Is it hard to find a sense of purposeif you don't need to work?
One of the most common things people do when they win the lottery jackpot is to quit their job. Although instant retirement and not having to work for a living any more is quite exciting and such a relief. But should your really quit your job? Should you keep working or find another job? Quite the decision to make when those tens of millions of dollars get deposited into your bank account.
Will you stay or will you go?
Surveys of many Americans has shown that on average half to eighty percent of people who, if they won the lottery, would keep working, and part of that is based on the type of job they have. So if they had a job that was both psychologically and financially rewarding, would tend to keep working. Those who worked in low-paying, semi-skilled or unskilled jobs, were more likely to quit.
Others may keep working after a lottery win because their jobs give them a sense of purpose and accomplishment. For some it may be that they are still learning the job and they feel they are making an impact for the company. And another group would keep working simply for the socializing working provides. They’d miss their coworkers if they weren’t working. And then there are some who said that they would be bored if they weren’t going to work every day. Also, some with good health benefits would still continue to work simply to take advantage of health, dental, and eye benefits.
Does age make a difference?
One other reason, especially for older lottery winners, is to continue to work out of old-world duty, obligation, tradition, or expectation. Many older people, especially European immigrants, are brought up to understand that they get a job, stay with that job, and even if they no longer need the job, continue to work as a sign of respect and work ethic of old-world upbringing.
Younger players tend to want to quit their jobs after a big lottery win, not to retire and have a comfortable life for the next sixty to eighty years, but to start up a business or money-making endeavour of their own. They see it as an opportunity to stop making money for someone else and start making money for themselves. They get to be the boss and get to decide what goes on in their own company.
On the other hand, there are some older workers who have worked in stressful or strenuous jobs who quit so that they don’t have to keep damaging their minds and bodies anymore. Some are just fed up with working in general, dealing with superiors, or having to put up with obnoxious co-workers. Some do want to live out their years in comfort, and some want to be able to spend their time with their families rather than at work. Others just hate working at all.
Younger smart lottery winners quit to able to live a long and comfortable life supported by their lottery winnings. However, these winners who quit their jobs actually invest a lot of their lottery money to make more money on top of it. This lets them not touch most of the lottery prize money, and accumulate dividends that they use as their income. A “don’t touch the principal and live off the interest” type of mindset.
So if you win the lottery, whether you quit your job or keep working is going be based on age, lifestyle, family, love or hate of the job, or being your own boss or doing only want to do each day, not what you have to do each day. Think hard about what you would do, how bored or busy you would be, or if co-workers are or are not important to have in your social life. Make a pro and con list and fill it up as complete as you can. Use both the list, common sense, and family input to decide if you will keep your job, or quit it entirely.