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02-12-2021, 12:32 AM
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#61
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 5,308
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This is such an interesting thread. I enjoyed reading all the many varying experiences.
My dad dropped out of high school after 9th grade and went to work. As far as I know he always worked after that. He met my mom when they both worked for the same meat packing company. They got married and they both worked there until the plant shut down when I was 17. Then they got jobs elsewhere. He hurt his shoulder and it gave him a lot of trouble so he retired in his early 60s. He had planned to work to 62. He died at 75 from lung cancer. It was a shock, in a way, as he was a very active person, thin, etc. But, of course, the smoking did him in.
My mother got her first job after high school and married my dad a few years later. She was never a SAHM. I was adopted and she stayed home with me for a few months and then she went back to work. She worked until she was about 64. I actually found out she had retired when I called her office (to speak to her) and they said she had retired! Apparently, she got angry at something going on at her office and basically just quit. She honestly could have retired when my Dad retired but she was always anxious about money.
She died at 94. She was living on her own, driving her car, and still mentally OK up until a couple of months before she died. I asked her not long before she died why she had worked after marriage and motherhood as that was not common then. She was literally the only married mother among my friends that worked. She said that she never felt she wanted to depend on a man for her livelihood. She wanted the independence of earning her living. But, just the fact that she worked when I was a child in the 50s and 60s had a profound effect on me. I always assumed I would have a career. When I was a small child she took me across town to a female pediatrician (this was in the late 50s, early 60s) because she wanted me to know that a woman could be a physician. When JFK was killed, she had me memorize the name of the judge who swore in LBJ (Sarah T Hughes) because she wanted me know a woman could be a judge.
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02-12-2021, 06:00 AM
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#62
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: Austin
Posts: 1,384
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Mom retired from her local school system at 65 where she worked for 20+ years. Before that, she worked occasionally but was mainly a SAHM.
Dad owned his own business starting in the mid 1970's and from about 65 till 70 he ramped it down till he retired. Mom lived to 82 and Dad to 93 with a 15 year age difference.
Between them, they had 11 kids.
I'll be 60 this year and will likely retire within the next 2-3 years. Just 1 kid for us and she's in college now.
Cheers.
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02-12-2021, 06:52 AM
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#63
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Administrator
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: N. Yorkshire
Posts: 34,123
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My Dad left school and went down the coal mine at age 14 and was still working at the same mine when he retired at age 60, so 46 years working. My mother started work at 14 but became disabled in her early 50s and had to give up work, dying at age 62.
My brother left school at 18 at went down the same coal mine as our Dad. He is still a coal miner today in Australia at age 64, so 46 years and still working with no plans to retire. (He is a manager of a coal mine and loves the money)
I left school at age 18 and worked until I retired at age 55 so 37 years working for me.
Similar stories with my wife and her parents. They both started work at 14, and both worked until age 65, so 51 years working for each of them.
__________________
Retired in Jan, 2010 at 55, moved to England in May 2016
Enough private pension and SS income to cover all needs
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02-12-2021, 07:22 AM
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#64
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Colorado Mountains
Posts: 3,165
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My dad started working around 12 delivering newspapers as did I. He retired at 63 as did I. He graduated from high school and spent the great majority of his career working for the railroad along with the Army during WW2 and sports writer for the same newspaper he delivered papers for. The last 20 years or so he was the head of the Civil Engineering department. In the later years the people he hired had degrees in civil engineering, but he never went to college. My mom was a teacher when they were married. She became a SAHM when my sister came along. About the time I started high school she went back to work as a teacher in Head Start and did that for several years. She took a job as a clerk in a sewing store for a short time to have enough quarters to qualify for Social Security. It was about the same time the Government was consolidating Railroad Retirement into Social Security and after that Mom could not get any Social Security because she got Railroad Retirement based on my dad's work. BTW, Dad would be 109 now if he were still living.
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02-12-2021, 07:47 AM
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#65
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 3,681
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Such interesting stories!
My Dad left school at 17 to join the Navy in 1944. He learned to be an electrician in the Navy and worked at that after he got out in 1946. Eventually he ended up being a self employed salesman for a roofing company and did that from the early 1960's until he retired in 1985 at age 59.5. He had been quite a good salesman and had built up his Keogh plan to the point where he could retire and live off of that until taking Social Security at 62. He retired at the peak of his career because he was just done with selling and wanted to retire while he was still healthy. He lived until age 90 so he had a good long retirement.
Mom was a clerk in a department store and didn't work after marriage. After all 3 of us kids were grown she volunteered at a preschool which she really enjoyed. She had to stop that as she got older. She died suddenly in 2011 at age 83 and two weeks later my Dad broke his hip and from there it was a slow decline until he died 5 years later.
Reflecting back on this I realize how well he did after his childhood with a single mom and a dad who he never knew. He talked about being "on the dole" during the Depression and how they moved so often due to eviction. The Navy years had a big impact on him.
__________________
Married, both 69. DH retired June, 2010. I have a pleasant little part time job.
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02-12-2021, 08:04 AM
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#66
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Nov 2017
Posts: 174
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 2017ish
Dad went into military right out of high school, then was a bricklayer who eventually hung out his own shingle/hod. He was still working when diagnosed with terminal lung ca at 69--so say 51 years. Mom helped out in the masonry business, as well as other jobs over the years (and raised 4 kids). So she would have been working about 55 years or so if you include all the child-rearing years.
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Very close story as above. It hit home.
My Dad went to work in a factory right out of high school, then was a bricklayer who eventually hung out his own shingle. He worked till 70 when he was diagnosed with Parkinson's, was working on selling all of his equipment and tools when he died 7 years later. Mom did the same as well but only 2 kids.
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02-12-2021, 05:12 PM
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#67
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: St. Augustine
Posts: 51
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Dad joined the Army at 17. Helped win WWII. Transferred to USAF in 1948. Worked in EOD until he retired in 1965. Then went into Civil Service and retired from that in 1983 age 62.
Passed away at 89.
Momma was a waitress for awhile then a telephone operator for a couple of years. After that she was a house wife. Passed away at 90.
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02-12-2021, 05:49 PM
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#68
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 152
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Mom had a big job taking care of four kids and a husband who worked ungodly hours in retail. At some point mom decided to take a job outside of the house. Probably to preserve her sanity.
Unfortunately she passed away at the young age of 52.
Dad continued his career until 60. By that time he had remarried. He and his wife bought a bed and breakfast. They did that for about five years. Dad fully retired at 65. That was nearly 20 years ago.
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02-12-2021, 06:16 PM
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#69
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Oct 2020
Posts: 952
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Not sure how long my Dad worked, he got drafted at the end of WWII, but the war ended before deployment. He went to college, got a job and got drafted again and sent to Korea. After that, he worked until his employer retired him at 62 due to Alzheimer's.
My Mom grew up on a farm, so basically worked her whole life. She died at 44, never retired other than the two years it took for the cancer to eat her.
DW's Dad died of a heart attack at 37. Her Mom worked 55 years, retiring at 75.
We decided that given the family history, we shouldn't wait any longer, so I just retired after 40 years and DW will retire in two weeks after 40 years.
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02-12-2021, 06:41 PM
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#70
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Nov 2016
Posts: 9,514
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Very interesting stories I enjoy them and really not an easy way for your parents early years.
My dad started out working very young also. At about 7 years old he and a couple of his brothers were framed out for the summer as soon as school was out. They went to work for farmers and ranchers and where gone all summer then back a day or so before school started again in the fall. My dad told me after 4 years with the same family he got a worn out coat for winter. That was his pay but they feed him and housed him and were very good to him. He said he worked very hard during those summers. He never finished school either had to then work at his dads harness and shoe shop. He would be 100 now but passed away 88.
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02-12-2021, 10:02 PM
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#71
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Dryer sheet wannabe
Join Date: Aug 2020
Location: Hopkinton
Posts: 12
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Work
Mom worked for about 30 years, retired around 54 after an injury, dad retired after 41 years (10 in the military) around 63. Wife retired after first son was born at 29, so 7 years of work. I retired at 42 after 20 years. Parents averaged 35.5, we averaged 13.5.
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02-13-2021, 08:26 AM
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#72
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 783
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Dad was employed by the same company for 48 years. He started at age 17 after HS graduation. Employer kept him on the books as an employee while he fought in Europe during WWII. He worked till age 65 in order to keep Mom on his health insurance as long as possible. Mom dropped out of HS and started working in a factory at age 17. She retired at age 59, so she worked for approx. 42 years.
I think this was unusual that both parents had long working careers at only one employer.
__________________
***********
My motto is.... "a dollar saved is better than a dollar earned. I don't pay tax on the dollar I saved."
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02-13-2021, 11:51 AM
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#73
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: central California
Posts: 1,135
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Quote:
Originally Posted by W2R
My father was a surgeon. On the day he was moving out of his office to retire, at age 70, he had a doctor appointment. So, he told my brother (who was helping him move all that furniture out) that he'd be back in a few minutes.
The doctor told him he had metastatic cancer and gave him two weeks to live.
I had arrived at the family home (in Hawaii) for a one week visit the day before, thank goodness. So, I was able to be there for my mother who, like the rest of us, was devastated. My father wanted privacy and did not want interaction with friends at that time, so we did what we could to help him with that.
He didn't die for a year, but he was in excruciating pain and I wouldn't call that a retirement in the normal sense.
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This is heartbreaking, W2R. It must have completely changed the way you viewed life and retirement.
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02-13-2021, 01:30 PM
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#74
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Dryer sheet aficionado
Join Date: Nov 2015
Location: Hopedale
Posts: 38
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My wife and I worked only 37 years. But I say that with acknowledgment of plenty of privilege growing up (two parents, always food on the table, white, me - male, some financial assistance along the way, likely inherited wealth, low crime neighborhoods).
My Dad worked 55 years and loved it.
My mom did payed work 10 years. I say that with respect for the many years taking care of the family after being paid for work.
Her dad 35 years.
Her mom 25 payed work years.
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02-13-2021, 02:04 PM
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#75
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: New Orleans
Posts: 47,498
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Quote:
Originally Posted by swakyaby
This is heartbreaking, W2R. It must have completely changed the way you viewed life and retirement.
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Thanks for understanding. Yes, it did. It's hard to describe watching my own father, a strong, tough surgeon who was used to dealing with life and death every day, on the afternoon of his diagnosis. He just wanted to stare out the window of our oceanfront home watching the surf breaking on our beach. He didn't want to talk to anybody. He was too busy taking in every moment that he had left.
After seeing that I was determined to retire earlier than 65, no matter what. And, I did. Ironically, I am 72 so I have outlived him already.
He had had two major heart attacks in his early 50's, which is why he had to quit doing the more major, more stressful life-or-death burn surgeries that were his specialty, and instead semi-retire to Hawaii at age 56 (continuing to work but limiting himself to minor surgeries after that). No more stress, healthier lifestyle, no more heart attacks! And then, cancer got him. I guess when your time is up, it's up.
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02-13-2021, 02:36 PM
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#76
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: The Great Wide Open
Posts: 3,804
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Dad worked as an aircraft mechanic and retired a month after 9/11. He died of leukemia 4 years later at 70. Mom worked as a cashier until I was born, then raised 4 kids, still keeps house. She hasn't been out of the house since Covid began other than about 20 times to church, once churches opened up.
__________________
Give me Liberty or give me Death. Patrick Henry
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02-19-2021, 07:33 AM
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#77
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Jan 2021
Location: lincoln
Posts: 194
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My dad did 4 years Army right out of HS in 1955, he was 22 when he got out of Army, he then worked as a mechanic for about 20 years,pay was not great and then his knees and back caught up with him. He was a paratrooper in the military and his knees and back bothered him considerably (though he never complained about it) once he was 45 about all he could muster was 20 -30 hr a week as a part time school custodian . He worked that job till age 60 then retired with a small public school pension from that, about 400 per month,his SS he took at age 62 it was about $600 per month. My mom stayed home till us 5 kids were grown, then she worked mostly part time as a nurse aid maybe 30 hrs a week and she baby sat kids some and did some cash only seamtress sewing jobs on the side. Her SS was a bit less than dad's as he did not pay in for many years. This was in Fargo ND.
My parents were fortunate to find an elderly housing unit that charged rent based on income. So they basically lived on my dad's SS and small public school pension and my moms SS . Their rent was about 1/3 of their income. so they paid about 500 a month for rent, maybe 150 for heat and electric. They had a medicare supplement policy that was about $140 a month , they had burial/funeral insurance that was about $20 a month each. Car was an old 81 Caprice insurance maybe $300 per year. They did not have cable or internet,land line phone maybe $50 a month. They probably spent no more than $200 a month on grocery as they ate sr meals that were served at the sr living apartments. They did not drive much other than for groceries .I bet if they drove less than 2000 miles a year. They paid about $3.00 a day for the noon meal that they could eat in or pick it up. Mom said they generally had about $400 a month left over after bills were paid each month and that was more than when they were working with 5 of us kids still in school. It was paycheck to paycheck for sure when they were raising us kids. We never had new clothes, but we never went hungry and we all found part time jobs from about age 12 on mowing snow shoveling, fast food McD BK Hardees grocery. proud of my parents (both now long ago deceased) for raising us on their limited budget. As a kid I kind of took it for granted mostly.As an adult I realized just how much they sacrificed to raise us all.
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02-19-2021, 07:52 AM
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#78
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Dallas
Posts: 1,155
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My dad slowed down work at about 50 after I started working! It is customary in my culture to pay for parents after son starts earning. He had no savings at 50 (normal) but some piled up debt (not normal). I think he stopped working completely at 60 and he in now 70. We were farmers so we can choose how much help to hire and slow down the hands on work. I want to follow my dad's foot print (minus debt) but I have no help coming! I have an intellectually disabled son so I have to plan for his life along with my retirement but I have been blessed to be able to pay for all 3 of us (dad, me and my son).
PS: My mom worked two jobs (home maker and shop keeper) for close to 10 years. She closed the shop after I went to college and became a full time home maker. She enjoyed 15 years of retired life before she passed away at 65.
PPS: Dad started working at 20 so about 30-40 years of work.
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02-19-2021, 08:08 AM
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#79
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Sep 2016
Location: Acworth
Posts: 1,214
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At ~65 my mom stopped working due to disability. My dad kept working until he was 67 iirc. Both started working in their teens. Both with partial college education. Dad a white collar executive for most of his life, mom in a variety of low-education/skill required positions from bank teller to administrative work. Mom took time off over the years as a stay at home mom and out for disability, but probably had 35-40 years of total work. Dad worked for almost 50 years straight.
I've been working full time since I was 19, part time before that. My goal is to be out of the work force before I'm 50, so no more than 30 years of full-time work.
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02-19-2021, 08:11 AM
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#80
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: South central PA
Posts: 3,486
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My dad stopped working at 62 when he became eligible for retiree medical. Mom stopped working in 1957 when my sister was born. Sister is retiring this year at 62.5 so she can get retiree medical. None of my dad’s siblings or their wives worked until 65. Only one quit due to disability. The married sisters never worked.
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