Interesting comment re: "relationship of convenience and values"....who knows if they married for love....definitely one of values, perhaps if one of convenience to start off, then it was surely companionship to the end.
Granted, high school teachers are on a relatively good salary. But my point is that they had frugal habits, and no desire to live the high life. This enabled them to save heaps, the savings providing capital for investment.....something even a person on a low wage can do. 'It's not how much you earn, it's how much you save' as the saying goes.
They had retired by the early 70s, so their investments from that point on would have been subjected to some of the worst market conditions since WWII (stagflation and rising interest rates). They had no investment properties.
Every generation has its headwinds, but one just has to know how to deal with them. Traditional values (should I spell them out?) will always put one in good stead.
