He Lost $180K in Retirement Savings, Now Drives Uber and Lyft at 58

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Bill Lewis, 58, an Uber and Lyft driver who lives in the Poconos and has completed about 43,000 trips. He previously worked on Wall Street and owned a Nestlé Toll House franchise. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

I’m 58 and working harder than I ever have. I drive for Uber and Lyft seven days a week, about 75 hours in total.

I didn’t expect to be in this position.

I once had about $180,000 in my 401(k), built over a career that included more than two decades on Wall Street.

I started as a runner at the American Stock Exchange in 1989, eventually became a broker, and was laid off in 2013 as algorithms reduced the need for people on the trading floor.

After Wall Street, I decided to try something completely different and go into business for myself.

I put all of that retirement money into a Nestlé Toll House franchise, a retail dessert bakery chain. I didn’t know how to run a business and thought buying a franchise would help because I could rely on the company’s structure.

The sales weren’t the problem. In my first year, the franchise saw strong sales growth compared with the year before. However, it felt like the mall was simply too expensive for me to turn a profit.

I ran the business for four years. By the end, I had made less from those four years than the $7 I earned on my first Uber ride.

I keep driving for the freedom

I make about $75,000 a year driving for Uber and Lyft. The main thing keeping me in gig work is the freedom.

If something happens at home, I can stop driving. If my brakes need repairs, I don’t have to call a boss. I’ve always liked driving, and I’ve learned how to earn a living doing it.

Still, I know how quickly things can change.

I definitely regret putting my retirement savings into the Nestlé Toll House franchise. That decision is the reason I’m working harder than ever now.

If I hadn’t put the money into the business, I’d probably still have my retirement fund and be a lot better off.

So for now, I keep driving. There are parts of the work I value and parts that frustrate me. The biggest is the way Uber treats drivers.

I’ve started taking more Lyft rides lately

I started driving for Uber in 2017, and I’ve learned that making a living at this means being selective.

Uber gives me about eight to 10 seconds to look at a ride and calculate what I’d make per hour, consider the mileage and return trip, and decide whether it’s worth taking.

That’s part of my frustration with Uber.

I understand that Uber is a business and needs to make money. I worked on Wall Street, so I’m not against big business. I just want drivers to be treated fairly.

It’s frustrating when it feels like the company has all the information, while I have seconds to figure out whether a ride makes financial sense for my bottom line.

I’ve seen offers of around $80 to drive 75 miles to Brooklyn, for example. Once I factor in the return trip, gas, and about $25 in tolls, I could actually lose money by accepting that trip. That’s why I haven’t taken an Uber trip into New York City in five years.

I’ve gotten better at protecting my bottom line by taking only rides that meet my $30-an-hour target and using Lyft more often.

Lyft shows me an estimated hourly rate for each ride, which makes it easier to quickly identify offers that meet my target.

Since becoming more selective about the Uber rides I choose and taking more Lyft rides, I’ve increased my pay by almost 25% since earlier this year.

An Uber spokesperson told Business Insider, “We’re committed to making Uber the best platform for drivers and regularly engage with them on their experience. Drivers have full control over whether to accept or decline any offer that’s made to them. Where Upfront Fares are live, drivers see key details before accepting a trip, including exactly how much they’ll earn and the rider’s destination, so they can decide whether a trip works for them.”