Do you want to work?

[RJ]

Having gone down the road of monetising my areas of interest (buses, rail fares) to earn a living, I don't mind working so much.

It's not only the "take home" difference, there's other real costs such as commuting, child care, etc. There are also associated costs such as needing a cleaner, gardener or handyman if working full time means you don't have time to do those things yourself, whereas working part time may mean you didn't need to pay for external help for those "household" tasks. Also unquantifiable things like more time to pursue hobbies, being more flexible with dates to get cheaper holidays etc. If you've a marginal tax/nic rate of 60-70% meaning you only get to "take home" 30-40% of your wages for working every Friday, it may well incentivise you simply not to bother, accept the 30/40% wage cut, which may be halved by saving on costs, so a 10/20% cost of a day off may well be worth it for someone to have more time to enjoy.

I have a different view to this. Whilst home is kept clean and tidy from day to day, I employ a cleaner to do the more time consuming tasks. This is because I can very easily procure work I highly enjoy. Due to the opportunity cost, it is actually cheaper to pay a cleaner £12 an hour than spend a block of hours doing it myself.

With respect to higher tax rate, I don't really agree with those who say overtime that will be taxed at 40% is not worth doing. It's money in the bank at the end of the day and accruing credit card rewards/air miles on income tax payments makes it less of a blow. I'd probably have a very different view if it was work I felt I had to do without any element of enjoyment. I also have a lot of spare time on my hands and again would probably feel differently if I had more commitments outside of work.

 

[Ken H]

The only way deliberately keeping your salary below a higher tax threshold can be financially logical is if going over the tax threshold somehow reduces or doesn't increase your take home pay. As I understand it, it is only the proportion of the salary over the threshold that is taxed at the higher rate, so unless 100% of the salary above the threshold went to the tax man in some way, you will always take more pay home with a higher income, regardless of whether you cross a tax threshold. Whether the marginal increase in take home pay adequately compensates for the disadvantages of working for a higher income is another matter.

Its not just money. having a day off a week allows me to walk the pennine hills and ride trains and other stuff I like doing. And also having another day when I dont have to get up at silly o'clock.

 

[Ken H]

Having gone down the road of monetising my areas of interest (buses, rail fares) to earn a living, I don't mind working so much.



I have a different view to this. Whilst home is kept clean and tidy from day to day, I employ a cleaner to do the more time consuming tasks. This is because I can very easily procure work I highly enjoy. Due to the opportunity cost, it is actually cheaper to pay a cleaner £12 an hour than spend a block of hours doing it myself.

With respect to higher tax rate, I don't really agree with those who say overtime that will be taxed at 40% is not worth doing. It's money in the bank at the end of the day and accruing credit card rewards/air miles on income tax payments makes it less of a blow. I'd probably have a very different view if it was work I felt I had to do without any element of enjoyment. I also have a lot of spare time on my hands and again would probably feel differently if I had more commitments outside of work.

I have been doing the same job since 1989 and bored with it now. I hope to retire some time soon. But I need something worthwhile to do - I could not be like my Dad who mostly just sat in a chair for 25 years. I am early 60's BTW.

 

[43021HST]

Depends what you mean by work?

As a whole if you mean occupy the majority of your time doing something meaningful, rather than sitting idly watching television, then yes even if the short term is rather arduous but in the long term has a worthwhile end.

I think this is one of those rabbit holey type questions, where you could get deep in discussion, on labour, free-will, power relations etc. But that probably won't happen here, we'll probably get mired in tedious discussion about taxing freelancers.


In brief, humans both want to work and don't want to, it's one of those contradictions of the human spirit in the same way, humans both seeking eternal happiness but never really achieving it.

 

[greyman42]

As a whole if you mean occupy the majority of your time doing something meaningful, rather than sitting idly watching television, then yes even if the short term is rather arduous but in the long term has a worthwhile end.

Why would anyone work if they did not have to. No work means free time for socialising, hobbies and other interests. There are other things to do rather than 'sitting idly watching television'.

 

[RJ]

Why would anyone work if they did not have to. No work means free time for socialising, hobbies and other interests. There are other things to do rather than 'sitting idly watching television'.

That would largely depend on the type of friends you have. If most of your friends work full time then socialising will still be limited - and if people know you have a lot of free time, you will be expected to give them your time without charge to help out anyway.

If I didn't have to work, I'd be expanding business in my area of interest!

 

[Gooner18]

Out of interest what wage brackets does tax increase , I seem to remember above 46k tax goes up to 40% after that I ain’t sure. To me it makes sense to stick to under that for example earn 43-44k you would prob take home more or around the same as someone earning 55k

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Out of interest what wage brackets does tax increase , I seem to remember above 46k tax goes up to 40% after that I ain’t sure. To me it makes sense to stick to under that for example earn 43-44k you would prob take home more or around the same as someone earning 55k

No, because when you go into a higher tax bracket, only that part of the income which is above the threshold is taxed at the higher rate, not the whole income.

 

[Gooner18]

No, because when you go into a higher tax bracket, only that part of the income which is above the threshold is taxed at the higher rate, not the whole income.

Ahh ok , I would not know as I have never got anywhere near that figures to pay 40% tax lol

 

[theblackwatch]

Why not? Have you done the sums? Have you enquired about part time? I started doing a 9 day fortnight for 18 months before going to 4 day weeks. Even taking 5 days unpaid leave a year can make a difference to your work-life balance.

I'm in a similar position, as in "not at the moment". But I reckon that, unless there is a major change in circumstances, I'll be in a position to do so in 2-3 years. One thing that I have had to consider is that I'll be building up less in my pension. On the plus side though, working 20% less doesn't mean a drop in take home pay as there's less tax to pay - depending on salary, I think for most people it will be 16-18%.

Like Bletchleyite, it would give a better work-life balance. I'd have absolutely no trouble filling it - in fact I've worked out that if I was in a position to pack in work altogether, I'd still have something to do every day of the week. One day would be doing my family history, another would be scanning my photos, etc...

I do feel sorry for some people like the lady at work some years back who said that if she won the lottery, she would still come to work for something to do. I suspect these are the sort of people who struggle to cope with retirement, as they have no (or few) interests of their own.

 

[underbank]

I'll still "work" when I retire, but it will be voluntary work relating to my interests. Before I got married and had children, I was a special constable, alongside being an Institute of Advanced Motorists local group committee member and observer, alongside being on the committees of a few local groups/clubs/societies helping organise events, etc. Due to working away, marriage and kids, I had to drop all of those. But I'll be retiring when my youngest goes to Uni, and then I'll be getting back into that kind of thing. We have an old theatre nearby that is being renovated by a group of volunteers, so that's my first port of call and I'll probably rejoin the local advanced motorist group and also seek out a local model railway club, local photographic society and probably also find a nearby preserved railway to volunteer at. I actually enjoy "working" and using my skills for good causes.

 

[Ken H]

I'm in a similar position, as in "not at the moment". But I reckon that, unless there is a major change in circumstances, I'll be in a position to do so in 2-3 years. One thing that I have had to consider is that I'll be building up less in my pension. On the plus side though, working 20% less doesn't mean a drop in take home pay as there's less tax to pay - depending on salary, I think for most people it will be 16-18%.

Like Bletchleyite, it would give a better work-life balance. I'd have absolutely no trouble filling it - in fact I've worked out that if I was in a position to pack in work altogether, I'd still have something to do every day of the week. One day would be doing my family history, another would be scanning my photos, etc...

I do feel sorry for some people like the lady at work some years back who said that if she won the lottery, she would still come to work for something to do. I suspect these are the sort of people who struggle to cope with retirement, as they have no (or few) interests of their own.

There are people for whom work is all they have. when they retire they have nothing, and sadly, many die fairly quickly.

 

[UP13]

I too used to do plenty of voluntary stuff in my early twenties. Unfortunately, a teaching career and having children has put an end to all that.

I'll volunteer at a railway when my youngest is grown up and I can physically no longer play rugby anymore.

Regarding Ken H's comment about people who have little to do after retirement, it reminds me of my late grandfather's phrase 'waiting for God'. Something he vowed he'd never want to happen to him.

 

[43021HST]

I do feel sorry for some people like the lady at work some years back who said that if she won the lottery, she would still come to work for something to do. I suspect these are the sort of people who struggle to cope with retirement, as they have no (or few) interests of their own.

it reminds me of my late grandfather's phrase 'waiting for God'. Something he vowed he'd never want to happen to him.

I don't how true this is but aren't those sorts of people more susceptible to dementia?
When I volunteered for Mid Hants, many of the old gents said they did it "to keep the dementia at bay".

 

[UP13]

There was a report a few years ago stating keeping mentally active through work or volunteering helped.

If you want to maintain your muscles, you need to exercise them. I suppose the same is true for the brain.

 

[PeterY]

I love being 60 and working part-time. I do voluntary work as well but hours to suit me. Plenty of time to be out especially on my bike.