Living off interest and investments seems to be a recent phenomenon (FIRE). My grandmother ensured that all her well-off children never sat on their laurels and depended solely on passive income even though it could be considerable.
The goal was to keep the mind fresh and running, and to be a productive member of society even if you didn’t exactly need to work. If you had more, you could give back more, but stopping work was always heavily discouraged.
The goal was to keep the mind fresh and running, and to be a productive member of society even if you didn’t exactly need to work. If you had more, you could give back more, but stopping work was always heavily discouraged.