Complex Numbers

Money

PROMPT November 21st

What do you value most in a job/career? What about a job makes it satisfying and fulfilling? If you currently hold your “dream job,” what makes it perfect for you? If you are still seeking your dream job, how will you know when you’ve found it? If you are retired, think back to how you felt when you were working.

What do you value most in a job/career?
Money.

What about a job makes it satisfying and fulfilling?
Money.

If you currently hold your “dream job,” what makes it perfect for you?
Money.

If you are still seeking your dream job, how will you know when you’ve found it?
Money.

Okay, so I'm... sort of joking, there? Sort of, but not really.

I would like to think there are some jobs I wouldn't do for any amount of money, but I'm in the fortunate and probably enviable position of being able to pick and choose. I don't mean that I'm above menial labor; if I needed money I'd muck toilet stalls, wash dishes, bus tables, turn big rocks into little ones, pick crops - whatever honest work is still out there and not being done by robots. No, the stuff I wouldn't do for any amount of money would include shady crap like telemarketing (also mostly robots now), promoting pyramid schemes, pump & dump penny stocks. Stuff that makes the world a worse place.

Okay, I probably would violate my principles if you paid me enough. The harsh truth is, I do have a price. It's just a very, very high one. If you want me to do something shady, the remuneration needs to be worth it. If you want me to do something outright illegal, then you need to set me up for life. $2M, minimum. Otherwise it's not worth the potential hit to my freedom and/or reputation. And since I'm not going to trust anyone who offered me that kind of money to keep their promise, I think it's safe to say I won't become a hit man or jewel thief anytime soon.

But none of that is very helpful.

As regular readers know, I identify as an engineer. I went to engineering school. I am technically-minded. But I'm not someone whose identity requires a career. My reason for working really was almost entirely about the money. Yeah, I liked having a visible impact on the world around me, but that also came with a dark side: in spite of regulations and best practices, there was always an environmental price to pay. Point is, a job, to me - even a career - is about making money, not any nebulous "fulfillment" or "satisfaction" or anything like that. I am fulfilled if I have enough money to live in a decent house, eat decent food, and take the occasional vacation. More is nice, too. I get satisfaction from not being hungry. All of this is dependent entirely on money.

People tell me "but money won't keep you warm at night." It literally does.

Anyway, it's all an intellectual exercise because I'm pretty much where I want to be in life, and I'm not about to ruin that by working.

There is only one thing that's bugging me right now, and I'm still not sure what to do about it: I don't have health insurance.

This is not a day-to-day problem for me. I can handle my few check-ups and prescriptions without a problem. The issue is, what if something catastrophic happens? That's what insurance is for, of course, but even if I pay the $850 a month or so (that's the lowest premium I can find on the marketplace, and it carries an enormous deductible), what guarantee do I have that the corporation will actually cover something that happens to me? I hear about peoples' insurance claims being denied all the time.

It's not that I can't afford it. It's that I feel like I'd be better off dedicating that money to a savings account or other safe harbor, rather than gambling on the dubious honesty of profit-motive insurance companies. The best insurance is wealth.

This is only relevant because, for better or worse, insurance wouldn't be an issue if I were still working a professional job. Or, you know, if I lived in a civilized country.