Career Vs Stock/Real Estate Investing

[Scipio]

Say for example that you want to enjoy material abundance, and you also want to enjoy your life. Your career is enjoyable for you (although can be quite trying at times) and investing could be enjoyable to you, although probably a bit less fulfilling than your career.

If you've determined that your life purpose is related to your career, should you just spend time doing it and increasing your income from your career to the exclusion of other investment avenues?

[Tara680]

You need to have passive income if you want to enjoy your life in the future, and not scrimp and save after you have retired.

When you do your work for your career, you get paid for your work only once. In investing and real estate, you do the work once, and get rewarded for it the rest of your life.

Keep working at your passive income and hopefully you will earn enough so that your passive income is greater than your expenses. This is when you become "rich". When you do not have to work to support yourself. If you love your job and career, great-you can continue to work, but if something out of your control happens such as downsizing, you do not need to worry about money.

[Scipio]

About your first sentence. I disagree that one needs a passive income to enjoy their life. You can pursue your life purpose as an employee although pursuing your life purpose and creating passive income through that purpose offers more flexibility.

I also disagree with the concept of retirement. If you are doing your life purpose, then there is no point in retiring. Reducing work hours might fit a lot of people, but you will need your life purpose to be satisfied.

As for the rest of what you said, maybe I was unclear. Your "career" is your life purpose or the area of interest in your life which you work at continually. For example, Steve Pavlina is a personal development expert. That does not mean that he works as an employee for another person; he earns passive income from his career. You are talking about the benefits of passive income, not the benefits of traditional investments vs investing in one's career.

[selma]

Learn the stockmarket, its the best personal education investment ever...

[wakeshine]

I like the idea of maximizing the reward for everything I do. If I'm on vacation, I want to enjoy the best of it all. But also, when I'm working, I want to be rewarded for doing a great job.

Sometimes you can be doing a great job for too low of pay. Or settling for a job that doesn't stretch you. I love studying the stock market and it is a hobby of mine. I hope one day that this passion will provide monetary rewards, but in the meantime I'm having a great time of it, too.

I do like the idea of setting up income streams. Following a passion that also helps your future is a win-win.

[pjhaggerty]

It seems like you are asking where you should invest your time. If you are passionate about your job and it is making you money, then focus on it. You'll be able to earn a lot of money at it.

What's important is what you do with that money. Make sure you save some into some kind of investing plan. It can be as hands off as you want (say an annuity or buying TIPS (Taxpayer Inflation Protect Securities) or something else) or you could day trade the stock market. Just make sure you save.

If you enjoy your job and don't want to stop working, I would suggest saving enough in fixed income assets to provide a reasonable level of financial security should you be unable to earn money from your passion in the future. That way you can continue to follow it, rather you are payed or not.

[The Big D]

"Investing" gives me the willies the way most people do it, but there are piles of money to be made in trading. Whether or not it's something you want to spend your time on is up to you. IMO it is not passive income, nor is it low stress income.