Do Blue collar workers retire sooner than white collar?

A lot of experts say that’s too simplistic and they’re probably right.

People work with their hands or depend on their body to make their living are commonly thought to retire much earlier than folks who may sit in an office and push paper or punch the keys of a computer. Maybe 40 years ago, this was more prevalent. Landscapers, those who are in the building trades, or to quote Roger Daltrey – those who get theirs backs into their living. Working longer can help build up one’s retirement nest egg but if advancing age declines one’s skills or energy then there may not be as much time as one may need.

Swinging a hammer, twisting a wrench or having to load boxes onto a truck may not be something you can do every day until you’re 70. So it’s completely logical to think that blue collar jobs are not for the older person. My client George was an auto mechanic for years but prolonged exposure to oil and grease has recently caused him to have painful skin rashes. Even if he wears long sleeves and gloves there still a level of discomfort. His ability to continue in his chosen profession has been compromised. Now he’s at the tech school showing teens and 20 somethings his craft. Without the teaching job–something he truly does enjoy– maybe George’s ability to further fund his retirement would be compromised.

However not all white collar jobs can be undemanding to the human body. A dentist or a surgeon leaning over people and using the fine motor skills to hold a dental instrument or a scalpel might not so easily done effectively at age 63 or 68. As spectacular of a machine as the human body is, it is not meant to last forever. These limits can impact your ability to save for retirement and build retirement assets.

Even a trial lawyer who experiences the stress of trying cases or a judge who carries the weight of second guessing their own rulings on changing people’s lives and the lives of their families. The emotional torture of wondering if you did the right thing can last a long time. Guilt of feeling differently about it after the fact can wear you down psychologically. Stress can be hard on anyone in any job like a police officer or fire fighter; compound the physical aspect of the aforementioned professions and the shelf life of a career in either can be challenging.

What do they say now? Sitting is the new smoking? What if your job at the GE plant was to put pieces of metal into a tool and die machine and the quota was 400 per day? That’s a lot of sitting at that machine to perform that task every day for years. Maybe you’re too tired to go to the gym or walk afterwards or there’s familial obligations you need to be present for. All that sitting can’t be healthy.

My client Tim has worked in construction for decades. Painting houses, framing and hanging sheet rock as well as masonary, he says “my body is broken” or “I can’t keep this up much longer”. HIs success in construction could be limited by his physical breakdown. My advice to him has been the following- if you feel as though you haven’t saved enough for retirement, then maybe your next job should be with an entity like the state or the federal gov’t which would provide you with a pension. Just put in 5 years into such a job and they are obligated to pay you. The perfect world would be to work for a corporation that provides a pension and a 401K. Then your Social Security check won’t be effected by the Windfall/Pension offset rule of 1984 which can chop down the value of your Soc Sec check– a topic for another day.

It doesn’t matter how tough you are, the body and mind have a finite life no matter what job you work at. I’m not discounting the person doing the blue collar work; I’ve done plenty myself. I painted houses, worked in restaurants, dug ditches through hard pan semi frozen dirt, chopped wood and trees, and crawled underneath 30 year old mobile homes to fix water pipes. The wear and tear is very real! But so is the repetitive motion of some white collar jobs or the threat of infection etc in the medical/hospital industry. My client Lorraine who is an outstanding nurse has never really recovered from Mercers disease and some of the other hazards of nursing.

My client Louis worked with asbestos for years after WWII. He died with 40% lung capacity– of course smoking unfiltered Luckys didn’t help. An insurance agent in the 1970’s used make collections on life insurance premiums including cash until one was robbed and killed in NYC. Then most insurance companies switched over to electronic transfer out of your checking account. Physical wear and tear isn’t the only thing that are hazards of our jobs. I had to climb a 60 foot ladder as a house painter to scrape and prime a peak of a roof of a 200 year old colonial– I was fearing for life and limb the whole time. Any job that involves the ocean–fishing, oil drilling, construction or shipping carries life threatening risks as well.

All of these things can impact your ability to save for retirement. However having an open mind for a change in careers or being open to other training can help if things didn’t turn out quite the way we planned. My client Phil and Alice were college professors in the greater Boston area for years. They were heavily involved in community theatre–acting, writing, scene design etc. They retired a little modestly but moved out to California to a “theatre” college community. They sold the house at a huge profit and bought something smaller out west– invested the rest. They got jobs doing their hobby and something they loved to supplement their retirement. They’re deliriously happy and will continue to work into their 70’s. Maybe you have a similar hobby.

That’s it for now. More to come.