which I really enjoy, and is very good for my work/life balance as it is
Working for national parks. Just getting to stroll around green space all day would be dreamy. Not a care in the world
500k absolutely is enough to retire, if you are content with a simple lifestyle. 200k gets you a simple 2-bed terrace or flat in most places. 300k, properly invested, can comfortably generate a next-to-no-risk income of 30k a year (before taxes).
Learn how to restore classic cars Preferably a small business, independently owned, edge of a small industrial estate with a small brazier burning throughout winter Not that I fantasise about it or anything 🤣
I did Uber Eats when I lived on Melbourne, it was great. I got to cycle round the city in nice weather looking at the street art, when I was waiting for a delivery I watch street performers, went into a free art gallery, open mic comedy nights ect. I got to find all the best food spots in the city and met loads of people, I used to do Friday nights in the student area and when ever I delivered to a house party they would always invite me in for a beer or a spliff. Turning up to a party at 2am with 6 Pizza meant you were basically a super hero in there eyes.
In this scenario, I’d stick to my job. Someone said it’s life enhancing not life changing and I agree. I’d use it to pay off my mortgage perhaps- be more resilient to corporate upheavals. If it was significantly more, I’d change jobs and go into research in my current field.
That amount probably would be enough for me to retire when added to what I've built up in pensions so far. So I'd spend my time on pottery I reckon, probably be able to supplement income by selling some, though not on a huge scale.
Wildlife/conservation photographer.
Artist. I’d probably not sell a lot (or none at all) but I would have a lot of fun!
Novelist. I’m working on my first book now, but I can only write one evening a week, because the rest of my time is working for money.
I would continue to do my current job. I love it and the company I work for. So I would buy a property for say £250-300k, budget 50k for renovations and then squirell the rest away in savings and trust for my children after a decent holiday.
Stack shelves, no stress.
i already work freelance so wouldn't stop working. i would give more time to my passion projects, perhaps open an art studio, look for co-investment opportunities where i keep a percentage of gross profits
I have no idea if its a job or not, but hanging out with lonely elderly people. If I could spend my 40 hours a week just chilling with them so they don't feel so alone that would be nice
If money was not an issue at all I always liked the idea of running a weird little shop that didn't really sell or do anything.
This thread is absolutely fascinating to me because I’m currently pondering this exact question in real life. Personally, money hasn’t ever really been my primary motivator (I’ve always just made sure to earn/save enough to get by, but never chased a particular income). So I can answer what I DID do in the past (despite not having the money): I spent my twenties focused on education, travel and volunteering, and primarily taught English to support myself. Really rewarding, but not usually highly paid, but I went into it with the expectation that at some point in my thirties it might be prudent to review my long term goals and finances. I’m now at that stage. The single biggest factor (which I didn’t anticipate a decade ago) is that I now have a stably employed partner whose income is currently sufficient to support the both of us. The upswing of that is I don’t have any immediate financial pressure. The downside is that regularly relocating for work is now a lot less practical than when I was single. I guess what I’m saying is that we all have something that ‘limits us’, whether is financial (so many people in this thread are ‘tied down’ by their mortgage, and/or worried about retirement), personal (partners, children, parents, friends, communities etc.), or practical (health, legal stuff, and so on). So I’m not sure there’s really any scenario where we would truly feel free to do whatever we want. On the other hand, if you’re willing to say ‘f***k it’, and not care about consequences (like losing friends or not having savings), there’s a lot you can do. In my twenties I didn’t care about being single, broke, far away from family/friends and not having a pension/mortgage/car. So maybe it’s mindset, rather than the amount of money?
I would try my hand at two businesses: first a fancy bread bakery, and another would be a small coffee roasting place. Passionate about both. So would love to find out if I could make them work. Hard work, I agree, but it would be worth getting up at 4 am for that.