One thing which stands out when reading about the occupations of some people here, and when meeting people who come to our fly-ins, is that only a very few are clearly wealthy, but most have significant control over their time.
My two sons (who each have their own business now) have also commented accordingly, having met people at the fly-ins.
There seems to be a large “happiness factor” in having control over one’s time, over and above anything else. And this translates to being able to do a lot of flying.
Peter wrote:
a very few are clearly wealthy
I think most people you are talking about are well above average in their countries. In my case for example, the fly-in to Elba with the PA34 would have cost me 2/3 of my monthly income – not something I could afford on a daily basis.
Peter wrote:
who each have their own business now
Confirmation of the above probably: income above average.
Peter wrote:
To have lots of money, or to have time?
I opted out for more time and less money – but not lots of money. But I notice that sometimes and sometimes I have time to go flying but not the finances, so one must find a balance.
I am well within the top 10% of the German population by income, and have the No. 1 most prestigious job (by most polls on the topic), but the downside is I have barely any control over my time. Which is the main reason I fly rarely. The second reason is that it is too damn expensive: 5 hours in a C172 already cost me about one quarter of my monthly net income, or nearly all of my freely disposable income.
I have really no idea what one has to do as an occupation to earn significantly more than me while also getting significantly more control over your time. The only way seems to be being really wealthy, contradicting Peter’s original post.
Or: To have significantly lower costs of living, by being single, not having kids and living in a single room flat in some undesirable part of town.
You are lucky to have much control over your time if you work for someone else. You are lucky to run your own business and not be time committed to your business. So I suspect the answer is that you need to be able to manage your time well, or have made enough money to be able to be less time committed to your business and less committed to make more money. 
Inheriting a small fortune naturally avoids all of these annoying problems.
It’s all about time and money.
In my early 20s, as a student it was too expensive to learn to fly. I don’t remember the price, but I remember that I was paid for one hour of private tuition (in math, the best paid) enough to pay for 14 minutes of dual flight.
I flew only a few hours before discovering that I could learn to fly a glider. (In the old days accessing to information was difficult).
It was much cheaper, but the issue was then to find the time: I could spend one week but not more, because I had to get a job!
As I started to work money was at some point not an issue anymore, but time was and is still the issue.
I think it’s the same for most people: when you are young, you don’t have money, later, you don’t have time.
I would advise teenagers to spend their summers learning to fly a glider. It’s quite cheap (in France at least), but it takes so much time that only teenagers can afford it.
Even now, I can’t afford to fly gliders, because I don’t have enough time. Even when you are your own boss, you have to spend some time at the office to see to things.
MedEwok wrote:
Or: To have significantly lower costs of living, by being single, not having kids and living in a single room flat in some undesirable part of town.
That kind of things definitely helps. However IMO:
MedEwok wrote:
I have really no idea what one has to do as an occupation to earn significantly more than me while also getting significantly more control over your time. The only way seems to be being really wealthy, contradicting Peter’s original post.
In many countries doctors can work privately in addition to their govt paid work and hence earn more money. Is that possible in Germany?
The only way seems to be being really wealthy, contradicting Peter’s original post.
With some exceptions if someone happens to inherit, one tends to have to earn one’s money rather than just “being” wealthy.
Quite a few of the people I know in aviation have sold their businesses, giving them money and time.
I continue to own mine, but do not do anything executive, which comes to much the same thing.
In terms of control over one’s time, I’d say self-employment in a liberal profession is generally better than running a full-fledged business.
