I hear that all the time about the overtime. Killing themselves for it and doing nothing of consequence with it.
Ah, this reminded me of a co-worker from long ago. He had been working there a long time and I was a snot-nosed "summer worker" kid, May-August. He told me he squirreled away every dime from overtime pay and if I ever had the chance I should do the same. It wasn't a lucrative gig but it was unionized and for the times, it paid pretty good for an office non-managerial job, and the OT opportunities were usually plentiful (maybe another 10-18 hours/week, equal to roughly a 30-35% pay boost on average if you worked it all (and he did, for many years).
When he turned 58, he gave his 2 week notice and left. Never said he was retiring, just that he was quitting. In those days there was no concept of ER. What were people saying? He must have gotten some terrible illness, had a mental breakdown, some scandal must have happened and made him move away, all kinds of fanciful thoughts.
I found out from friends-of-friends that he actually did simply ER, powered by those years of saved OT pay (and his pension). But he never told co-workers he was actually
retiring. It would have make their heads explode, that kind of thing just couldn't happen to a Joe Six-pack. Who could imagine someone would voluntarily walk away from a job when you're making the highest salary of your career?
It was the first I ever heard (or imagined) it was conceivable that one might not need to work to age 65.
But thinking of the other people in the office, he made the right move in not saying he was retiring early. They would have been bitter and resentful and probably accuse him of criminal activity.