# need some info on chef retirement



## rice_is_nice

Hi im doing a report on jobs and i need some help with this 

how many years does a chef work before he can retire on average?
what kind of retirement benefits do you get on average? 
if anyone can help me it would be apreciated.


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## jpdchef

you're kidding,right?


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## logghib

You have three options:

1. Find a good financial advisor and talk about it. Don't expect a good answer.
2. Work until you die.
3. Get your own restaurant, invest in some primo insurance policies and burn it down before running off to retire on a farm in Mexico with one of your dishwasher accomplices.


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## david chenelle

The above two responses are quite acurate. Sorry to tell you this but Chefs are still considered to be servile positions in this country. In other words not many places have a "retirement plan" for chefs. Cheffing is categorized as a fine art. So as the curse of being in an art goes there isn't any planned retirement benefits for the most part. Many of the large Hotel chains do offer a 401-k but that is about it. When I went through apprenticeship many Chefs told me that it wasn't uncommon that Chefs actually died on the job. I personally know many Chefs that can't afford to leave the business even at 70+ years of age. One of these Chefs actually fed several Presidents and many dignitaries in the international scene. Sooo, my starry eyed little apprentice; go figure.
David Chenelle


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## mikeb

Retirement? Benefits? Is this a joke?

I pay for everything out of my own pocket. Health, dental, life, etc... As far as retirement goes, I'm investing my own money. My employer pays for nothing other than my basic salary. In most restaurants it works like this. Hotels might offer some benefits (however I've never worked in one).


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## chef_bob

Dear Rice is Nice

Can you tell you have hit a bit of a sore point. The profession can be devided up into a few catagories of "Chefs"

The Restaurant Chef: Working for small indipendant owners generally means no benifits of any type. The smart ones create their own retierment plan and retire when finances allow

The Hotel Chef: As stated by a few this is the one place where you will get some sort of package

Chef/owner: As with any self employed situation your best retierment plan is to build up a value in your business so you can sell it for a god profit when you wan out.

The Corporate Chef: If you decide to sell out your artistic sole you can work for a food manufacture or distributor in sales. probabally the best packages and pay in the industry but a very different world that does not really compare to the traditional idea of being a chef (for the record I fall into this catagory)

There are a million littel sub catagories but I think most people who get paid to cook food every day fall some place close to one of these. 

Did I miss anything gang?


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## cheflayne

"Chef/owner: As with any self employed situation your best retierment plan is to build up a value in your business so you can sell it for a god profit when you wan out."
Good in theory, that is the one that I went on. In practise, for me at any rate, after 12 years with increasing sales and profits, nobody wanted to buy my restaurant. Gave it a year and a half. Saw same thing happen to another chef/owner. No guarantees. Most potential chef/owners want to create their own place not buy someone else's. I know I did.
"2. Work until you die." My current plan. Probably die at the stove.


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## littlemisschef

I may be a child in highschool but thats kinda rude and i need and answer for my Project what if a child sees this stuff and people have thinked that people are rude cause really i need to know a good retirment salary if i dont have it ill fail and never get into cooking school! Please help this child become an amazing chef


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## foodpump

Rice is nice:

I think Chef Bob has pretty much covered all the points.

Here in Canada we have a mandatory CPP (CDN pension plan), but, after working 15 years abroad, and another 12 running my own business, I don't have much in that fund. Even if I did, I wouldn't hold my breath to see any money.

A "Chef", (and here I mean one who is in a supervisory postion) is management, and therefor not eligable for any union benifits. Then again, to go off-topic a bit, union benifits in the CDN hospitality industry are virtually non existant. Chefs rarely work for more than 5 years with any given employer anway. The nature of the hospitality industry is too rough and tumble.

There are exceptions however, in large institutions like hospitals, care homes, corporate cafeterias, etc. things are fairly stable and is not unheard of of Chefs actualy getting a pension--after 25 years of service.

As you can see, I fall under the chef/owner category. My retirement fund is made up of my home and my business. I am fortunate that I don't lease, so if and when I do have to sell, even if I don't get anything for the business, I can still get something for the building.

Little Miss Chef

So very sorry that no one could provide you with a simple, manageable answer for your project. Perhaps there isn't one? Then again, in cooking school poor spelling, lack of punctuation, and run-on sentences won't get you in the door either. 

"Rude" is a very subjective word. I could be rude when I grab you by the hair in order to remove you from a passing car. Life is an obstacle course, and the better prepared you are for it, the better you will survive.


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## petemccracken

Perhaps you "misunderstood" the question?

It may not be what the $$$ value is but the fact that, in general, there is NO retirement pay for a chef beyond what that particular chef arranges for himself/herself.

In other words, don't start on the career track of cooking for a living if you expect to retire!


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## ed buchanan

HOW MUCH MONEY HAVE YOU ACCUMULATED?

I RETRED 2 YEARS AGO AT 65 WENT BACK TO WORK PT BECAUSE I WAS BORED\\:bounce:


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## chefhow

You do realize this is a 3 year old thread. 

And as far as being rude, the truth is a painful thing, especially in the kitchen. I have yet to meet a chef worth his weight in salt that was a coddler and thoughtful towards the cooks feelings. I apprenticed for a man that threw pots and pans at the cooks and china at the dishwashers if there was a streak in a glass or on a piece of flatware. Now that was rude.....


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## chefbillyb

This question is saying all Chefs are the same, and work in the same kind of restaurants. 
Its up to each Chef to negotiate his/her own bennifits and retirment. This depends on who wants, who more. If a company really wants you, then your negotiation power is high. If I am a dime a dozen chef, with limited skills, then my negotiation of Bennies may be limited. Everone needs to take care of their own retirment needs early in life, put a few $$$$$$$$$$ away so you dont have to flip burgers at 80 years old. .......Good luck.........................Bill.............P.S I am a Chef and own a Food service management company, 58, 90% retired with Roth IRA, stocks, CD's ...............


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## schefgls

Based on your grammar and punctuation, you should be more concerned with how you will graduate from high school that getting into cooking school.  As one who has taught in culinary schools, both public and private, I can tell you the only qualilfication you will need to get into one of the private schools is that your check doesn't bounce, and as long as your money holds out, they will have a spot for you.


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