- Louis Belline, 75, has almost retired five times but kept returning to work.
- Belline, a pilot and flight instructor, works to stay mentally active and trains young pilots.
- Many older Americans continue working in their retirement years for social and financial reasons.
Louis Belline, 75, has almost retired five times.
Throughout his 50-year career, the pilot and flight instructor has left jobs with retirement as the goal, but work kept calling him back. He doesn’t need the money — he has a mid-seven-figure net worth — and said working keeps his mind fresh and gives him purpose.
“You’ve got to have something to do that you’re interested in because the biggest concern I have is I don’t want my brain to atrophy,” said Belline, who lives in the Atlanta area.
Belline is one of a few dozen older Americans who told Business Insider in recent months that they have no plans to stop working in their golden years. While some continue working because they have no choice financially, others said work has given them a social life, extra financial security, and meaning in their lives.
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A change prompts a new plan forward
Belline grew up in a small farming town in Missouri and got his pilot license at 17. He wanted to pursue flying full-time but went to college instead, as there were few flying opportunities in his rural area.
Two weeks after graduation, Belline joined the Air Force and served in the Vietnam War. He flew for six years in supersonic jets and cargo planes.
After leaving the Air Force, he was hired by Delta Air Lines in 1979 and relocated to Atlanta. While at Delta, he raised a family, bought a house, saved for retirement, and allocated funds to pay for his children’s college education.
Belline said he stayed away from risky investments while his children grew up and focused on smart real estate choices to grow his wealth. For example, he bought homes for cheap and later sold them for a profit.
In the early aughts, he retired from Delta with over $1 million in the bank and an over $6,200 monthly pension. However, when the company declared bankruptcy in 2005, his monthly pension amount dropped to about $190 and came from the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.
“All of a sudden, I was sitting there going, I have to make payments,” Belline said, referring to the difference in his pension. “We had been saving our whole lives, and I’d already been putting 10% of my salary into 401(k)s. My goal was to preserve it and not spend it.”
Building wealth and keeping his mind active
He wanted to preserve his retirement savings, so he landed another job flying a 747 cargo plane, mainly to and from Asia, though he quit a few years later. He once again considered retirement but didn’t feel comfortable that his nest egg would last, so he spent three months flying for a military charter company before quitting.
Shortly after, he skipped retirement again by taking a job with Boeing as a contract flying instructor, which brought him to Qatar, Singapore, and South Korea to teach pilots.
Belline’s wife said she was tired of him frequently going across the world for work. And so, he left the job but didn’t retire: he joined Delta again as a contract instructor in Atlanta.
“It really keeps my mind going, and I’ve backed off to where I only work 18 to 20 gigs a month,” Belline said, which equates to a part-time job.
To build his household’s wealth, Belline said he stuck 10% of his money in an IRA throughout his career. He took advantage of 401(k) matching at his employers, and, though Belline didn’t call himself frugal, he said he and his wife never bought fancy cars or spent extravagantly.
In between his current contract role, Belline and his wife are renovating a lake house in the North Georgia Mountains.
“I see people retire and sit down and just die,” Belline said. He added that he knew a captain who retired at 60 and was believed to be perfectly healthy but died four months later.
Belline said he has a few more years of work and would prefer to retire when he becomes less “quick and sharp.”
“I figure I can keep trucking and keep up with these younger people who are smarter than me,” Belline said.
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