Is it normal for a woman to retire at 40 if she is independently wealthy?
My 48 yo sister hasn't worked for ten years because her husband is so rich and her health isn't that good (she has hypothyroidism - Hashimoto's disease - so she gets really fatigued but can't sleep well at night).
Their adult children have all left home. She spends her time reading, doing yoga, sewing, traveling, gardening, playing music, watching films and documentaries on TV, going to films/concerts/plays, talking to her friends on the phone, and eating out and doing sports with her husband. She says she is no longer ambitious for a career even though she has two college degrees. She says that no one would hire a 48 yo (who's been out of the workforce for ten years) for any half-decent job, anyway. She said,
"What's the point in doing a job I don't like when I don't need the money? I don't want to take a job from someone who genuinely needs it when 13% of the population either want a job or want longer hours."
http://www.news.com.au/national/true-unemployment-at-13-per-cent-australian-bureau-of-statistics-reveals/story-fncynjr2-1226677298922
Is this normal?
| Yes. Why work if you don't have to? | 13 | |
| No. A career is important to me. | 0 | |
| No. I want to contribute to society by having a job. | 0 | |
| No. Retirement would bore me. | 0 | |
| No. I'd become too isolated if I wasn't in the workforce | 0 | |
| No. Working imposes a structure on my life. | 2 | |
| No. The devil plays with idle hands. | 0 | |
| No. All my friends work and they'd think I was lazy. | 0 | |
| Yes. I'd travel most of the time. | 5 | |
| Yes. I'd study or indulge in lots of hobbies/sporting activities | 7 | |
| Yes. I could get more involved in the community and run for office | 0 | |
| Yes but I'd do some charity work every week. | 2 |