You won’t hear that from most lawyers. Associates facing endless days and nights slaving at the coal face probably feel more like the opposite is true some days. And even the keenest lawyer is unlikely to see themselves working much past the state retirement age (it’s anyones’ guess what that’ll be in 30-40 years time).

So who would make such a claim. Last week 101 year old tobbacco-chewing Jack Borden, a lawyer from Texas, was awarded the "Outstanding Oldest Worker for 2009" by Experience Works , a non-profit organisation dedicated to highlighting the workforce contributions of seniors. The Dallas News reported:

At 101 years old, Jack Borden often gets asked two questions: What’s the secret to a long life? and When are you going to give up chewing tobacco?

He dismisses the first ("Not dying") and simply ignores the second.

And his take on retirement:

"If I quit, I’ll die. I know people who retire and two years later, they’re gone."

Britains oldest worker is though to be 102 year old Buster Martin , a van cleaner in Southeast London.