golden days are passing over...

I tend to ask a lot of questions nowadays; especially to people that have been around and seen a few things in their day.

Recently, I spoke with a very successful elderly gentleman about his career path. (We will call him George) He is in his early 70s, but remembers his first job like it was yesterday.

When he graduated from Berkley University with an engineering degree 50 years ago, he said the only job he could get was a sales job for one of the leading aluminum manufacturers in the U.S. and the world. 
Luckily, they were only hiring engineers to be their salesmen at that time.

For 35 years, he traveled the ranks of the company and eventually became president.

He had some pretty interesting stories of how his company competed with other major manufacturers (especially in China) and how it was able to survive over the years by changing game plans and strategies.

The thing that fascinated me the most was what happened AFTER  he retired.

Upon retiring, a friend and a major shareholder in the company that  George was a part of for 35 years asked for his assistance and leadership in a somewhat new company.

The company, another manufacturing company, was bleeding cash and fast.  It was only about 15-20 years old, but it needed help from someone who's been there around and seen a few things in their day.

In his mid 60's, when most people are moving to Florida to watch Maury all day and to read the comic section of the newspaper, he took the most stressful job of his career.

In his second week at the job, the company couldn't make payroll.  He had to go to Mellon Bank and borrow $100,000.. in his second week!

That bought him some time in order to pull in other investors and keep the company afloat.
The company hemorrhaged money for 2 years (approximately 2 million per year).

Finally, in his 3rd year, they made a profit.

Once the company was self sustaining and quite profitable for 5 years, they sold the company to a larger manufacturer for an incredible gain.

Nowadays, he spends his time on the board of an investment firm living peacefully in his dream house.

Before I left, I asked if he ever thought about retiring completely.
His answer:  "I hope not".

 Some people can't wait to retire. Some people are like George.

If some punk kid ever asks you about retiring...

what will your answer be?