I’m 84 and Work Late Nights; I Can’t Retire but Plan to Live Until 100

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Jane Way, 84, who lives in a suburb of Phoenix. Way works 30 hours a week as a US-based accountant for a South African orphanage. She works partly out of financial necessity but said she would work regardless, despite some health issues. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

I started working at 7 in my parents’ restaurant. I have a degree in accounting. I was the first woman from Cal Poly to be invited to help recruit students for CPA firms. I was then offered a position at a Big 8 firm, where I worked for two years and became certified.

I was a CPA for 46 years in various roles, including franchising and retail, across different kinds of companies. I was a prominent figure in accounting and finance departments.

My husband was also a CPA. He started an import business after a massive heart attack in 1972. I’ve been widowed since 1987 and never remarried.

At the time, I was the CFO of an international franchisor of rental equipment and party goods. My husband and I also owned and managed an import company specializing in gourmet and decorative accessories.

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After his death, I was not prepared to handle all the responsibilities of a high-ranking CFO accounting position. I began working as a contract employee for various companies and with a rental company for several years.

I’ve primarily worked in the private sector. My emphasis for the last 12 years has been with nonprofits, and I’m currently working with an Arizona nonprofit that has an orphanage in South Africa.

I’m very active in my church and serve on the missions committee. Someone brought this charity to the church as an opportunity for us to get involved.

I work night and day, literally

9 a.m. my time is the end of the day in South Africa. My workday for Open Arms Home for Children begins at 11 p.m. and ends at 8 a.m.

I do some work during the day that I can complete without direct supervision. I don’t work a full day most days, but it averages about 30 hours a week. I do financial statements, analyses, and reports during the regular day. I take a couple of long naps every 24-hour cycle.

I’m a person who thrives on work. I need to be doing something to make things better for people. Otherwise, I don’t feel like I’m productive at all.

My mantra for many years has been to share my best. For me, work is its own reward, and it keeps me thinking fresh thoughts. I need the money and am open to additional opportunities, but I would work anyway.

I’ve retired at least twice, and it just doesn’t suit me. I was shortly retired in 1990 after running my accounting practice, and my “long retirement” was from 2004 until 2011. In my 60s, I thought I was through with work.

I’m dependent on both my Social Security and my nonprofit income

I put two grandchildren through college and spent my retirement early, so I don’t have huge resources. This is what I chose to do.

When the family gathered to celebrate my 80th birthday, I shared that I have a 20-year plan. I’m almost five years into that plan, and some things are better, while others are worse, but I intend to be here to celebrate reaching 100 and hope to still be working.

Our lives shape us, just as we shape our lives. My priorities are my faith and family, followed by work, and then writing. I’m very close to my family. I have one son and three grandchildren. I decided that I needed to be an influence in their lives.

I have several health issues

Some are serious, but I don’t think about that, any more than necessary, as there are other things that need to be done. You don’t reach 84 without facing some health challenges.

I’ve been in a wheelchair for five years, so my ability to be mobile and do things outside my home is pretty limited. My entire career and family are ways for me to stay connected to the world.

I work from home, and everything I need is conveniently located nearby. My son and one of my grandsons live with me. My son had a stroke in 2016 and is disabled. My grandson’s marriage fell apart, and we decided it was a matter of economy for the three of us to live together.

It has gone very well. Everybody takes care of their own stuff, and I do most of the cooking. We share expenses.

Since I share my home with my son and grandson, I have ready tech support. Along the way, I’ve had to take breaks due to health issues, the most recent being COVID-19 in 2023. I was in the hospital for almost two weeks and then in rehab for six weeks.

I hope to stay with this organization for the next decade and contribute to its success. I know they’re pleased with the work I do, and it will be up to me to decide when I no longer want to work.

Work is its own reward

Find a field you enjoy, and it won’t be work. It’s important to volunteer and give back to your community.

If I had regrets, one might be that I didn’t cultivate relationships. I met friends at church. My close friends here in Phoenix started out as clients in Yuma in 1987. I have many newer friends my age, and we get together and do things, but it isn’t the same as having people who know your history.

The most important thing is to be true to yourself and do what you want to do and what makes you happy. People need to be able to make their own life choices and suffer the consequences if they don’t turn out as they hoped.

Part of what makes us adults is going through the hard times and understanding that that’s a part of living. Nothing is just handed to us.