EIGHT OVER 80: Jack Schlaifer

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Jack Schlaifer | 82 | Senior Vice President, Lee & Associates

Why not retire? The phone keeps ringing.

Do your family members want you to retire? No. They’d prefer I keep working as long as I can. It keeps me out of their way.

Best part of working past 80? The camaraderie of the people I work with. And it is always fun to learn something new about clients and their businesses.

The worst? Disappointments of the business.

Are you up to date on technology? I use e-mail, cell phones and the computer. No social networking. The world knows too much about me. I can’t do half the things that the younger guys in my office can do. But for an older guy, I’m doing pretty good. All my younger compadres are always ready to help me out.

Best advice you ever got? The client is telling you a lie, but he doesn’t know it. Your job is to try to figure it out, so you have a better opportunity to make the deal.

What advice would you give to people who want to work well past 65? Keep on truckin’. It’s fun.

What’s the secret to staying healthy and active? No secret. You just have to be lucky. I’m not a health nut and I’m lazy when it comes to exercise. I think I am blessed to have good genes. And I just keep on going.

Do you work as much as you used to in your 40s and 50s? No. In my 40s and 50s, I was somewhat of a workaholic. Better planning and organization would have helped me get more done.

What do you miss the most from when you were young? Physical ability to run, skip and hop, and all those other things that go with youth. Life is a fun trip.

Anything else you’d like to add? I am lucky to have had a great wife, Margaret, who, no matter when the times were tough, encouraged me to press on in all of my endeavors. Every career has good times and bad times. It’s good to have a good corner person in the ring with you during the battles of business.

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