Greentext

If you hit the lottery tomorrow and won 500 million dollars, maybe not immediately, but you would almost definitely not continue to work at your job volunteering your time and labor to help them make money (and if you would, you shouldn’t, because that devalues the labor of your coworkers and everyone else in your field).

Eh, honestly, I would probably stick around for a year or two, maybe longer. I genuinely like the work I do. Even if I won the lottery, or if my parents died and gave me a massive inheritance or something.

I want to start my own thing, but honestly, having a set schedule and obligations with consistent delivery is a good routine to be in.

Either because they needed money

Well obviously nobody is going to spend 8 hours doing something they enjoy if it means they can't pay their bills or put food on the table. But that's not really an interesting point imo, all it means is that my main motivation for work is to pay the bills. Once that requirement is gone, the more interesting question is whether I'd continue.

And my answer is, I'd continue, at least for a year or two, until I find something more rewarding to do. If I became a millionaire overnight, I don't think my day-to-day life would change all that much, at least in the short-term. Maybe in a year or two I'll find something more fulfilling (there are some charitable causes I'd like to support), but I don't think I'd jump into that without testing the waters first. I'd probably negotiate fewer hours at my job, but I probably wouldn't go below 20.

Money isn't really a motivator for me. I make enough to pay the bills and put some away for retirement, but I've never really cared much for buying stuff. So to me, as long as I can pay the bills and I enjoy the work, I'll keep doing it.