How many years did you work

How many years did you work

  • Less than 10

    Votes: 1 0.3%
  • 11 - 20

    Votes: 10 2.9%
  • 21 - 30

    Votes: 63 18.6%
  • 31 - 40

    Votes: 187 55.2%
  • 41+

    Votes: 78 23.0%

  • Total voters
    339
40 years but I didn't count the college and grad school years even though I had to file tax returns. I also didn't count the caddy jobs, camp counselor jobs, and the lemonade stand in the front yard.
 
29 years in my career.

Could add another 4 if you count H.S. and College jobs.
 
I worked more than 35 hours per week for 37 years. I paid into SS for 12 years
 
My post college career at Megacorp was 39 years. But since age 16 I had earnings that I paid SS and Medicare tax from. So from a "years paying SS and Medicare taxes" view, it would be 44.

35 of those years I paid the maximum SS tax, so fortunately will be getting the maximum SS benefit.
 
Started at 19 and quit at 61. I worked for 2 companies and was a partnered owner in another. No regrets.
 
I had a "real" job for about 24 years - all with same Mega Tech company. But 14 years of earning before that - ages 14 thru 28 working during high school, college, and grad school.
 
First job at 14 (paid FICA).
Retired at 52.
So 38 years by that measure.

First "professional" job at 23.
Retired 29 years after that.

Either way ... worked and invested my tail off ... and then pulled the plug!
 
51 years in a paid job/SS taxed, about 5 years more with cash jobs.
A full 38 in my nursing career, 36 with one employer.
Happy and blessed to be retired!
 
I barely got into the 31-40 category with FT work, but y’all made me remember I contributed to SS since age 16 starting on a PT level.
 
My 41+ years only includes jobs after I got my grad degree even though I had soc sec wages for a number of years before that. (I'm a "20 years of schooling and they put you on the day shift" person though my earlier jobs were mostly school-related and not at night.) I spent my 41+ at 4 places, the last one being DH's business for 20 years. Each one was great and each new one better than the previous. Boy was I lucky and I'm not sure it could be done today.
 
20 1/2 years not counting mowing lawns, a couple Summers in a suitcase factory and all the "kid stuff."

Asterisk: Had planned to work another 10-ish yrs due to greed & fear of running out of money. Ran into medical problems that kept me from working for most of those 10 yrs but never missed a meal or a rent payment. Since I was closing in on 50 decided working wasn't worth it.
 
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My first W-2 was in 1969; my last one was in 2011. I am still working. I just don't get paid for it.
 
While I was initially trying to get at how many of us retired with few enough work years to take a significant hit in Social Security, I was also just hoping to read people's stories - always a favorite aspect of these polls on ER for me. So there are no wrong answers here.
The SS benefits-formula is highly nonlinear, so a person might have a number of zeros in the 35-year-tally, and several years of low earnings, and still be "close" (within say 20%) of the ceiling. Working additional years, then becomes a diminishing return. This, one gathers, is the situation faced by folks who commenced with an OK-ish W2 starting at age ~20, and who are FIRE candidates in their early 50s.... or in other words, the SS holding-tank has nearly been filled, but one has to wait ~7 years before even "early" eligibility.

Currently I have 34 years of SS credits; part-time work next year, eliminates the final zero-year. But with low cumulative annual wages, it's more of a mind-game that one plays with oneself, than a compelling financial plan.
 
I was 29 when I finally completed my PhD and started working. I was fortunate to be able to retire by age 58 - a very tightly packed career!
 
Started lawn maintenance at age 14, then joined the reserves. After graduation, a year of Masters paid by Ford Foundation. Then 25 years with megacorp followed by 10 years consulting. Last years were the most satisfying.
 
Probably too many, but too early to tell.

As an "adult" post college, 34 years. From ages 22 to 56.

Mowing lawns as a kid, working through high school / college, would add another 8-10.
 
41 years starting with 9 years in the Air Force and ending in 2012 with my retirement from Mega Corp.

Did not count 4 years of working through high school.
 
At 9 my mother was finding me mowing jobs. After Vo-Tech I got a check from Oil and Gas for the next 46 years. SSA shows I had income for 51 years. The first year $22.
 
About two years less than I wanted thanks to the massive Megacorp layoffs over a 7-8 year period (I was in the 6-7 year window), and the moving of our industry out of Silicon Valley. 31 years.
 
SSA earnings record shows income for 39 years. Two of those years were while I was High School.lol
 
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