Walmart Cashier, 82, Finally Able to Retire after Wellwishers' Fundraising Effort

[appalachiablue]

Last edited Wed Jan 11, 2023, 10:12 AM - Edit history (1)

- Walmart cashier, 82, finally able to retire after wellwishers’ fundraising effort, The Guardian, Jan. 10, 2023. Ed.

- Navy veteran Warren ‘Butch’ Marion plans to pay off house & visit family after businessman raises $100,000 on social media -

A Walmart cashier in his 80s, one of scores of Americans forced to continue working into old age, has been able to retire thanks to a collective act of kindness. Warren “Butch” Marion, 82, a US navy veteran from Maryland, got the surprise of a lifetime when he received a check for more than $100,000 after a local business owner, Roy McCarty, organized a collection online.

McCarty, who owns the Bug Boys local extermination businesses and has a substantial TikTok following, met Marion while filming a video. He asked his followers on the social media channel to consider donating to a GoFundMe fundraiser last month, and soon surpassed his funding target.

“I was astounded seeing this little older man still grinding. Working 8 to 9 hour shifts,” McCarty wrote on the funding page. He said he was inspired by other social media fundraisers to help older people retire, and wanted Marion to be able to visit his children in Florida and get “off his feet for eight hours at a time”.

“Wow,” was Marion’s response when presented with the money. “All I can tell you is the Good Lord has blessed me for what I did in my younger years,” he told the Cumberland Times-News, saying that he would use the money to pay off his house & retire from Walmart.

Many Americans struggle to save enough money for retirement. According to the Federal Reserve, “one-quarter of the non-retired indicate that they have no retirement savings or pension whatsoever”. --

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/10/walmart-cashier-82-retire-fundraising-warren-butch-marion

[Aristus]

1. American workplace horror story disguised as a feel-good news nugget.

He's in his 80's and a veteran. And he still had to scrabble to get by, in Wal-Fucking-Mart of all goddamned places. Oh well, as long as shareholder value continues to climb...

[Hortensis]

2. After 30 years of not paying into Social Security, or anything else,

blowing her money without saving anything, someone I know went to work and started at around 50 in order to qualify for SS.

She actually pretty much planned to do that, if she didn't win the lottery or marry someone who paid in. She only has to earn about $5-6K per year for 10 years. She's about halfway in, and in another 5 years of part-time work she'll be able to collect for the rest of her life. She wants to switch to full-time work, though, to meet the annual requirement in a few months so she can go to Alaska with a friend next summer.

Basic SS may not sound like enough to live on, and sure we'd like it to be more, but many millions do. Bottom-market rents are typically based on that and what government assistance programs will pay.

So I'm wondering, what was this ex- Navy vet doing for over 60 years that he was unable to retire without charity from others at 82? Whatever. There may be good reasons.

But our SS is NOT charity. It's a retirement program we created for ourselves and fund ourselves. The employer "contribution" is income we earn but the employer pays directly to SS for us.

Glad for him, of course. My husband's 82. But good grief.

[getagrip_already]

4. Oh please, that sounds like welfare queen talk....

/s

Seriously, there are a Lot of reasons. Medical bills, business losses, long term disabilities of a spouse or loved one.

Bills can add up fast and leave you with little. Not everyone has retirement savings, and if you think you can get by just on ss and Medicare, try it some time.

[jimfields33]

6. Or he liked working. Just look at congress. Many could retire but enjoy it.

[Hortensis]

7. Yes, many different circumstances. In thinking

about it, he probably collects SocSec and has been working part time for extra income as many choose to do. A charity windfall for one is nice, but I was disturbed at the implication that he was working at 82 because he couldn't retire.

What gives me the warm fuzzies is that over 60M people, likely including him, were able to retire in their 50s and 60s on SocSec. These days most of our friends are past qualification age, so probably get that monthly check. Actually, Walmart employing someone his age who wants to work as a cashier is the way it should be also.

[niyad]

10. Sorry. One cannot begin to collect Social Security (reduced amount) until 62.

Last edited Wed Jan 11, 2023, 02:16 AM - Edit history (1)

[Hortensis]

11. True. Sorry. I was thinking of people we know who started receiving

other benefits when their health required them to stop working earlier.

[deurbano]

9. "50% of older adults who live alone do not have enough $ to cover their basic financial needs."

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/13/why-its-hard-to-for-retirees-to-get-by-on-social-security-benefits.html

He also is still paying off a mortgage. I don't know his particular situation, and maybe he just wanted to do a little better than "get by," but millions of people over 65 cannot even do that, and he might be one of them. (He didn't ask for the "charity." )

I don't understand how the person you know is able to pay her bills even now (since she's quite impoverished if she's only living on $5,000-$6,000 a year), much less with such a small Social Security benefit when she's old... unless she doesn't plan to get old...or has some other income.

[gab13by13]

3. The American Dream

[Joinfortmill]

5. Goodness exists. Thank you for that.

[GenThePerservering]

8. One of my aunts just retired at 90 years old

she owned a busy insurance office and worked 8 hours a day. She once said "After you make the first million, it's just work" lol. She's a wheeler dealer, though.

Butch may have gotten caught in a couple of the economic busts. He may have been like me and lost everything and more in the dot-com bust and has been struggling to repay debts and get dug out since then. It too me almost 15 years to dig myself out, working three jobs.

Any number of reasons why he's working at that job when he's ready to retire.

That was really an act of kindness!

[argyl]

12. My Mom worked until she was 75 full time for the City of Dallas.

And she needed to. They don't even pay into Soc. Sec.
I was astonished when she told me that. I worked 22.5 years and then eight years for two DFW public utility companies that both paid into Soc. Sec. And their pension plans were fine also.
Feb. 10th, 2021 she died of COVID at age 96. Wanted to at least see once more before she took ill, but I'm currently living overseas and no way were passenger planes going anywhere. But I introduced her to Skype so we could face to face chat.
Even if I were across the street from her no way was I getting into the Covid wing. My sister said the restrictions made any visitation impossible. It sounded like it'd have been easier to break out of Pelican Bay.
Sorry. Just felt like reminiscing about my Mom.

[pfitz59]

13. I plan to work PT at least to 70

I spent my 'retirement' funds travelling the world and sending 5 people through college. I'm healthy and enjoy getting out and meeting people. I took a year off when I 'retired' and didn't like being idle. Folks have valid reasons to work into their dotage.