Sitting within the workplace of his Brooklyn chocolate manufacturing facility, Jacques Torres is describing what might be not a typical weekend for a fellow member of the cohort of child boomers turning 65 this yr.
No ideas of retirement or golf. No learning how one can apply for Medicare or considering when to take Social Security. Instead, Torres’s 4-year-old daughter painted his nails and did his make-up — which he hurried to take off earlier than showing on digicam — after which his 7-year-old son approached him with a boxed cake combine.
“You know, one of those cake mixes that come in a box,” Torres repeats incredulously in his French-accented English, gesturing as he spoke towards the grasp pastry chef certificates on the wall above his head. “And it’s a rainbow cake. So I was challenged to make a rainbow cake from a box, which I don’t know how to do. You have to mix like six different colors and then bake them. Oh my God, that was a project! But it makes my son happy, and there’s nothing better than that.”
Torres, whose birthday is in June, is a part of the Peak 65 demographic, which for some folks can imply it’s time to step away from work, whereas for others it means transitioning to part-time work or ardour initiatives. And for some, like Torres, it means they’re simply hitting their stride professionally and of their private lives, with no plans to decelerate.
Torres is named Mr. Chocolate: He has a chocolate manufacturing facility and chocolate retailers, cookbooks and a Netflix present known as “Nailed It.” He makes frequent appearances on TV speak reveals and hosts his personal social-media channels. He spoke with MarketWatch about how his views of labor and retirement have modified over time.
MarketWatch: Where did you get your values concerning cash?
Torres: My dad and mom have been very severe about cash, and what I imply by that’s there was no extra cash at residence. My dad was a carpenter, and my mother was elevating three boys. When I used to be 13 or 14, I needed what I believe you name a speargun in English, to dive and fish with it. My dad says, search for slightly job through the summer time after which you should purchase it your self. So I labored in slightly restaurant as a busboy. That taught me that if you happen to work, you’ve cash and you should purchase your self one thing.
MarketWatch: When you have been first working, what did you suppose retirement would appear to be?
Torres: When you’re younger, retirement is so far-off that I used to be not even fascinated with that. I began to consider retirement possibly lower than 20 years in the past — after age 40. Before that, you’re feeling invincible, and it doesn’t exist. Now I put cash away for my retirement, however earlier than 40, I didn’t do it that means.
MarketWatch: What does retirement appear to be now? Is there a date that you consider, or will there merely be a shift in what you do?
Torres: I talked to my monetary adviser not that way back, and he mentioned, ‘OK, the good news is you are going to work until you drop.’ That’s just about what’s going to occur. Because I’ve two younger kids and so they go to a personal college, and we dwell within the metropolis and have bills. So I don’t know what my retirement goes to be. But his recommendation was not earlier than 70, anyway.
MarketWatch: You appear lively and match, what together with your TV appearances, social-media movies and driving round your manufacturing facility on a road scooter. How do you’re feeling about your power stage?
Torres: In life, you by no means know. Honestly, I by no means considered myself at 64, driving a scooter across the manufacturing facility. I’ve to inform you why I’ve a scooter first. This manufacturing facility is massive. It’s 40,000 sq. ft, and relying the place they want me, it’s forwards and backwards, forwards and backwards, forwards and backwards. About eight years in the past, I had a knee alternative as a result of I ran the New York marathon 4 occasions. I did judo, rugby, operating and bicycling. So my knee was gone. The surgeon is a good friend of mine, and he mentioned, I’m going to provide you a brand new knee, however you must protect it. So now I’ve a scooter, and I adore it. It’s all the time in my automobile, and after I’m in New York City to see a buyer, parking can price, I don’t know, like $60 for an hour, so I normally park far-off in a less expensive storage. Then I soar on my scooter to my assembly, and folks snort after they see me on that factor. But it’s simply very sensible.
“I want to teach my kids the value of money, of course, but more so the value of work,” says Jacques Torres.
Getty Images for Netflix
MarketWatch: How do you’re feeling about being a social-media star?
Torres: When I grew up, there was solely a landline, to not point out TikTook and Instagram and all these issues. I used to be very shy after I was youthful, so simply the concept of being in entrance of a digicam, oh my God! I’d freak out. Not even 10 years in the past did I believe I’d fish for followers or give cooking recommendation on-line. I used to be on TV a very long time in the past, on PBS and the Food Network, however I finished that after I opened my enterprise. Then I went again on TV with “Nailed It.”
MarketWatch: Are you shocked how a lot hustle it takes to promote chocolate?
Torres: It simply will get tougher and tougher. When I opened my first retailer in Dumbo virtually 24 years in the past, there was a line out the door. I had a reputation for pastry, not for candies, however the retailer simply took off. I’d stand outdoors within the chilly and hand out samples of scorching chocolate. And the primary 10 years of my enterprise it was — I don’t need to say it was straightforward, however it was means simpler than right now, since you opened a retailer and enterprise was there.
Then ultimately I moved to this manufacturing facility right here within the Brooklyn Army Terminal. I opened 5 shops in just about the identical yr. So I believe I cannibalized a few of my enterprise. Then COVID hit, and we virtually misplaced all the things. It was actually scary. And then I acquired sick — I acquired COVID, and there was no vaccine on the time, and I used to be considering, possibly that is the top of the street. I got here out of it, however you by no means know what’s going to occur. Don’t anticipate something, as a result of it’s loopy.
MarketWatch: What legacy do you hope to go away behind to your loved ones or to the cooking world at massive?
Torres: I need to train my children the worth of cash, in fact, however extra so the worth of labor, and that it’s necessary to do one thing that you simply love. This morning, my son was up earlier than 7 a.m. as a result of he has a brand new piano keyboard, and he needs to play. To me it’s a superb signal, you understand. I need my children to recollect me as a enjoyable dad. I’m older, so I believe I’ve a chip on my shoulder about that. I am going to highschool, and I see the dads and they’re half my age. So I need my children to say, he performs soccer with us, and he’s enjoyable, he lets us put make-up on him.
I don’t suppose I’ll depart a cooking legacy. There is a lot expertise on the market right now, not solely within the U.S., however on the planet, and now we’re extra uncovered to it. So my objective isn’t that, however my objective is having a cheerful household.
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