"I just turned 81, and in two years, I'll hit my 15-year mark with REI, a national retail chain that sells outdoor gear and apparel. This is a motivator. My wife is 74 and still works part-time, too. We're financially in a position where we don't need to keep working, but we have no real plans to retire fully. We both get asked a lot,"
"We both get asked a lot, "Why are you still working? You don't need the money." But in your 70s and 80s, friends are dying or have medical issues, and you lose that social connection. I work because I have to keep moving, building connections, and engaging with new things. Business Insider's "80 over 80" series draws on interviews with the growing group of Americans working past their 80th birthdays. They discussed their careers, retirement planning, living expenses, healthcare, and life lessons."
Mike Plummer is 81 and has worked at REI for 13 years, aiming to reach 15 years there in two years. He left corporate life at 55 after taking a buyout and does not regret that decision. He and his 74-year-old wife are financially secure and have no plans to retire fully. He continues working to stay active, build social connections, and engage with new experiences as friends age and medical issues reduce social networks. He began working around age eight in his father's convenience store, worked in a grocery meat market in high school, attended college as a co-op student, and earned two master's degrees from New York University, the first in engineering in 1969.
Read at Business Insider
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