I honestly think that a healthy family is built not only with money, but also with time, care and presence. Although I don't have children myself, this is a thought that often comes to mind when I see the rhythm of life today.
Especially mothers are being forced to work 8-9-10 hours a day, while children are growing up more with the phone, TV and the internet than with their parents. At the end of the day, who is educating the child?
And when parents are absent for most of the day, the internet becomes the main "teacher", a place where sometimes we can't even imagine what children are seeing and hearing.
Perhaps success should not only be measured by how hard we work, but also by how much time we have for our family, for peace of mind and for our people. Because a healthy society starts from a healthy family.
I often recommend people in dual-income homes actually pencil out how much they keep from their second income.
Once you account for taxes and extra expenses, like eating out more and childcare, it usually turns out that the extra income is pretty minor.
Most people would probably prefer to have the 40 hours with their family than the $10k they end up keeping.
are you my financial advisor?
Edit: but also, don’t forget about the redundancy of having 2 incomes in case one of them goes away unexpectedly. Single income household would probably be in worse shape temporarily if they lost their only income. I’m not advocating for either choice, just highlighting another aspect to consider
I try to only give unsolicited advice
I was honestly shocked when I read that people in the Nordic countries work till 4-4.30pm. I left work today around 5pm, reached home at 5.45pm and am feeling absolutely spent right now haha
Imagine how many potential consumers they’ve managed to create by establishing these kinds of habits, regulated and supplied by corporations. Your labor is turned into IOUs created with your consent, based on a title that was stolen from you by public corporations. Your reputation, your value to others, is artificially sold as ads and lifeless facades; you believe in and sell this same persona during your only free time—scarce after working and receiving a few of their Monopoly bills—while seeking entertainment and acceptance from other empty shells hijacked by corporate algorithms that feed your brain with immediate rewards, trapping and manipulating your ego in a rat race within a controlled experiment. A father today is often the product of this game and is passing the chains down to his heirs; don't pass them on. Be a father or a mother, whether you have time today or not, while building a future outside the game for yourself and your children.
You're right and it's a great muse for a Sunday. We've so many choices to make. Money's necessary but not sufficient. Best thing is to recognize the patterns you learned in childhood and try to fix the ones that don't seem to be serving you. It's hard when so much time is required to survive but even if money's not such an issue, it's hard to develop awareness of the learned patterns. This is what's so great about time outdoors, away from tech, or in meditation. That you're writing this probably means you're fine. I fear the ones who need to read this most, won't see it.
https://m.stacker.news/141946