OK, here is the whole history, at least as best I can recall the early years.
1960-64 - delivered newspapers, Junior High and High School
1965-1966 - Part time grocery store clerk during undergrad school, left for better pay and better job
1966-1969 - Part time technician, City Planning Department (and undergrad school) left to go to grad school. This was a GREAT job, loved the work and it paid 4x minimum wage.
1969-1972 - Grad school on NSF Fellowship, UT Knoxville, MS/PhD Ag Economics.
1972-1975 - Assistant Prof Economics, No. KY State U, left due to contract termination when I would not cover up for Department Head's management issues. Department Head and President relieved of duties 3 years later.
1976-1978 - U. of Ill. Assistant Professor Ag Economics, left for better pay at USDA
1978-1979 - USDA, Washington DC, hated the job and the commute from Virginia, left for better pay and better work environment
1979-2003 - Elanco. In 2003 I was offered early retirement with pension and with a generous golden parachute that paid all my debts plus some, and took it. It was the after-effects of the August 2001 Prozac patent expiration. I had 24 great and very productive years, got to travel to and work in 40+ countries, did some really outstanding projects. My whole department was disbanded. The company is still using the business planning model I built. Also, there are great friendships that have lasted to this day. Sorry that so few get that retirement benefit any more, but I did, and glad of it. It was a great ride, but better things lay ahead.
2003-2015 - Consulting. I have done well over 100 projects (more than a few) for my former employer, some small, some quite large. Total projects to date are over 350, and counting. Total billings are well over $1 million, gross margin 90% (makes Apple look sick, but I don't have very high COGS :). Take a look at the client list on
farmecon.com. I'm sure there are few names there you know. All of those projects came as a result of referrals, and my reputation.
I will not pretend that every client was happy with the results. There have been a few cases where the client did not like my advice. I have also turned down numerous lucrative potential projects because I either thought I did not have the expertise or they smelled "fishy".
There was one in particular that involved an inquiry for doing a business plan for a Saudi prince's poultry business. That thing smelled bad from the get-go. The more I got into it the more I realized that it was all a political ploy to get subsidies for a very questionable business proposition. After a few inquires and phone conversations I told them I was not interested.
There was another that was a Chinese State-Owned Enterprise that wanted to set up a greenfield beef cattle operation in South America. They had no idea what they were getting into. I partnered with another consultant, we gave them a realistic cost estimate, and they went a very different direction. That would have been at least a $100k project for me if I had mislead them. Of course, I could also be dead today if I had mislead them!
I have never collected a cent of unemployment or welfare. That is, unless you consider a NSF Fellowship or Social Security to be welfare. Except for the three years in grad school I have been gainfully employed continuously since 1960, 55 of my 69 years. I also paid the max into Social Security for all of the 24 years I was at Elanco, and several year since.
To get the NSF fellowship I scored at the 99th percentile on the 1969 economics GRE (Graduate Record Exam). That is a national standardized test that would include students from the likes of Harvard, U Chicago, and Stanford. So I don't consider the fellowship welfare. It most definitely was not based on financial need.
Also, 2003 to circa 2006, lecturer in Economics, IUPUI. 2005-2006, taught a grad level economics course at University of Indianapolis. Left these positions because of the time and travel demands of the consulting practice.
As for the future, and that starts tomorrow, who knows? I have no plans for full time retirement, even after the IRA/401k RMD's kick in next year.
So, for better or worse we are all making our ways in the world. But not without a lot of help. Teachers, college professors, fellow workers, ministers, family members, friends and even strangers help and steer us along the way. I think most of us do the best we can. I consider myself to have been very lucky to have had some incredible guidance along the way.
Life has had it's bumps, everybody's does. My dad died very suddenly in 1965, thus the part time jobs and 5 years for undergrad school. There was a divorce in 2002. That loss of the first job out of grad school really hurt, but to have supported the department head would have been professional suicide. Time has taken its toll, and we have lost a lot of great friends and family members to old age these last few years.
But, I have 2 great kids, and 5 grand-kids, all healthy and happy.
And here is the best thing, saved for last.
At the end of the day I am most grateful of all to not be the jaded, cynical, person that you and Alan Baker exemplify.