Aside from working the same job for decades, it wasn't just any job; she wasn't a secretary at a dentist's office:
> In 1947, she joined Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, a Wall Street law firm, where she worked as a legal secretary for 67 years and observed the investment strategies of the lawyers.
> “She was a secretary in an era when they ran their boss’ lives, including their personal investments,” Lockshin tells the Times. “So when the boss would buy a stock, she would make the purchase for him, and then buy the same stock for herself, but in a smaller amount because she was on a secretary’s salary.”
So she was likely a reasonably well paid secretary at a wall street legal firm that would have access to the best financial advice available.
Also, as far as I can tell from the article, she was married but didn't have any kids.
> Also, as far as I can tell from the article, she was married but didn't have any kids.
That's huge. Kids are expensive (and the risk they expose you to, economically, is truly enormous) and that money tends to come out at the younger end of one's years, and when you're earning less, just to compound the pain (and maximize the opportunity cost).
> In 1947, she joined Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, a Wall Street law firm, where she worked as a legal secretary for 67 years and observed the investment strategies of the lawyers.
> “She was a secretary in an era when they ran their boss’ lives, including their personal investments,” Lockshin tells the Times. “So when the boss would buy a stock, she would make the purchase for him, and then buy the same stock for herself, but in a smaller amount because she was on a secretary’s salary.”
So she was likely a reasonably well paid secretary at a wall street legal firm that would have access to the best financial advice available.
Also, as far as I can tell from the article, she was married but didn't have any kids.