But it can be that it is the definition of poor and middle changes per region or culture. I am used to defining poor as trade school blue collars, literally working class.
“get a trade, any trade, only a thin line separates you from the alcoholic homeless bum down the street or in prison and that thin line is an e.g. construction trade school”.
The working class with secure jobs (government and some union) are quite a long ways from “the alcoholic bum”. I knew a guy who was a retired garbage man in his mid forties, living off his government pension with a home in a nice neighborhood.
I believe a lot of government jobs allow (allowed?) early retirement based on years of service. Maybe that’s getting more rare, but it’s still the case in the military. A little googling, and it seems that in the military 20 years is still standard and they’re even trying to downsize some guys and are offering them retirement benefits if they’ve been in for 15 years.
The working class with secure jobs (government and some union) are quite a long ways from “the alcoholic bum”. I knew a guy who was a retired garbage man in his mid forties, living off his government pension with a home in a nice neighborhood.
It’s unusual (isn’t it?) for anyone to have a government pension in their mid-forties. Any idea how he managed that?
I believe a lot of government jobs allow (allowed?) early retirement based on years of service. Maybe that’s getting more rare, but it’s still the case in the military. A little googling, and it seems that in the military 20 years is still standard and they’re even trying to downsize some guys and are offering them retirement benefits if they’ve been in for 15 years.