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In Detectorists, Lance's day job is at some sort of vegetable warehouse facility. The work seems to be poorly paid, menial, and Lance is not especially respected by his colleagues.

However, it is revealed in Series 1 Episode #5 that:

Lance in fact won a large sum from the National Lottery around the time that his wife left him.

So if Lance doesn't really need the money, why continue to work at the warehouse facility?

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He won £300,000, which isn't that large a sum. Assuming he'd need £1000 per month to merely "survive" (rent + food etc.), that money would run out in 25 years or so. And that isn't counting the fact that money is worth less over time, plus that he could encounter a costly accident.

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  • considering he can live ~25 years with the money he won, why he couldn't quit the menial job for now, enjoy life and go back to another job when or if he needed?
    – Vishwa
    Jun 22, 2020 at 5:52
  • Toby Jones is 50 or so, and I guess that's also approx. the age of his character. 50 + 25 = 75. Who's gonna hire a 75 year old? (Also, I doubt £1000 is enough to live on.)
    – BCdotWEB
    Jun 22, 2020 at 8:19
  • thats why I meant if. he can live on lottery money, with some savings, he can live on it until the end I think.
    – Vishwa
    Jun 22, 2020 at 8:53
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    @Vishwa The current average age in the UK is 79 year. Again, that is assuming you can live on £1000 and never encounter any major issue that can cost you a lot of money. IMHO even winning £1 million would not be enough for him to stop working and live comfortably for the rest of his life without a worry.
    – BCdotWEB
    Jun 22, 2020 at 10:16
  • @Vishwa See also: thisismoney.co.uk/money/pensions/article-1681664/… which says "£684,000 to fund 40 years (retire at age 50)" but also points out "these cash flows include no allowance for unexpected longevity" plus you need to put in a lot of work to manage that money. "For an income of £25,000 in perpetuity, using a 2% real return you would need a fund of £1,250,000." But then there is inflation, unexpected expenses, etc.
    – BCdotWEB
    Jun 22, 2020 at 10:21

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