The other day, we were playing That Escalated Quickly, in which one player would pick a question card, the other players would pick out a number card from 1 to 10 and come up with obscure answers, and to win, the player with the question card would need to rank the answers in order correctly.
For example, one of the questions we picked was – “Someone offered me a million dollars, but there’s a catch. What is it?” Rank from 1 being the least likely I’ll accept to 10 being the most likely I’ll accept.
It’s a silly game but it really encourages creative thinking. After playing the game for a while, we eventually began to come up with our own questions. Later on, the game evolved into Mrs.T and I coming up with obscure money-related questions.
Since some of these questions were quite interesting, I thought it would be fun to share them and answer them in detail in a blog post.
Question 1. If you have enough money to retire early but were offered a one-year fixed-term contract job that pays after tax $2 million salary and you can’t take any vacation time, would you take the job for one year? The catch with the job is that you’d be working 60 hours or more each week.
A: In my younger days, when I was a bachelor, I would have taken a one-year fixed-term contract job to get a $2 million salary without any hesitation. Yes, I’d have to work like a dog for 60 hours or more each week but since I was a bachelor, that wouldn’t have been a concern. I would just suck it up, knowing there’s light at the end of the tunnel and a big pay day.
Nowadays, knowing what I know about working 60 hours a week or more and having a family, I would turn down such a contract job. Having a work-life balance is important for me. I have done 60 hours a week here and there with my job and it was not fun. I can’t imagine working 60 hours or more for one year straight without any vacations. Working 60 hours or more a week means I wouldn’t really spend time with my family. Furthermore, it means I wouldn’t be able to focus on my physical and mental well-being. I certainly would not have any time to do activities like going to the gym, curling, and camping.
I would retire early rather than take this well-paid contract job.
Question 2. You are about to go on a dream vacation, which option would you pick? Fly business class and spend $25,000 extra for the whole family on +10 hours overseas flights, or fly economy and use the $25,000 for staying at nice hotels, dining out at exquisite restaurants, and enjoying local experiences while abroad?
A: I have had the chance to fly business class on overseas flights several times for work travels and I can say these flying experiences were truly amazing. Being able to fly flat and sleep on an overseas flight was absolutely a game-changer! Sure, the food and service were excellent but being able to get a good night’s sleep and feeling refreshed when you landed was totally awesome.
But would I pay $25,000 for the entire family just so we can rest and eat well on +10 hours overseas flights?
I wouldn’t.
Whether you fly economy or business, you still get to your final destination. It’s only a matter of how well you eat and sleep on the way.
On a vacation, it probably doesn’t matter how much you sleep on the flight, because you can rest when you get to your destination. This is obviously different from a work trip (you’re expected to work either the day you land or the very next day). While business class meals are amazing, eating well flying is completely different than eating well when you are on the ground, because your taste buds act differently at 30,000 feet above sea level, so onboard meals tend to be quite salty and overly spiced.
Therefore, I would use the $25,000 for staying at nice hotels, dining out at exquisite restaurants, and enjoying local experiences while abroad instead of flying business for the whole family.
Question 3. Would you rather live in a penthouse apartment in a busy city like New York that has a strata fee of $3,000 a month or would you rather live in a detached house in the countryside with large land that has a yearly maintenance cost of $5,000?
A: If we didn’t have kids, I would pick living in a penthouse apartment in the city, because we would be central to everything. It would be easier to enjoy a big city like New York has to offer.
Now with two kids and we are no longer attracted to the business of the city, I would pick a detached house in the countryside with a large land. Spending time with my family and having room to relax is far more important to me now than being central to everything.
Question 4. You inherit $5 million but with a strange condition: you must spend exactly $500,000 every year for 10 years (on top of your current annual spending) or you lose the remaining money. You cannot invest the money, give it away, or save it. You can only spend it on yourself and your immediate family. Would you accept this inheritance knowing you’d be forced into high consumption, or decline it to maintain your current lifestyle?
A: Spending an extra $500,000 a year would create a very lavish lifestyle for us. That’s a lot of travelling, dining out, and new toys. That would be a very fun ten years!
However, I would turn this opportunity down and stick with our current lifestyle.
Why?
I believe that once you have an inflated lifestyle, it is extremely difficult to cut back and go back to your “old” lifestyle. For example, today, when we travel somewhere, we stay at hotels, dine out, and enjoy local sights and experiences. If I were to travel in Europe today, I would not do the extreme budget travel that I did in my 20s. My days of sleeping in airports, train stations, or bus stations, eating donair exclusively for meals, and staying at a hostel dorm with 10 other strangers are over.
Question 5. You are offered two investment opportunities: Option 1 guarantees you’ll never have to work again but you’ll live a modest middle-class lifestyle forever, or Option 2 gives you a 50% chance of becoming extraordinarily wealthy (private jets, multiple homes) but a 50% chance of having to work until age 70 in a job you dislike. Which do you choose?
A: I would go with Option 1. That’s the whole point of our financial independence journey – to live in a modest middle-class lifestyle. We don’t need private jets, multiple homes, and exotic vacations to keep us happy.
The video below is a perfect example of the endless vicious cycle of going nowhere and believing that buying things and being extraordinarily wealthy will keep you happy.
Question 6. You can choose your retirement: Option A is retiring at 35 with enough money to live comfortably but never afford luxuries (modest home, reliable car, basic vacations), or Option B is retiring at 55 with enough wealth to afford a truly luxurious lifestyle (multiple homes, first-class travel, expensive hobbies). Which trade-off do you make?
A: This is a similar question as the previous question but phrased differently. I would choose option A without a doubt. A long time ago we determined that we didn’t need FAT FIRE to be happy.
Question 7. You discover you have a terminal illness with exactly 5 years to live, but you also win $50 million in the lottery. Would you rather spend those 5 years travelling the world and experiencing everything money can buy, or donate most of it to charity and live your remaining time simply with family and friends, knowing you made a massive positive impact?
A: I wrote a couple posts before about winning the lottery.
In both of these posts, I mentioned that I have a dream of writing a $1 million cheque and donating it to a charity. This dream of mine hasn’t changed one bit. I believe in providing a helping hand to those in need and that we can’t thrive without a supportive and healthy community.
Therefore, I would donate most of the $50 million to charity and live my remaining time simply with family and friends. I want to depart this world leaving a legacy and knowing that I have made a difference.
Question 8. You can choose to live in one of two parallel worlds: World A where you have $100 million but everyone else has $500 million (making you relatively poor in comparison), or World B where you have $1 million but everyone else has $50,000 (making you relatively wealthy). The same goods and services exist in both worlds and they cost the same. Which relative wealth position do you choose?
A: For me, the key point to this question is that the same goods and services exist in both worlds and they cost exactly the same. Since $100 million would go a long way in terms of purchasing power and investing power, I would pick World A.
Who cares if I am relatively poor in comparison to everyone else who has $500 million? You shouldn’t compare yourself to other people, that’s a never-ending game and you will never achieve happiness if you like to play that game.
Question 9. You can retire early at 42, but a study reveals that people who retire before 50 have a 40% higher chance of developing depression due to loss of purpose and social connection. Knowing this risk, would you retire early and actively fight against potential mental health issues, or continue working in a job that gives you structure and social interaction until traditional retirement age?
A: This is exactly why Mrs. T has been asking the following questions whenever we talk about early retirement in the not-so-distant future:
- What do you plan to do with your free time when you retire early? You can’t spend all your time at the gym or at the curling rink.
- You’ve been talking about spending more time working on the blog. Exactly what do you mean by that? Are you going to publish more articles per week? Would you burn out and not like blogging as a result?
- You talked about maybe starting a podcast or a YouTube channel. Do you know how much time it would take to edit a podcast or a YouTube video? It seems to entail more work than writing blog posts.
- What new hobbies do you want to learn?
- Do you plan to pick up photography again? Do you want to shoot more portraits and weddings? Or landscapes? Maybe sports?
Although I have not fully charted out what my plan is in early retirement, I have made some small progress on these questions. At the time of writing, I believe I have sufficient things to keep me busy in early retirement, such that I would continue to have a purpose in life and social connection. I would also keep myself mentally and physically challenged through various activities.
Early retirement doesn’t mean you have “won” the game of life. It’s simply a different lifestyle than your traditional lifestyle of retiring at age 65. You still need to work on different aspects of life in early retirement; you can’t just kick back, relax, and sip pina colada all day for the rest of your life!
Here you have it, my answers to these obscure money questions. What do you think about my answers? How would you answer these questions? Let me know your thoughts.
