Same job for 60 years

[RoJoHen]

My dad just never pays things off early. He'd rather pay $10 a month and rack up $5000 interest over a few years than just pay the whole balance. Therefore, he has a lot of debt, while still having plenty of cash on hand. I'm not saying it's a smart way to go, but he's never been denied credit for anything and still maintains a pretty solid standard of living while also being able to provide for his family. As someone who has benefitted greatly from it, I'm not complaining. He seems to have things under control.

 

[Miss Chicken]

At least RoJoHen's parents have something to show for their debt.

My brother was a lawyer earning about $90,000 a year. He has never been married or had any children yet he lived on paycheck to paycheck. He has no assets (except his huge collection of books). No car, no house, no investments. When he had his breakdown about 5 years ago, he was thousands in debt, had no money at all in the bank and had to borrow the airfare from my sister to come back to Tasmania.

I managed better than him raising three children on a quarter of his income.

 

[RoJoHen]

Yeah, some people just manage their money in different ways. At one point in time, my parents were paying for their house, 5 cars (including insurance), 5 cellphone bills, 3 college tuitions (two of which were private $40K/year schools), my brother's rent, plus a bunch of random credit cards...and they were still able to give me a $3000 check when I was in a rough spot a few years ago and had to move for my job.

My parents have always been unbelievably supportive and helpful to me and my siblings, to their own financial detriment.

 

[Miss Chicken]

You are fortunate.

Apart from paying for him to go to university (something they didn't do for their daughters), my parents 'lent' my brother $8,000 to go an a 11 month holiday to Europe, and $25,000 to get out of debt the first time he was in trouble (he never repaid them). Around the same time as he was taking his holiday they refused to pay to have the phone connected to my property (cost $150) despite the fact that I had recently been deserted by my husband, had no transport and one of my three children was a sickly baby.

I did get $70,000 in my Mum's will. My brother got his $70,000 plus the house for as long as he lives in it. Mum had originally planned to leave her daughters only $25,000 each and my brother the house outright and $200,000 as well but the trustees talked her out of that saying such a will could be easily contested.

 

[RoJoHen]

Random update (how fortunate that my dad just called): my dad had to take a drug test today, and tomorrow he has to interview to keep a job with the company (even though he's basically been running the company for the last decade). They want to bump him down to a job in sales, making 60K less than he was making before.

And my brother apparently has pinkeye.

My family is falling apart!

 

[E-DUB]

Science fiction writer Jack Williamson published his first story in 1927 or 28, his last shortly before his death in his late 90's. His working career basically spanned my mothers entire lifetime and she died at 81.

 

[Miss Chicken]

Science fiction writer Jack Williamson published his first story in 1927 or 28, his last shortly before his death in his late 90's. His working career basically spanned my mothers entire lifetime and she died at 81.

Wasn 't he a teacher/professor for quite a few years during his writing career? That might exclude him from having the "same job".


Any way, ABC TV has located an 83 year old woman who has worked an the department store, David Jones, for 60 years.