"The trouble with retirement is that you never get a…

“The trouble with retirement is that you never get a day off” is a jocular statement that’s usually credited to basketball coach Abe Lemons (1922-2002). Lemons said the quote in 1987, but he wasn’t the first to do so. “One of the troubles with retirement is that you never get a day off” was cited in print in 1974 and “This is the trouble with retirement—you don’t take a day off” was cited in print in 1978.

A similar statement that’s about unemployment is “The trouble with unemployment is that you never get a day off.”

Wikipedia: Abe Lemons
Abe Lemons (November 21, 1922 - September 2, 2002) was an American college basketball coach and one of the most successful head basketball coaches in Oklahoma history.

27 October 1974, Corbin (KY) Times Tribune:
Heard in a doctor’s office: “One of the troubles with retirement is that you never get a day off.”

10 September 1978, San Diego (CA) Union, Frank Rhoades column, pg. B2, col. 1:
El Cajon’s Arnold Bobick, laboring in his yard at 6:30 p.m. Saturday: “This is the trouble with retirement—you don’t take a day off.”

3 May 1987, Dallas (TX) Morning News, “Some Hither, Others Yon…” by Blackie Sherrod:
Abe Lemons warned departing TCU coach Jim Killingsworth: “The trouble with retirement is that you don’t get a day off.”

Google News Archive
26 May 1987, Milwaukee (WI) Journal, “Quote,” pg. 2C, col. 5:
From Oklahoma City basketball Coach Abe Lemons, claiming he isn’t envious of Jim Killingsworth, who retired as the coach at Texas Christian: “The trouble with retirement is that you never get a day off.

18 April 1989, Rockford (IL) Register Star, “Leland Cook could do great things with wood,” by Cindy Kranz, pg. 4A, col. 2:
“He always said, ‘The worst thing about retirement is you never get a day off,’” said another son, Brian Cook.

Google Books
The Blue Room
By Monroe Thompson
New York, NY: Bantam Books
1990
Pg. 20:
“Trouble with being retired is you never get a day off.”

Google Books
The Retirement Maze:
What You Should Know Before and After You Retire
By Robert Pascale, Louis H. Primavera and Rip Roach
Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
2012
Pg. ?:
The trouble with retirement is that you never get a day off. —Abe Lemons, basketball coach.