Life lessons from 90-year-olds who are still working, active, and financially savvy

Illuminated by a large desk lamp, Fay Pacchioli, 93, crunches numbers in Excel under the watchful eyes of her dogs, immortalized in framed photos on her wall.

It's midnight in Easton, Pennsylvania, and she's hours into her shift. It's when she focuses the best, kept awake by the scent of spring flowers on her desk and the scuttling paws of her petite dog, Miss DeeDee.

Her patterned cane, the black-and-white photo of her late husband, and the medications she's been taking since having a stroke in August are signs of how much has changed in the 50-plus years since she opened her pet supplies store. Still, the buzzing texts on her phone and stream of emails root her in her present bookkeeping tasks for the business, which she does part time on her own schedule.

"I'm not ready to quit yet," Pacchioli said. "I keep seeing in the paper that there are people over 100, and I'm not sure if I'm going to make that, but I feel good."

Pacchioli is one of half a dozen Americans in their 90s who talked to Business Insider about why they're still working. All said they work to keep their minds fresh and have a purpose, though two said they don't have much choice for financial reasons. Most said they work between doctors' appointments and family visits, arranging their schedules to avoid getting too tired or burned out.

It's rare for someone in their 90s to work. A Business Insider analysis of Census Bureau data found that about 36,000 people 90 and older in the US work at least part time. It's a tiny part of the workforce, but valuable for the workers and their employers.

Christina Matz, the director of the Center on Aging and Work at Boston College, said there's a "bifurcation" between more privileged older workers who can retire when they desire, and those who have to work to supplement Social Security. Some older Americans in precarious financial situations take whatever position they can find. Others have tied much of their identity to work and can't fathom giving it up, especially those who built their own businesses or were self-employed.

"To sell their equipment, sell their land, sell their business, is very hard," Matz said. "Oftentimes, you see that farmers will continue to maintain some level of involvement in the field into their 80s and 90s. It's partly because of this fear of what will happen if I let it go."

For Pacchioli, it's taken seven decades to master work-life balance. She recently attended a class reunion with friends from college, and she often plays bridge with others around her age. During the summers, she spends time at her lake house.

"I don't have a million dollars, but I have enough money to live comfortably on," Pacchioli said. "I have money saved to pay for my funeral and expenses, and I have some designated for each of my children and grandchildren, but I don't have a lot."

He has no plans to stop running his company

James "Buddy" Hooper, 91, works more hours in a week than many working professionals half his age.

"I am so driven to get my company to where it will continue to grow without me that all I do is work," Hooper said, adding he typically wakes up at 6:30 a.m. "To qualify that, I work when I please. If I want to take time off, I take time off."

Hooper, who lives in Clearwater, Florida, began his business, OrangeBee Money Global, in 1989. He works with companies and entrepreneurs to generate additional sales and clientele. Hooper doesn't charge an up-front fee or membership cost, but he takes a 10% broker's fee and charges a small monthly fee if OBMG delivers new customers. He runs the business himself but sometimes brings in outside help for more technical projects.

"A football player does not get paid for playing football; he's paid for his time, and what he does with his time determines how much money he makes," Hooper said. "When I discovered that, I realized that everybody has time, and I can turn time into money."

Despite some nerve damage in his legs and feet from car accidents that has had minimal impact on his physical activities, he credits his many early mornings and meeting-heavy days to his parents' work ethic. They grew cotton and vegetables on their farm in Texas and traded in their cows to pay back loans. Hooper, who was in the Marines, also previously worked at Sears and Goodyear Tire.

Now, he said he won't stop as his company continues expanding to global markets.

"You've got to find something that you love to do," Hooper said, adding that it's important not to try to "make a whole lot of money real fast" without enjoying the job.

'I want to be doing something constructive and useful for people'

Dolores Haller, 92, hasn't stopped working since she was 13 and earned $1.35 an hour at a dairy store. Because she has limited savings, Haller said the extra money she earns now as a bookkeeper for a real estate lawyer three days a week is crucial.

Her career included stints as an accounts manager at an electrical wholesaler and a fencing company. She also ran a business selling insurance for 18 years.

Haller, who lives near Buffalo, New York, said she and her late husband didn't focus much on retirement planning and were "very generous" with their children. She said she wasn't anywhere near wealthy growing up, and never had much for most of her life, though she's never needed a lot to be happy.

"It's all gone — everything I've ever had in a savings account has gone toward living expenses," Haller said, adding she earns in the mid-five figures annually from Social Security and what she earns as a bookkeeper. "I'm not wealthy, but I have enough to live on because I don't have a lot of wants."

When she's not working, she cares for her dog, plays games on her iPad, and visits friends and family. She said she has high blood pressure but is otherwise in good health, adding that she had other family members who lived into their late 90s. And while she's mostly deaf, it hasn't stopped her from doing anything.

"I want to be doing something constructive and useful for people," Haller said.

'I'm still reading and learning every day'

For some 90-somethings like Lewis Tagliaferre, 92, "work" means passion projects with a little money coming in.

Tagliaferre, who retired 27 years ago from his job as director of marketing services for the National Electrical Contractors Association, earning $85,000 a year, said retirement has not been a time to kick his feet up and relax. He stopped working after calculating that his pension would only increase by $600 a year if he worked past retirement age. After retirement, he wrote freelance magazine articles and bought and sold motorcycles.

Tagliaferre said that when he retired, he had about $200,000, and his house, which he bought in 1973, was paid off. But he lost half of his investments in 2008 amid the Great Recession. It took him six years to recover.

The death of his wife and many of his close friends compelled him to search deeper to discover his purpose upon retiring.

"In my neighborhood, we had a group of older people who got together occasionally for lunches, but they've all died," Tagliaferre said. "There's nobody around here anymore. The houses have been recycled with new families, and I'm an outlier here."

After retiring, he began the first of 12 books he's written on topics including religion and aging, and he's still hoping to secure a book deal. In 2024, he made $115,000 from his pension and Social Security. He paid for his house and car in cash, so he's kept his expenses low. He's managed his finances carefully and tries to stay occupied, though he said he gets lonely more often.

"We don't know what might happen; I could have a stroke tonight," Tagliaferre said. "I'm still reading and learning every day."