shootingstar Posted January 28, 2019 Share #1 Posted January 28, 2019 Awhile ago a transit train driver was celebrated for working this long when he retired. Then he died 2 yrs. later. The backstory was: he was pissing off other workers because he didn't keep to his schedule. His wife was sick for a long time and she died before he retired. He wasn't around to help or be by her side. HIs children were urging him to retire in his early 70's. He didn't retire until he was 78. He wanted the honour of being no.1...and said so to work that long. Others gave up and retired before he did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longjohn ★ Posted January 28, 2019 Share #2 Posted January 28, 2019 I retired after 48 years. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerrySTL ★ Posted January 28, 2019 Share #3 Posted January 28, 2019 I've been earning a paycheck for 49.5 years. The first 4 years were part-time but I more than made up for that by working one or more second jobs over the years. My first paychecks were 95¢ an hour. I've been unemployed a total of 2 weeks. I took those 2 weeks off before going into basic training. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisL Posted January 28, 2019 Share #4 Posted January 28, 2019 1 hour ago, shootingstar said: Awhile ago a transit train driver was celebrated for working this long when he retired. Then he died 2 yrs. later. The backstory was: he was pissing off other workers because he didn't keep to his schedule. His wife was sick for a long time and she died before he retired. He wasn't around to help or be by her side. HIs children were urging him to retire in his early 70's. He didn't retire until he was 78. He wanted the honour of being no.1...and said so to work that long. Others gave up and retired before he did. Curious to what schedule he wasn’t keeping to? His transit schedule or his retirement schedule? My oldest brother had just retired at 63 and died of cancer a year later. He had a good work life balance and travelled a lot. I’m glad he didn’t slave away at his job waiting for retirement to have some fun. It was a reminder to keep some balance in our lives. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrapr ★ Posted January 28, 2019 Share #5 Posted January 28, 2019 I knew a guy that worked 50 years for the same company. He was in the warehouse. Hard concrete floors doing hard work in drafty warehouse. When I knew him we were doing furniture delivery from the warehouse. There was a nice little celebration on the dock for him. No big shots were there 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MickinMD ★ Posted January 28, 2019 Share #6 Posted January 28, 2019 4 hours ago, shootingstar said: Awhile ago a transit train driver was celebrated for working this long when he retired. Then he died 2 yrs. later. The backstory was: he was pissing off other workers because he didn't keep to his schedule. His wife was sick for a long time and she died before he retired. He wasn't around to help or be by her side. HIs children were urging him to retire in his early 70's. He didn't retire until he was 78. He wanted the honour of being no.1...and said so to work that long. Others gave up and retired before he did. I planned to retire in my 50's, not rich but with stess-free finances and enough money for my hobbies, studies, and travel. In my teens and 20's, in college, I was envious of the rich kids who didn't have to worry if their passions for dancing, art, acting, creative writing, etc. were going to make the mortgage payment later in life. I wished I could be like them! As I approached middle age, I realized I was a little better off than most and that's when the 50's plan crystallized: in retirement with a paid-off mortgage and steady income streams, I could be like those rich kids! So that's what I did! I began work around age 12, helping a friend's father lay hardwood floors on the weekends. Then at 16 I got a high school and early college job at a fast food place, putting in 20-48 hrs/week. I had college campus jobs after that then worked full time until age 55 3/4, when I retired. I've studied piano, returned to chess, traveled, bought a bicycle whose use has been hot and cold due to health, and am currently looking into creative writing and studying violin/fiddle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dottleshead ★ Posted January 28, 2019 Share #7 Posted January 28, 2019 I don't mind being the first to tell all that I work to live... not live to work. If I could have figured out how to only work 5... I would have done it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parsnip Totin Jack ★ Posted January 29, 2019 Share #8 Posted January 29, 2019 i'm at 45 years right now. Retire in 5. First job at 14, washing dishes. Retired once at age 52, health insurance was too expensive so I went back to work. I will retire again when I turn 65 in 2024 and qualify for medicare. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razors Edge ★ Posted January 29, 2019 Share #9 Posted January 29, 2019 12 hours ago, shootingstar said: Awhile ago a transit train driver was celebrated for working this long when he retired. Then he died 2 yrs. later. The backstory was: he was pissing off other workers because he didn't keep to his schedule. His wife was sick for a long time and she died before he retired. He wasn't around to help or be by her side. HIs children were urging him to retire in his early 70's. He didn't retire until he was 78. He wanted the honour of being no.1...and said so to work that long. Others gave up and retired before he did. 68 would be 50 years for MANY people. Add in that, some folks can consider "starting" work much earlier than 18! I had jobs since I was ten or so cutting grass, cleaning pools, delivering newspapers, watching homes for vacationing neighbors, feeding pets, babysitting, other yard work, painting, etc.. Didn't have any of that money reported to DA MAN, though ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shootingstar Posted January 29, 2019 Author Share #10 Posted January 29, 2019 12 hours ago, ChrisL said: Curious to what schedule he wasn’t keeping to? His transit schedule or his retirement schedule? My oldest brother had just retired at 63 and died of cancer a year later. He had a good work life balance and travelled a lot. I’m glad he didn’t slave away at his job waiting for retirement to have some fun. It was a reminder to keep some balance in our lives. I think it was in-between, transit and retirement schedule. Though you lost a brother early, I'm glad he did it right in terms of the balance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BR46 Posted January 29, 2019 Share #11 Posted January 29, 2019 21 hours ago, shootingstar said: He didn't retire until he was 78. He wanted the honour of being no.1...and said so to work that long. Others gave up and retired before he did We had a guy at the place where I work that was like this. I think the company forced him to take retirement at age75. I know that he didn't have any hobbies or any desire to travel all he wanted to do was work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longjohn ★ Posted January 29, 2019 Share #12 Posted January 29, 2019 When I worked at Westinghouse a guy I worked with said his dad was about to retire. His dad said 50 years was enough. He dropped out of school and went to work at age 15, retired at age 65. All 50 years at the same place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralphie ★ Posted January 29, 2019 Share #13 Posted January 29, 2019 I'm coming up on 40 years, and i also worked with my dad as a teenager. Should be calling it quits around 66 in aboot three years. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddmaxx ★ Posted January 29, 2019 Share #14 Posted January 29, 2019 I worked at least part time from the age of 17 till last year. Last year I only put in a couple of weeks as a consultant for my last company but still that makes 54 years. If I work now, it's really only to support the secret lab or the deer food. Womaxx still works at 65, mostly for the insurance. Missing work is a toss up. I don't miss the daily grind of going to work and coming home and some of the assorted and usually unnecessary bull shit involved in working for a stockholder owned company. I do miss some of the interesting and even exciting at times work involved in the creation of new laser systems and uses for DARPA and even for some of our commercial customers. It's a thrill to watch a satellite launch knowing that some of your equipment is on board. It's even more thrilling to be told that the equipment survived the launch and turned on once in orbit. I suppose that I miss work a bit because it wasn't the daily grind of going to an office or a factory and doing the same thing every day. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheep_herder ★ Posted January 29, 2019 Share #15 Posted January 29, 2019 4 hours ago, maddmaxx said: because it wasn't the daily grind of going to an office or a factory and doing the same thing every day. Same with my career 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilbur ★ Posted January 29, 2019 Share #16 Posted January 29, 2019 Working to death is the case for many people. Just a fiscal reality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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