I’ll always ‘want to work’

Tim Cook is just three years away from retirement age, but don’t expect the Apple CEO to call it quits once he’s eligible to receive his full Social Security benefits.

The 64-year-old, who’s been working since starting a newspaper route at age 12 to save money for college, plans to keep going for as long as he can, he told the “Table Manners” podcast in an episode that aired on Wednesday.

Specifically, Cook said his eventual retirement won’t meet “the traditional definition” of the phrase. “I don’t see being at home doing nothing and not [being] intellectually stimulated and thinking about how tomorrow can be better than today,” he said. “I think I’ll always be wired in that kind of way and want to work.”

Cook probably doesn’t need to work forever. He took home $74.6 million in total compensation last year as Apple’s CEO, including a $3 million base salary and millions more in stock awards, according to recent regulatory filings. Forbes estimates his net worth at $2.2 billion.

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But it’s hard to break a habit, and Cook has been working steadily for more than five decades by now. Growing up with “extremely modest means” in the small, rural town of Robertsdale, Alabama, Cook said his parents expected him and his two brothers to start working as soon as they were able. 

“My upbringing, a lot of it was centered on work and the belief that hard work was essential for everybody, regardless of your age,” he said.

Cook also worked part-time at a local pharmacy as a kid, where his mother also had a job. At age 14, he “graduated to flipping burgers” at the fast-food chain Tastee-Freez, where he earned about $1.10 an hour and “wore a little hat” that his friends enjoyed mocking, he said.

At the time, he considered it important to earn enough money to become the first person in his family to ever attend college, he’s said. Now, he thinks his early jobs helped reinforce a strong work ethic that he inherited from his parents.

“They instilled [an appreciation of] hard work and that has stayed with me for a lifetime,” Cook said on the podcast. “The value of it [and] the idea that work can be a part of your purpose.”

There are health benefits to remaining busy as you age, whether that means delaying retirement or simply staying engaged with hobbies and other interests. Regularly challenging your brain by learning new things and tackling passion projects can help you sustain your mental health and memory while staving off cognitive decline, research shows.

Cook said he likely has many years left at Apple, though he doesn’t necessarily want to be a CEO for the entire rest of his life. But his desire to do fulfilling work will keep him from ever retiring in the traditional sense, he said.

“You want to be pushed a bit. You want to be uncomfortable a bit,” said Cook. “Maybe not as much as [I am] today. But, I think I’ll always want to be pushed.”

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