"Even with 9 Billion Won, I Can't Quit My Job"... The Unexpected Concerns of a Major-Company Employee in His 40s After an 'Investment Windfall'

"Built wealth through investments over 10 years, but... feels empty"

A major-company employee’s story is drawing attention online: despite becoming a billionaire in won through successful investments, he says he cannot bring himself to quit his job. Although he has gained financial security, he remains anxious about losing his assets and uncertain about what life would be like after leaving his job.

The photo is unrelated to the article's specific content. Samsung Electronics' Seocho headquarters in Seoul. Yonhap News Agency.

A post titled “I have 9 billion won in assets, but not a single person I can talk to about it” was recently published on Blind, an anonymous online community for office workers. The poster’s workplace information listed “Samsung Electronics.” Introducing himself as an employee in his 40s, he wrote, “My total assets are around 9 billion won, and since I have almost no debt, my net worth is in the high 8 billion won range.” He also shared a photo showing an asset breakdown totaling approximately 9.187 billion won.

The poster said he had built up most of his wealth through investments over the past 10 years. “I accumulated assets over roughly 10 years and invested in real estate, stocks, and virtual assets (cryptocurrency),” he explained. “After making several important decisions during the investment process, my assets grew substantially.”

“I’m afraid people around me will think I’m bragging”… He opens up about feeling lonely

However, he said that even after accumulating substantial wealth, he still does not feel at ease. “I thought I wouldn’t have anything to worry about with this much, but honestly, I still worry these days,” he said. “No one around me is in a situation like mine. Of course, I can’t tell anyone at work. If I tell a friend, it sounds like bragging, and if I frame it as a concern, it just sounds like a problem only a wealthy person could have.”

He also described how his daily life had changed after becoming financially secure. However, he said that experiencing services he could not easily afford in the past sometimes left him feeling oddly empty. “I’ve found myself choosing items from a menu without checking the prices or being shown to a separate area at a bank, and thinking, ‘So this is how people with money have always lived. I’m only finding out now,’” he said. “Rather than feeling happy, I have a reality-check moment. I think I’d feel this way even if my assets grew further.”

Above all, he said, the focus of his worries had changed as his assets grew. Whereas he used to worry about the possibility of running short of money, he was now afraid of losing the wealth he had accumulated. “I used to think, ‘What if I don’t have enough?’ Now I think, ‘What if I lose all this?’” he said. “I’m still working at the company, and I think about quitting every day, but when it comes down to it, I can’t do it. It’s not because I love the work; it’s because if I leave the company, I don’t know who I am or what I would do.”

He added, “I think the saying that money can buy happiness is half right and half wrong. I’m definitely no longer worried about covering my living expenses, but feeling at ease is a separate matter.” He then asked others in a similar situation, “When did you find peace of mind? Or does it never come in the first place?”

Mixed reactions to the concerns of a 9-billion-won asset holder

People online responded in different ways to the poster’s concerns. Some viewed the worries of someone with assets in the 9-billion-won range as “a problem only the well-off could have,” while others expressed sympathy, saying, “So even having a lot comes with worries. Is that just the way people are?”

Some users said they had been through similar experiences. One user who said they also had assets of a similar scale advised, “Never tell the people around you,” adding, “After people found out I had money, I had to work hard to turn down requests to lend money and sort out my relationships.” Others encouraged him to take on a new challenge. “There’s a clear limit to what you can achieve as an employee,” one user said. “No matter how much you have in assets, you’re still just a Samsung Electronics employee. Have you thought about starting a business?”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.