Would You Go Back to Work if You Won the Lottery?

Consider this story of a lottery winner who missed his low-paying job:

Luke Pittard, 25, won $2.8 million on the National Lottery 18 months ago.

He celebrated in the usual way, buying a home and splashing out on a lavish wedding and holiday in the Canary Islands.

Then he realised that he really missed his job.

So he asked to go back and couldn't be happier, getting up at the crack of dawn to flip burgers for $12.80 an hour.

Seems like he really enjoys his job, so maybe the fact that it's low-paying doesn't matter. If it gives him pleasure, then maybe it's a good decision for him, huh?

Let's say that $2.8 million translates to $1.8 million after taxes (that's what I'm figuring, but I could be off a bit.) What would you do? Would you go back to work?

Not me. $1.8 million in cash would be enough, combined with what I already have, for AT LEAST semi-retirement. I'd probably work a few days a week to keep busy and maintain health benefits, but for sure I'd cut way, way back.

How about you?

Comments

[Minimum Wage]

Wow, I never thought a hamburger flipper would continue working at such a job.

I'd quit my job, but I wouldn't stop working - I'd just do it on my own terms.

[Will]

I'm speechless! I'm tempted to say he loves his job, but I think it's something else entirely.

For a lot of people, the work environment is the only chance to really get out and meet new people, have some sort of a social life. Throw in the fact that most (if not all) the people in his social circle have to keep working, and odds are he was simply bored to death.

So he went back to what was familiar. With the added benefit of not having to worry about getting fired.

Just my 2 cents :)

[Richard]

No I'd quit the day of the check clearing.

There's more to my life than my day job.

[Curtis]

I wouldn't come back to this job, no. I would work though. Probably find something part time with a golf course until I could get accepted into a PhD program someplace and go back to school.

[No Debt Plan]

I think I would take a year off, meet with a financial planner, and take a good, long hard look at what I wanted to do. I would definitely go back to work -- golfing just isn't my thing -- but it would be in something I wanted to do (like blogging about personal finance) :)

[Rhea]

God, no! I would do volunteer work on causes I really care about.

[Anonymous]

I'd start a company that built beautiful, green, affordable multifamily housing in or near central cities. 75% of the developments would be market rate housing. 25% would be targeted to lower-income individuals to help pull them into the ranks of the middle class, with education to help strengthen wealth-building behaviors.

$12.80 for flipping burgers?!?

I wouldn't quit my job but I would probably only go part time.

My husband, on the other hand, would probably invest it into a new business and work even MORE cause he loves what he does.

[pharmboy]

yeah, I'd still work but instead of working for the man, I'd open my own pharmacy up in some nice, cozy small town.

[emilyg]

I would probably keep working part-time just to have some cash coming in (you made the good point that these days, 1.8 million is only enough for semi-retirement). But I would also like to spend a lot of my free time volunteering at animal shelters. I've always wanted to work full-time with dogs at shelters, but there is no money in it - you have to either volunteer or get paid very little. I would love to be able to do something I'm so passionate about without as much worry about money.

[Zook]

I would probably....no actually I WOULD donate my time to financial planning for folks in need...

$12.80 is decent freakin' money...Wow...Who knew?

[Neal]

If I won the lottery tonight, I wouldn't quit right away, because I'm only here until they need me anyway, which won't be long, maybe a few more weeks. And I wouldn't lounge around either, it'd give me the opportunity to open my business sooner (and I wouldn't have to worry about whether or not an arcade will be profitable).

[Traciatim]

I would think a life of school would be much more fun. Though I'm in Canada so the entire 2.8M would be in my pocket because our tax system makes sense, but you can easily live off the 1.8M invested properly . . . at a mere 3% withdrawal rate you'd be making 54000 a year. That's more than enough to go to school and start a hobby job of some sort. A life of taking trade courses, like metal and woodworking, learning to drive trucks and other heavy equipment, learn to fly planes and pilot boats and ships. So basically you learn to fix anything, work with anything, drive, fly, or float anything . . . yup, that's the life for me.

[SavetotheFuture]

I would definately talk with my financial adviser first. After knowing how I'm going to invest and withdraw my money, I would go back to school and spend more time doing the things I love. I could really do a lot with 1.8M.

I probably invest more time with my blog : )

[Tom]

Great quesiton, $1.8M would give you about $108,000/year "salary" @ 6% ROI, which is respectable, but not enough to retire at my age (24).

I would definitely go back to work (I like my job), but I would be driving there in style in an Aston Martin and returning home to a fully paid off house.

[MMJ]

Goodbye full time work. $1.8 million would translate to about $50,000 after taxes at a just 5% interest. That would do well enough for this meager family of 4.

[Kyle]

For me, most of the bother of having a job is the fact I have to have one to survive. If I didn't have to worry about money, I don't think I'd mind continuing to do what I do now. Sure I'd cut back to 30 hours per week or so and I wouldn't put up with any crap, but I wouldn't mind the social interaction if nothing else.

[Matt]

If I got $1.8 million (after taxes), I'd:

1. Pay off all my debt ($20 k in student loans).
2. Add $8 k to my emergency fund, bringing it to $9 k.
3. Set aside $1.35 m to provide for expenses at (approximately) my current standard of living (single, on $30 k income) until age 100.
4. Invest $280 k in charity/philanthropy.
5. Use $8 k to take a fun trip or several and do something nice for my family or something.
6. Invest $50 k in myself (education) or for starting a business, to find work I love.
7. Get a decent used car ($4 k), and use remaining $80 k to get started on paying for a house.

I'd definitely keep working, although probably not in the same field. That's the point of #6, to allow to some extent for self-reinvention.

[Don]

I like what Kyle had to say. Sounds like a student of Dave Ramsey. First I also would pay off my debts.Then I would sit down with a financial planner having already put aside 50K for this years living and fun expenses. There are a few places in Europe I have always wanted to see, Prague and the Tuscan region of Italy. I'd also like to take the Capitol Limited from D.C. to Chicago, then take one going from there to the West Coast. After that I would be looking at something that creates income that I love doing. I don't mind the job I have now, but I don't want to be chained to anybody's time-clock.

[Ryan]

with 1.8 million clear after taxes:

1. Pay off student loans: 13K
2. Pay off roof loan: $6K
3. Pay off car loan: $6.5K
4. Sell my current house - pocket around $80K minimum (probably more, but this market is sloooooooooow)
5. But a new house, not for cash, but 20% down: 20% of $500K would be $100K. (My philosophy is to never own your house, not due to investing opportunities, but because I live in a hurricane prone area and I'm sure my property insurance company would balk if the big one hit, so by only owning 20% of the house, I'd only lose 20% of the value)
6. Own 2 new cars, always, paid in cash.
7. Buy high end furniture for new house.
8. Buy boat to enjoy the water.

I'd figure after the house payment of $100K+$20K closing/moving, 26K in debt paid off, $60K on new cars, $40K boat, $50K in furniture, +80K on current house, +10K on selling current cars, I'd still have $1.5+million invested at a good 7% interest (long term) which would give me a 6 figure investment income, which would allow me to make my house payment, expenses, and a few vacations every year. Not to mention my current 401K and Roth IRA that would kick in when I hit 59.5 years old. Also, I would likely not spend the entire 6 figure income anyways since I'd already have everything I needed, and I'd probably invest a good 25% of that.

[Don]

Sorry, that was Matt not Kyle I read the names in the wrong order

[Ryan]

On another note, what is nice about thinking about this large sum of money is that I'll likely (along with many other regular readers here) have more than $1.8 million when I retire without having to rely on the lottery to make these dreams happen.

[John]

I would go into semi-retirement. Work enough to keep busy at a job I enjoy rather than one that pays well. I'd definately spend more time with my children. The odds of my winning the lottery are zero, however since I don't play.

[guinness416]

Not only would I not go back to work, I'm not sure if I'd even call in to let them know. Life's short.

[Hannah]

I'd go back to work, though it would definitely be 20-ish hours per week. I'd probably start my own business too, with some of those funds, so I would keep working for sure. Life is short, but it gets boring when you've got nothing to do all day.

[Jake]

I would change careers and teach for probably 5-10 years. During those years I would restrict myself to live on my teaching salary alone and let my investments grow. 10 years from now the annual amount, etc, would be ample.

[Spodeworld]

I don't think $1.8 million (after taxes) would be enough to quit. But, it might make it possible to take an earlier retirement.

[Susan]

I probably wouldn't quit. Actually, I think I'd be better at my job knowing that I no longer needed it. I really enjoy what I do already, but I'd probably take more risks.

[abraham]

$1.8 million, although a lot of money, i dont think it will be enough to retire. I invest that money wisely, but still keep my day job, if i like it. if not, i will take my time and find a job that i really like, even though the pay might be substantially lower. with the new money spent wisely, i hope i can work what i i love to do and simultaneously having time for the important things in life: family and friends and girlfriend.

[cat]

I would spend all my time working on my creative projects, which may or may not make money. I don't need a job to keep me occupied. I guess a lot of people don't have a self-directed 'passion' in life, so don't know what to do with themselves if they don't have to work.

[Debra]

Since I am only 4 years away from the date I intend to retire, I would take the money and build my Bed & Breakfast on the Caribbean island I have chosen now instead of then. I bet I could have some really unique features to offer. Also, with my B&B, if I wanted to take a little trip of my own and enjoy some of my winnings, I could just tell people we were full up for that week. Talk about Paradise!

[naveedsmind]

I'd go to college for the rest of my life - and just keep learning.

[Satam]

I would stop working to make the next man rich and devote that time to start my own business after taking care of some important things and coming back from a 3 month vacation, plus I would go back to school (Business School) to get more knowledge on how to run a Fortune 500 company. I would definitely invest also.

[Jim]

No question for me.

If I won the lottery I would quit work so fast that I'd look like a cartoon character kicking up a little cloud of dust and motion lines behind me.

I like my job well enough, but I like other things a lot more.

-Jim

[Kevin]

I would probably either:

a) start my own CPA firm from the ground up
b) stay at my current firm and scale back my hours
c) start a house renovation business (which would be more like a hobby...so I'd have to structure it correctly to deduct losses on my tax return):)

I would definitely work in some capacity since I'm only 33, but it would be nice to be able to drop off and pick up my son at school everyday when he gets to that age. Plus, I think it would be a good example to him that even though I had F-you money I would still "work" for a living.

[Finance Girl]

I'd give my two weeks, take a year to travel the world, then start a completely different career/work for myself.

[rdub98]

I would have to work. More than ever, I want to start my own business. So 1.8 mil would be some great seed money to do that.

[Dar]

And then there's the lottery winner who not only quit after he won $136 million, but he also won't be buying any of his former employer's products:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,346349,00.html

Ouch!

[Kelly]

To Dar,

They actually incorrectly quoted him as admitted by the Free Press and the Associated Press.

Here's a link:

http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080404/NEWS02/80404047/1004/NEWS

Don't believe everything you read without veryfying the facts!

[Big Cheese]

1.8 million would get me to 10% of my retirement goal, so I'd have to keep working. I'm less than 10% of the way there anyway.... It's much less money than you think!

-BC

[George]

If I won 2.8M in a lottery I'd quit my job faster than my supervisor could say "Where'd he go?" This is one rat who would completely check-out of the Rat Race!

As soon as I got my lottery check my first order of business would be to pay off my debts. Then I'd consult with a good financial advisor to figure out how I could live off that money for the rest of my life. Then I'd buy a small used RV and me and my wife would spend many years traveling all over North America, seeing the national parks and historical sites, etc. If and when we tired of that, we'd sell the RV, purchase a cozy cabin near Bozeman, Montana and live out the rest of our days in rustic bliss.

Thanks for letting me fantacize for 10 minutes. Now back to the daily grind for my corporate master....

[Lord]

How much is enough? My five house theory. Select the home you would be happy in and multiply by five. That provides for the home, a vacation home, the funds to cover operating expenses, and something to cover personal expenses. If it's a $200K home, $1M is enough. If it's a $1M home, $5M. If it's a $50M estate, $250M.