Free Fire Your Boss by Stephen M. Pollan, Mark Levine Page B

calculated in 1989 dollars, so decades’ worth of inflation weren’t taken into account. Gifts to charity and to grandchildren weren’t taken into account. Increases in the spending pattern of older Americans weren’t factored into the mix. Those “We’re spending our kids’ inheritance” bumper stickers are prophetic. Finally, the study didn’t take into account the increased longevity of older Americans and the rising costs of nursing homes, in-home care, and end-of-life health care. I tell almost all my clients they’ve a better chance of winning the lottery than of inheriting large amounts of money. Stop dreaming about tomorrow’s inheritance and instead start leading your life today.
    My suggestion, then, is to work to earn money and spend the rest of your life pursuing your other goals. To paraphrase the Gospels, render unto work that which is work’s — earning money — and render unto life that which is life’s — everything else. I also believe in turning around a recently coined adage: Do it for the money and the love will follow. 6
    6. Apologies to Marsha Sinetar, author of
Do It for Love and the Money Will Follow
. Many of the people who cite this adage don’t seem to have actually read the book and so misinterpret what Ms. Sinetar is saying. Her point, I believe, is that by doing something you love, your need for money will be lessened. She’s really saying: “Do it for the love and you’ll be happy with whatever money follows.”
“But What About All the Time I Spend at Work?”
    Whenever I preach working for the money to a client, I get the same response. It’s a variation of the following: “But I spend so much time at work, shouldn’t I do something that offers more than financial rewards?” My answer is simple: Stop spending so much time at work.
    Most people who come to see me, and I’d wager most of you reading this book, have forgotten the reason for spending so much time on the job. The idea was that because you were doing something meaningful, something emotionally, psychologically, or spiritually rewarding, you’d
want
to spend more time at work. The additional time was supposed to be in response to the nonfinancial rewards you were receiving. But as time has gone on, the reason has morphed.
    Spending so much time at work became a sign you weren’t a moneygrubbing hourly worker. You were a careerist. You didn’t have a “blue-collar attitude,” you had a “white-collar attitude.” That implied you were educated and a member of the elite, not one of the hoi polloi. Those added hours showed you were pursuing a higher calling than just money. You cared about the company. Then the rationale morphed again.
    BE LIKE A REAL FREE LANCE
In the Middle Ages, mercenaries were hired by the Italian city-states to wage war on each other. They were known as
condottieri
in Italian. In English they were called free lances. While they were loyal, tough, professional soldiers, they were, according to most military historians, more interested in getting paid than in actually fighting. After all, you don’t want to get on the bad side of future potential employers or coworkers. Freelance warfare involved far more maneuvering and clever ruses than actual bloodshed. I think all employees today should take a lesson from these original free lances. Do everything you can to make your boss successful, but don’t mess up your own future employment opportunities in the process.
    You spent so much time at work because everyone else did. No one left at 5:00 p.m. Fitting in meant working long hours. If you didn’t work those long hours, people looked at you somewhat askance. What’s wrong with you? they thought. Aren’t you ambitious? Aren’t you a team player? Don’t you love what you’re doing?
    The fact is almost no one loves what he or she is doing today. But no one, other than those who work for the money, seems willing to admit it outside of my office, or his or her therapist’s office.