I’m 82 and just cofounded a tech startup. I have $57 saved and $15,000 in debt, but opportunities have always shown up in my life.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Luis Bautista, 82, who works as a personal life coach and tech startup cofounder. Bautista, who lives in Tucson, Arizona, said he self-studied AI, such as prompt engineering. He works because he has to financially, though he said that even if money weren’t tight, he wouldn’t retire. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

My outlook is that I have no control over what’s happening, but I do have control over how I respond. You have to choose to be happy. I can work until I have to leave the planet.

I grew up in a poor family in Chicago. My mom and dad had a hard life, and yet we had a roof over our heads. We always had clean clothes, we had food, and we went to school.

I’ve worked different jobs, and I’m now a strategic advisor for a startup, but I have barely any money saved. I live paycheck to paycheck.

Business Insider’s “80 over 80” series draws on interviews with the growing group of Americans working past their 80th birthdays. They discussed their careers, retirement planning, living expenses, healthcare, and life lessons. If you are 80 and older and still work, fill out this form to contribute to the series and read more here:

• They’re in their 80s, still working, and living paycheck to paycheck
• What work looks like in your 80s for half a million Americans
• 81 and working to survive
• Meet the 90-somethings with lessons to share on life, work, and money

My first profession was as a jazz drummer in Chicago

I started playing when I was 15, and by the time I was 17, I was working full-time. I played weddings and whatever came across my desk.

I did that for 15 years. It was a hard profession with lots of drinking and traveling, and you really don’t make a lot of money.

I was drafted into the Army during the Vietnam War, and when I came back from that, I was depressed and hopeless. It was a traumatic experience to see all these men returning who were never going to be the same.

I got very interested in healing

I became a massage therapist in 1974. I met a Japanese teacher in 1977 who became my master for 12 years. She was a very balanced woman, and I never saw anything bother her.

I ended up working as a relaxation consultant in a commodity firm. From there, I taught and gave motivational talks about spirituality.

I next went to work as a contractor

I put up drywall, did electrical and plumbing work, and crawled through attics for a year and a half.

A former roommate called me and said she was opening a Native American store in Houston and wanted me to run it. I had managed a Native American store in Tucson, as I’m half Native American and half Mexican. I lived in Houston from 2003 to 2008, running the store and also coaching.

After we closed that down, I went back into coaching, and I worked mostly with real-estate people. I became friends with one of my clients, and he basically built my whole practice. I worked with a lot of his associates, colleagues, family, and friends.

I moved back to Tucson in November 2010

My son was having a child, and he needed me back here. I still had my practice in Houston, so I traveled back and forth from 2011 until December 2024.

Traveling to Houston is how I developed my credit card debt, spending money on flights and hotels. I’m now $15,000 in debt, which is the most it’s been.

When I was in Houston, I cofounded a tech startup

The founder knew the real-estate developer I was an advisor for. He had an idea about an app, and he ran it by us. The app is in the photography industry, though it can be used in other sectors of the market.

We decided over two years ago to form the company, find an attorney, and figure out what we needed to do. We didn’t know anything about the tech business, so I said, “We’re going to learn.”

I serve as its strategic advisor. I’m an anomaly — I don’t know of any 82-year-old cofounders. Even though I knew nothing about the tech industry, I taught myself. I learned all the jargon online, and Y Combinator educated us.

The startup is in stealth mode.

I’m totally into learning AI and prompt engineering

I subscribe to ChatGPT, and a software friend gave me some pointers in prompt engineering. I couldn’t afford to pay $2,000 for a course. I watch a lot of YouTube videos and practice. I’ve learned how to speak to AI.

A lot of older people want the world to be the way it was. We all have a past, but that’s over. When I turned 80, I asked myself, “How do I want to finish?” The first answer that came to my mind was, “I want to finish strong.”

I’m also coauthoring a book with another man about finding yourself spiritually in the world. Opportunities have always shown up in my life.

I don’t need a lot to live on

I don’t have savings in a retirement fund. I never thought I would live this long, so living for the future was never the goal. It was all living for today. I have $57 in my savings account. Like a lot of people, I live from month to month.

I may make $1,000 a month from work, and then my Social Security is about $1,000 a month, which isn’t very much at all in our day and age. Last year, I made around $14,000. I’m rebuilding this year, so my income will be lower. I’m single, my son is grown, and I have few other expenses aside from my car and Medicare.

I live frugally, and I cook all my own food. I look out for sales. I still don’t feel poor, though. If this tech startup happens the way I see it can happen, then I’ll be in a period of prosperity.

I live in the family compound here in Tucson. All the grandparents live within a square block, and it’s a very traditional way of living. One of the reasons I moved back is that I understand the value of grandparents for their grandchildren. They are the legacy and will carry on our tradition.

I’ve gone back and forth between having money and not having money

But I go back to my Japanese teacher, and her outlook on life was to be very flexible and adaptable. Try to minimize judging yourself, and do the best you can. I know other men my age whose light has gone out, and they just aren’t there anymore.

My main focus is to stay as healthy as possible. I’m finding techniques and methodologies to transcend these moments of uncertainty, anxiety, and depression.

My mom and dad sat around the kitchen table, trying to figure out how to pay the bills. I have my own version of that, asking, “How am I going to do this?” But then I think, “I can sell this and that,” and suddenly, an opportunity comes along, and then there’s money coming in.

One thing that helped me is that I’ve done death and dying work

I’m able to cross people over at their time of death, hear their story, and encourage them to let go. I’ve had some profound experiences.

We’re here to make mistakes. We don’t learn unless we make mistakes, and we don’t gain wisdom unless we learn from those mistakes. I’ve learned that life isn’t perfect. I’ll never be perfect, and so what? Just continue forward.

The post I’m 82 and just cofounded a tech startup. I have $57 saved and $15,000 in debt, but opportunities have always shown up in my life. appeared first on Business Insider.