Sitting in his office at a chocolate factory in Brooklyn, Jacques Torres describes what may not be a typical weekend to a fellow baby boomer who turns 65 this year.
No thoughts of retirement or golf. Don't study how to apply for Medicare or think about when to get Social Security. Instead, Torres' 4-year-old daughter painted his nails and put on his makeup — which he quickly took off before appearing on camera — and then his 7-year-old son approached him with packaged cake mix.
“You know, one of the cake mixes that comes in a box,” Torres repeats skeptically in his French-accented English, gesturing as he speaks toward the pastry chef certificates hanging on the wall above his head. “It's a rainbow cake. So I was challenged to make a rainbow cake out of a box, and I didn't know how to do it. You have to mix six different colors and then bake it. Oh my gosh, that was a project! But it makes my son happy, and there's nothing better than that.”
Torres, whose birthday is in June, is part of the Peak 65 demographic, which for some people may mean it's time to step away from work, while for others it means moving on to part-time work or passion projects. For some, like Torres, it means they're hitting their stride professionally and in their personal lives, with no plans of slowing down.
Torres is known as Mr. Chocolate: he owns a chocolate factory, chocolate shops, cookbooks, and a show on Netflix called “Nailed It.” He frequently appears on television talk shows and hosts his own social media channels. He spoke with MarketWatch about how his views on work and retirement have changed over the years.
Chocolatier Jacques Torres talks with MarketWatch's Beth Pinsker about balancing life as a chef, family man, and owner of a chocolate empire.
Market monitoring: Where did you get your values regarding money?
Torres: My parents were very serious about money, and what I mean by that is that there was no extra money in the house. My father was a carpenter, and my mother was raising three boys. When I was 13 or 14, I wanted what I think you call a gun in English, to dive and hunt with. My dad says, find a little business over the summer and then you can buy it yourself. So I worked in a small restaurant as a bus driver. It taught me that if you work, you will have money and you can buy something for yourself.
Market monitoring: When you were first working, what did you think retirement looked like?
Torres: When you're young, retirement is so far away that I haven't even thought about it. I probably started thinking about retirement less than 20 years ago — after 40. Before, you felt invincible, and that doesn't exist. Now I'm saving money for my retirement, but before I was 40, I didn't do it that way.
Market monitoring: What does retirement look like now? Is there a date you're thinking about, or will there just be a shift in what you do?
Torres: I talked to my financial advisor not long ago, and he said, “Well, the good news is that you're going to work until you drop.” That's pretty much what will happen. Because I have two young children and they go to private school, and we live in the city and we have expenses. So I don't know what my retirement will be like. But his advice was not before the age of seventy anyway.
Market monitoring: You look active and fit, with TV appearances, social media videos, and riding a motorcycle on the streets around your factory. How do you feel about your energy level?
Torres: In life, you never know. Honestly, I never thought of myself at 64 years old, riding a motorcycle around a factory. I should tell you why I own a motorcycle first. This factory is big. It's 40,000 square feet, and depending on where they need me, it goes back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. About eight years ago, I had a knee replacement because I ran the New York Marathon four times. I have done judo, rugby, running and cycling. So my knee was gone. The surgeon is a friend of mine, and he said, I'll give you a new knee, but you have to keep it. Now I have a motorcycle, and I love it. It's always in my car, and when I'm in New York City to see a client, parking can cost, I don't know, like $60 an hour, so I usually park the car further away in a cheaper garage. Then I hop on my scooter to my meeting, and people laugh when they see me on this thing. But it is very practical.
“I want to teach my children the value of money, of course, but even more so the value of work,” says Jacques Torres.
Getty Images for Netflix
Market monitoring: How do you feel about being a social media star?
Torres: When I was growing up, there was only a landline, let alone TikTok and Instagram and all that stuff. I was very shy when I was younger, so just the thought of being in front of the camera, oh my God! I would feel terrible. Less than 10 years ago, I never thought I'd be looking for followers or offering cooking tips online. I've been watching TV for a long time, on PBS and the Food Network, but I stopped when I opened my business. Then I returned to television with “Nailed It.”
Market monitoring: Are you surprised by the amount of traffic it takes to sell chocolate?
Torres: It gets harder and harder. When I opened my first store in DUMBO nearly 24 years ago, there was a line out the door. I had a name for the pastries, not the chocolate, but the shop just took off. I was standing outside in the cold handing out samples of hot chocolate. And the first 10 years of my business – I don't want to say it was easy, but it was much easier than today, because you opened a store and the business was there.
Then it eventually moved to this factory here at the Army Station in Brooklyn. I opened five stores in about the same year. So I think I'm deconstructing some of my work. Then coronavirus hit, and we almost lost everything. It was very scary. And then I got sick – I got coronavirus, and there was no vaccine at the time, and I was thinking, maybe this is the end of the road. I got out of it, but you never know what's going to happen. Don't expect anything, because it's crazy.
Market monitoring: What legacy do you hope to leave behind for your family or the world of cooking in general?
Torres: I want to teach my children the value of money, of course, but even more so the value of work, and that it's important to do something you love. This morning, my son woke up before 7 a.m. because he had a new piano keyboard and wanted to play. For me, it's a good sign, you know. I want my kids to remember me as a fun dad. I'm older, so I guess I have a chip on my shoulder about that. I go to school and see my parents and they are half my age. So I want my kids to say, he plays soccer with us, and he's fun, and he lets us put makeup on him.
I don't think I'll leave a legacy in cooking. There is so much talent today, not just in the United States, but in the world, and we are now more exposed to it. So my goal is not that, but my goal is to have a happy family.
More about Peak 65
