If time really was money, we’d all be rich — almost rich enough to buy a home in D.C. even.
Alas, maybe we value our time less than what it’s really worth — “we” meaning most Americans. WTOP asked a very unscientific sample group of people walking through downtown D.C. how much their time is worth. They ended up lowballing themselves, at least compared to a recent survey’s findings.
“You don’t want to make yourself too cheap. You don’t want to say you’re worth $5 an hour. So you want to go higher,” said one woman who categorized herself as a Gen-Zer.
She told WTOP she priced her time at $100 per hour. But a survey done by the financial planning website Empower found an hour is worth $240 to the average American. That would come out to almost $500,000 over a whole year.
Gen-Zers valued their time at almost $267 per hour, according to the survey.
“I’m in law school, so I currently make $0 an hour,” the woman said with a laugh.
A Gen-Xer who agreed to talk — and let’s be clear, many people had no time to talk to WTOP about this study, their time is apparently pretty darn valuable — put his value at $150. So is he selling himself short, too?
“I must be, either that or I must have realistic earning expectations,” he said. In addition, he admitted he was generous with his time, performing charity work and stepping up when a favor is needed.
“I will come over and help move apartments, yeah. I’m that guy, sure,” he said with a laugh.
He said he’d do it for free, which the Empower survey said could cost him hundreds of dollars. It found the average Gen-Xer values their time at $215 per hour.
Millennials have higher expectations, with the survey saying that generation valued their time the most, at about $330 per hour. That’s what made it so surprising when a couple millennial lawyers WTOP spoke with couldn’t come up with a price tag.
However, one did admit she couldn’t be paid enough to go into the office and work five days per week. That makes sense, since the survey also found 25% of respondents would take a 15% pay cut to get more free time. In fact, almost half the respondents said they wished they could work part-time, but simply can’t afford it.
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