Would you rather make $200k doing nothing or take a job that pays $500k

[Kushahontas]

Option 1, of course!  I could get a flat in Manhattan and NY Rangers season tix at 200K.  My days could be spent exercising in Central Park and hitting up all the great little coffee joints NYC features.  Wonderful!

I don't even care for baseball but this is literally the perfect answer.

[Simfan34]

Take a job that pays $500k a year.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

Option 2 because I get bored too easily.

[Хahar 🤔]

Option 1, of course!  I could get a flat in Manhattan and NY Rangers season tix at 200K.  My days could be spent exercising in Central Park and hitting up all the great little coffee joints NYC features.  Wonderful!

I don't even care for baseball but this is literally the perfect answer.

The New York Rangers aren't a baseball team.

[ingemann]

It really depended on what the job was and how many hours I had to work. It's not fun having a terrible job, which you work at 16 hours a day 6 days a week. On the other hand if it was something I enjoyed doing I would take the 500K.

[Storebought]

The first option, because it gives you more options. You can start your own business (or, in my case, fund my own research) after just a few years' worth of savings.

That 500,000 a year job had better be a nepotistic sinecure, otherwise it's sure to be a complete hell. 

[RR1997]

I forgot to mention something important (facepalm)

If you chose option 1, you can't have a job. If you get a job (even if it's a menial one), then you don't qualify for the $200K a year anymore. Much like how if you chose option 2, you don't get you're $500K a year salary if you quit your job for something else. Not having a job is basically your job in option 1. Volunteering is ok though.

[RR1997]

I wonder if any of you will change your minds after announcing the rule I forgot to announce.

[traininthedistance]

I forgot to mention something important (facepalm)

If you chose option 1, you can't have a job. If you get a job (even if it's a menial one), then you don't qualify for the $200K a year anymore. Much like how if you chose option 2, you don't get you're $500K a year salary if you quit your job for something else. Not having a job is basically your job in option 1. Volunteering is ok though.

There are enough opportunities for volunteering, and enough good causes in need of manpower, that this obviously doesn't change my answer.

I assume that things like "being a househusband" and "taking care of elderly parents" are also kosher under Option 1.

I think people forget just how much there is to do outside of the confines of traditional employment- and how worthwhile and necessary that stuff is.

[RR1997]

I forgot to mention something important (facepalm)

If you chose option 1, you can't have a job. If you get a job (even if it's a menial one), then you don't qualify for the $200K a year anymore. Much like how if you chose option 2, you don't get you're $500K a year salary if you quit your job for something else. Not having a job is basically your job in option 1. Volunteering is ok though.

There are enough opportunities for volunteering, and enough good causes in need of manpower, that this obviously doesn't change my answer.

I assume that things like "being a househusband" and "taking care of elderly parents" are also kosher under Option 1.

I think people forget just how much there is to do outside of the confines of traditional employment- and how worthwhile and necessary that stuff is.

Nope. Being a househusband and taking care of the elderly are acceptable in option 1. As long as you're not making any money from it, it's not considered a job. Travelling the world, meditation, etc. are also not jobs.

[Boston Bread]

The first, I'm not needy when it comes to material, $200k would get me all I demand.

[Obnoxiously Slutty Girly Girl]

I forgot to mention something important (facepalm)

If you chose option 1, you can't have a job. If you get a job (even if it's a menial one), then you don't qualify for the $200K a year anymore. Much like how if you chose option 2, you don't get you're $500K a year salary if you quit your job for something else. Not having a job is basically your job in option 1. Volunteering is ok though.

I'm glad that rule is in effect, wouldn't want to actually do something stupid like get a job when I'm getting 200k a year for doing nothing. I could tear up my resume, delete it from my computer, never worry about something evil like 'work' again.

Only greedy millionaires (like Mitt Romney, who never would have had to work a day in his life but instead chose to work hard to destroy jobs and chop up companies for his own profit) would choose to work. And only greedy people with boring lives would choose option 2.

[justfollowingtheelections]

It depends on what the job is.

[DC Al Fine]

Option 1. I'm sure I could find a worthy cause to volunteer for once I get bored.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

I forgot to mention something important (facepalm)

If you chose option 1, you can't have a job. If you get a job (even if it's a menial one), then you don't qualify for the $200K a year anymore. Much like how if you chose option 2, you don't get you're $500K a year salary if you quit your job for something else. Not having a job is basically your job in option 1. Volunteering is ok though.

I'm glad that rule is in effect, wouldn't want to actually do something stupid like get a job when I'm getting 200k a year for doing nothing. I could tear up my resume, delete it from my computer, never worry about something evil like 'work' again.

Only greedy millionaires (like Mitt Romney, who never would have had to work a day in his life but instead chose to work hard to destroy jobs and chop up companies for his own profit) would choose to work. And only greedy people with boring lives would choose option 2.

I'm guessing you haven't read this thread or bothered to look at the poll results? People have given several reasons in this thread why that is not the case.

[The Mikado]

I'm not sure that my purchasing habits would significantly change between 200k a year and 500k a year. Maybe you would have more success with this thought experiment if you picked a point where the sinecure wasn't something that put you above the household income of 95% of Americans. If the options were 50k a year for not working vs 500k a year for working it might be a more dramatic concept, but I honestly don't think that there's a lifestyle difference that would interest me between 200k a year and 500k a year.

The 200k would lead to me putting over a hundred thousand dollars away into investments a year and would build itself up into quite the nest egg over a few years. Are we paying taxes on the 200k?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Really if I made $200k a year I'd probably visit a different city each weekend just to play Ingress.

[Vosem]

Option 2 (unless it's something I really can't stand), and I can't really relate to people saying Option 1. I get it, but I can't imagine feeling that way myself.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Any job that pays $500k a year would have to be extremely stressful and demanding.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     I would rather work for $50k than do nothing for $200k. Not being a leftist or wealthy, I find the psychological need to earn money for my time to be overpowering.

[Kushahontas]

Option 1, of course!  I could get a flat in Manhattan and NY Rangers season tix at 200K.  My days could be spent exercising in Central Park and hitting up all the great little coffee joints NYC features.  Wonderful!

I don't even care for baseball hockey but this is literally the perfect answer.

The Rangers are a hockey team...

[justfollowingtheelections]

Can we have a little more information on what this job is?

I mean if someone came to me and told me "I will give you 200k to remain unemployed for a year or 500k to do a mystery job" I would be insane (and most importantly irresponsible) if I picked the job without having any idea what it is.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

$200k per year is more money than I would know what to do with, and it would leave my life open to pursuing whatever passions I see fit. I learned long ago that chasing a dollar and taking a job I loathe is the path to dissatisfaction with life, whereas chasing my passion and trying to scrape together a living doing what I love is the path to happiness.