Employment. Now there's a concept for you. We're hearing about it more and more now that election time is approaching. The declining job market, the outsourcing of companies, the lack of funds to support our countries employment. Those are typically what are discussed when the topic comes up. Ever wonder if these jobs are worth it? Whether they are absolutely necessary? We all have different reasons to hold down a job. Some have families they need to support, others are simply saving for something. Have you ever taken a second to put exactly what you are sacrificing in perspective?
The average national household income is a constantly changing figure, therefore I am going to use a rough number for this example. Let's assume the average national household income is $45,000 a year after taxes are deducted (Unfortunately this is an optimistic number to a lot of people). This breaks down to $3,750 a month, $1,875 every two weeks, and given a typical 40 hour work week, roughly $23.50 an hour. Let's remember that number.... $23.50
The average life expectancy for a US citizen is roughly 79 years. (Another figure that is constantly changing) In today's society, you spend the first 21 years of your life preparing yourself for your job. This includes all schooling up to college and then 4 years at a university. I'm not even going to factor in how much time this is. Let's assume you have a job from the time you are 21 years old until you are 65. Assuming a strict 40 hour work week, (Absolutely no overtime or having tasks outside of the workday) you can expect to work roughly 91,520 hours in your life. Now let's recall the national average. Remember? $23.50 an hour. That means starting out, you'll probably make less, and towards the end, you'll be making more. Let's assume this average holds true. IF you were to somehow save every single penny you had made over the course of 44 years, you would have a grand total of $2,150,720. Not as much as you thought, huh?
What are you doing with this money? Are you using it strictly for what you NEED? If you are reading this blog then I would assume not. Trust me, I'm not judging, I do the same thing. I've only just started to realize what a waste a lot of this is. Fortunately, now that we've discovered this, we can change the way we live if we would like. Stop spending money on stupid things. My previous post which can be viewed HERE talked about want vs. need. It is interesting how those can be confused.
I will say this, I can imagine once you start getting older, you start to realize that time is an extremely valuable commodity. Time is not something that can be bought. Unfortunately, we can SELL time and we do it every day. Every time you work a job that you are unhappy with, you are essentially selling part of your life. Once you are older, you are left with an excess amount of money and possessions. All of those things, that were bought with money that you earned, are actually time that you sold. It's odd to think about, but I can imagine when you are close to death that you would be more than happy to pay $23.50 for an extra hour... So why is it that we are so quick to sell that hour earlier in life for that same $23.50?
Have thoughts on the subject? Join the discussion!
I actually just read a book (The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom which i HIGHHHHLY recommend) and the book is all about how little people appreciate their time; how they always want more or less of it; for it to go faster or slower, etc. And I think perhaps not in a financial respect, but that reminds me so much of your post. I don't think it's even just money, though. We spend so much time worrying about how we look to impress people we don't like: spending money on clothes, spending time at the gym, eating foods we don't like. We waste so much time fighting with the people we care about over things that are petty at best. And I think at the end of your life, you would give back most of that just to have more time to spend on the things that really matter. I think you would go back and always look horrible, and never fight over the small things; in order to spend those moments on the memories that matter. But, as I've always said, time is something people only appreciate in hindsight.
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