My dad's former neighbor of 40+ years used to be a welder. The man has undergone numerous surgeries on his wrists, shoulders, and back from repetitive stress injuries on the job. Did it afford him the nice house on the big chunk of property in the country he wanted? Sure, although remarrying a local business executive helped with that.

My dad, meanwhile, started out as a pipefitter but went into the management side of things and was basically doubling up his neighbor in salary for the last 20 years of their careers, and the only medical treatment he's ever had for work was for carpal tunnel, which was non-surgical.

My dad is 70 and gets around way better than you would expect for a man his age just because he's kept in shape with a bit of jogging. His former neighbor is 4 years younger and has to be extremely judicious with how he gets around.