I would just start my own businesses or buy existing ones. That or go play poker a lot.

I would start a record label and tour constantly with one of my many bands.

Would "hell no!" be an acceptable answer?

I would definitely "work" but it would be doing things I'm passionate about.

Absolutely not! I'd buy all the lenses I currently cannot afford for my camera and become a master photographer. I'd buy a bunch of recording equipment and instruments and write music. I'd travel to all the places I see on Nova/Travels to the Edge/Rick Steve's European Travels/etc. that I can't afford to visit. In other words, I'd ENJOY life!

I'd probably work one of the many jobs I'd enjoy doing (and let's be honest, RATHER be doing) that usually come with a salary I can't afford to live on.

I would travel...travel...travel... If I could find a job with flexible hours that I could teleconference to in my jammies once a week from sat.phone in a variety of exotic locales... then perhaps i would work... perhaps...

Heh, working at a record store isn't as fun as you would think. It's still retail and you still have to deal with the annoying customers along with the good customers.

Now whether or not I'd work if I was independently wealthy depends on how you define work. I would definitely travel, and I'd probably open several businesses but hire other people to run the day to day operations. I enjoy bargain hunting, so I'd probably open an antique mall so I'd have an excuse to travel the country and the world looking for bargains to sell.

I'd spend more time fishing, but I'm a competitive person, so if I could dedicate myself to fishing full-time, I'd probably end up trying to break some records and fish competitively in tournaments. That could turn into a career of its own.

I guess I'll have to buy a lottery ticket and find out.

I would start a "respectable" adult film studio, specializing in flix that don't require the use of the fast forward button on your dvd player. The plots would be interesting and the stories meaningful. I would span the globe in search of actors who can not only act, but are also very flexable. I would introduce multiple positions, and the money shot would not always be in "doggy style". My film studio would use lavish locations, not just a lawn chair in someones back yard. I also promise not to use surgically enhanced actors, au naturel for these films is my motto! Basically I just wanto to make porn that the whole family can enjoy, like Caligula.

I think absolute happiness would be being able to wake up every single day and do whatever you want with whomever you want to do it with. If I was independently wealthy, I could probably do this, but having any job with set working hours would prevent this, and if I was rich I wouldn't have any incentive to go into work on time or to be productive.

So I'd probably have to own my own company, that I would just provide creative ideas or advice to. Maybe own a skateboard/clothing company with a shop right on the beach in California. I think designing my own logos and designs would be a fun thing to do in my free time.

Haha- Victory 33. I design my own logos and designs- for a living! It's great. Why wait?! If I didn't have to work....? Hmm.

I'd work. probably harder than I do now. I'd do the work that mattered in the world as it wouldn't hinge on pay check / no pay check. I try to spend my free time making up for it by voluneering for good causes and offering my professional talents along the same lines.

That's my two cents.

Eh, you don't have to be rich to do that. Adult films actually have extremely low budgets. In Las Vegas, you can hire some pretty big names for around $800 a video.

Sure I would work but I would do something I love instead of having just a regular job. I'm not one to sit at home all day but I would rather do something more along my interests than what I do now.

I would definitely work. But it would be something were I would oversee a business from anywhere via laptop and cell phone. DJing and making music would be at the top of my list of things to do.

I'd write roadtrip novels for the rest of my life.

Work is a terrible hindrance to everything I love in life. Work is of the devil. No, I would not continue to do it. I think I would finally sit down and write the Great Anti-American Novel. And I'd devote a chunk of my time everyday to going downtown and pointing and laughing at all the suited people going into their offices. "Have a nice day at work!" I'd yell sarcastically.

I think I would try to open another drive-in similar to "Southview" back in the day......thank god for Tibbs, but a nice southside drive-in would really be nice, or maybe I would dump money into Key Cinemas....but I couldn't just sit at home, that would get old fast, so yes I would still have to work somewhat.

Absolutely not! lol....what I mean is...I would take advantage of the time to take part in some of the charity organizations I have always wanted to and don't have time due to work...I would also use the time for education that I don't have time for due to work....traveling would be great I would start with helping out in some of the areas effected by the natural disasters happening all over the world starting with the US ones and abroad.........God I hate work....lol....

realize it's not necessary to trade money for time.. there's no need to "hold a job" as you put it.

you can do one of two things:

a) trade time for money b) create systems that provide value

it's easier to work a job. creating valuable systems is much more rewarding though.

If you were to create a valuable system in order to obtain life's necessities, wouldn't that be your job? Seems like semantics to me.

no, once a system is in place the only job left is to maintain it.. consider for example, authoring a book.. it takes a lot of work initially, but the system will reward you for the rest of your life without anymore effort.

I don't see how writing a book is creating a system. It's a book. And writing books makes one an author, which is a job. Very few have the capability to author a book that will reward them for the rest of their lives. Maybe you could give me another example.

it certainly depends on your skills as a person. There's a difference though, between working, and working a job.

I'm suggesting that if you invest your talent into a system (instead of into an employers system) you're going to reap those rewards forever (instead of the guy you work for)

You can create any system. Most of them involve employing large amounts of people and scraping a couple dollars an hour out of all of them.

Basically the idea is that while everyone else works for a living they're also working for the employers living. Unfortunately most employers aren't interested in what's known as a 'fair share' and that leaves unambitious people in the same class struggle that has always existed.

then again, maybe I'm misunderstanding. I understood work as a job, as a wage slave. I'm making suggestions to avoid wage slavery, not work in general.

Got it. My initial question had more to do with the ability to do whatever, whenever. Even a self-employed person, who wouldn't necessarily be considered a wage slave, may wish to be doing something else with their time. Simply put, if you could do whatever you wanted each day, what would you choose to do with your time?

I would spend my time showing people how to get were I'm at. But I would still work, for some people work brings meaning to thier life. In general, I think that whatever you do for work should be something that you love so much that you would do it even if nobody paid you!