Anonymous
Post 05/12/2026 10:49     Subject: People with $5M+ NW, why do you still choose to work?
Our number is $8M in liquid assets.
Anonymous
Post 05/12/2026 10:47     Subject: People with $5M+ NW, why do you still choose to work?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:We're at roughly 4m + pension. I now work part time because I appreciate keeping my brain engaged and being a productive member of society. I stayed at home when the kids were younger and it was fine for the first couple years but then the novelty wore off and I got bored so I went back. A little extra spending money never hurt either.


OP here. For those with part-time jobs, what do you do? I want to downsize to a part-time job, but I don't think my current job could be made part-time. Most part-time jobs out there outside of the healthcare field or working for yourself pay very little per hour, which makes it hard to justify switching to one when I have elementary school-aged kids whose schedules I would need to work around. My spouse is also very much like some of the people earlier in the thread who expect both partners to work and believe the more assets, the better.


I switched careers entirely to do it and now work in nonprofits. I don't make very much money at all but it is interesting and engaging work. I still don't know if it's worth the hours I lose that I could be doing things that need to be done around the house when we have young children still.


Debating this too after leaving my $300K job but I can’t justify paying a nanny more $ than I’d be making in the nonprofit sector so SAHP it is for now. Would love to do it once kids are school age and that isn’t a factor.
Anonymous
Post 05/12/2026 10:44     Subject: People with $5M+ NW, why do you still choose to work?
Anonymous wrote:“You can’t do anything with 5, Greg. Five is a nightmare.”



hahahahaha!!!
Anonymous
Post 05/12/2026 10:42     Subject: People with $5M+ NW, why do you still choose to work?
5 million at age 60 is not the same as 5 million at age 40.

I am pretty frugal and would be content with a minimal retirement lifestyle. I dont care about generational wealth. I will probably retire around age 50 with around 5 million and be fine. Will have one kid in college at that stage.

But, most people I know want more wealth. 5 million isnt enough for a new car, fancy vacations, shopping sprees and they dont know what to do with their time if it doesn't involve spending money.

Its a different mind set.
Anonymous
Post 05/12/2026 10:40     Subject: People with $5M+ NW, why do you still choose to work?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:DH still works, but I consider myself retired at this point. He has a very high salary, and it's hard to walk away from that when you have the opportunity to build wealth for the benefit of your children and grandchildren.


How do you "consider" yourself to be retired? Either you're retired or you're not. If you have a paying job or are caring for a minor child at home, you are not retired.


I have a high school senior and one in grad school. I am not going back to practicing law or any other kind of paid work. I can start collecting my DOJ pension in the fall. I'm retired.


When did you leave DOJ?


2016


Yea you didn’t retire you became a stay at home parent.
Anonymous
Post 05/12/2026 10:24     Subject: Re:People with $5M+ NW, why do you still choose to work?
I am semi retired. Work as a contractor - 2 to 3 days/wk - medical field. Husband also working full time for health benefits. Work is manageable, not so bad that we would retire yet. We keep working as we would like to leave as much money to help our kids / build generational wealth.
Anonymous
Post 05/12/2026 10:06     Subject: People with $5M+ NW, why do you still choose to work?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:We're at roughly 4m + pension. I now work part time because I appreciate keeping my brain engaged and being a productive member of society. I stayed at home when the kids were younger and it was fine for the first couple years but then the novelty wore off and I got bored so I went back. A little extra spending money never hurt either.


OP here. For those with part-time jobs, what do you do? I want to downsize to a part-time job, but I don't think my current job could be made part-time. Most part-time jobs out there outside of the healthcare field or working for yourself pay very little per hour, which makes it hard to justify switching to one when I have elementary school-aged kids whose schedules I would need to work around. My spouse is also very much like some of the people earlier in the thread who expect both partners to work and believe the more assets, the better.


OMG. You have elementary school kids at home? "Retirement" is not in the cards for you!


OP here. I never ever mentioned "retirement" anywhere in my posts.
Anonymous
Post 05/12/2026 10:04     Subject: People with $5M+ NW, why do you still choose to work?
Anonymous wrote:This and the other thread are cracking me up. Can we agree on this: 1. If you have kids at home and you're not working you are not retired, you're a stay at home parent. 2. If you have kids at home and you are working, this question is not for you because, whether you're working or not if you have kids at home there's no such thing as "retirement" for you.

Somebody can start another thread asking "if you have more than $5 million and still have kids at home, why are you still working and not being a stay at home parent?" Then everyone can argue about that. But that is not this thread.



+100

I don’t want to become a full-time stay at home parent and I’m not sure what expensive treatment and support my mildly special needs child might need in the future.
Anonymous
Post 05/12/2026 09:51     Subject: People with $5M+ NW, why do you still choose to work?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:We're at roughly 4m + pension. I now work part time because I appreciate keeping my brain engaged and being a productive member of society. I stayed at home when the kids were younger and it was fine for the first couple years but then the novelty wore off and I got bored so I went back. A little extra spending money never hurt either.


OP here. For those with part-time jobs, what do you do? I want to downsize to a part-time job, but I don't think my current job could be made part-time. Most part-time jobs out there outside of the healthcare field or working for yourself pay very little per hour, which makes it hard to justify switching to one when I have elementary school-aged kids whose schedules I would need to work around. My spouse is also very much like some of the people earlier in the thread who expect both partners to work and believe the more assets, the better.


I switched careers entirely to do it and now work in nonprofits. I don't make very much money at all but it is interesting and engaging work. I still don't know if it's worth the hours I lose that I could be doing things that need to be done around the house when we have young children still.
Anonymous
Post 05/12/2026 09:44     Subject: People with $5M+ NW, why do you still choose to work?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:DH still works, but I consider myself retired at this point. He has a very high salary, and it's hard to walk away from that when you have the opportunity to build wealth for the benefit of your children and grandchildren.


How do you "consider" yourself to be retired? Either you're retired or you're not. If you have a paying job or are caring for a minor child at home, you are not retired.


I have a high school senior and one in grad school. I am not going back to practicing law or any other kind of paid work. I can start collecting my DOJ pension in the fall. I'm retired.


When did you leave DOJ?


2016
Anonymous
Post 05/12/2026 09:43     Subject: People with $5M+ NW, why do you still choose to work?
People want luxury, that’s it. You can retire on $5M just fine even with kids, but folks who earn enough to make 5 mil at a young age are accustomed to a certain standard of living that would be hard to guarantee on a mere 150k/yr or whatever.

You can easily blow 20-30k on a single international trip if you travel in style with a family. You can do that if you have 5 mil with an 800k HHI but not with 5 mil and $0 HHI.
Anonymous
Post 05/12/2026 09:40     Subject: People with $5M+ NW, why do you still choose to work?
We have reached this point and I seriously question it! I am working part time now. My husband just says “Five’s a nightmare” when I suggest dropping more.
Anonymous
Post 05/12/2026 09:23     Subject: People with $5M+ NW, why do you still choose to work?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:We're at roughly 4m + pension. I now work part time because I appreciate keeping my brain engaged and being a productive member of society. I stayed at home when the kids were younger and it was fine for the first couple years but then the novelty wore off and I got bored so I went back. A little extra spending money never hurt either.


OP here. For those with part-time jobs, what do you do? I want to downsize to a part-time job, but I don't think my current job could be made part-time. Most part-time jobs out there outside of the healthcare field or working for yourself pay very little per hour, which makes it hard to justify switching to one when I have elementary school-aged kids whose schedules I would need to work around. My spouse is also very much like some of the people earlier in the thread who expect both partners to work and believe the more assets, the better.


OMG. You have elementary school kids at home? "Retirement" is not in the cards for you!
Anonymous
Post 05/12/2026 09:20     Subject: People with $5M+ NW, why do you still choose to work?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:DH still works, but I consider myself retired at this point. He has a very high salary, and it's hard to walk away from that when you have the opportunity to build wealth for the benefit of your children and grandchildren.


How do you "consider" yourself to be retired? Either you're retired or you're not. If you have a paying job or are caring for a minor child at home, you are not retired.


I have a high school senior and one in grad school. I am not going back to practicing law or any other kind of paid work. I can start collecting my DOJ pension in the fall. I'm retired.


When did you leave DOJ?
Anonymous
Post 05/12/2026 09:19     Subject: Re:People with $5M+ NW, why do you still choose to work?
Anonymous wrote:We have $6.5M not including the house, and work for health care benefits. Paying out of pocket for 10-15 years for the two of us plus kids before reaching Medicare eligibility seems like such a waste of funds. Since one works for health care benefits, it is only fair that the other works, too.


Weird