The End of the Gold Watch Career
The whole idea of stopping work at 65 has always struck me as a bit absurd. You spend four decades honing your skills, building a network, and accumulating wisdom, only to be handed a gold watch and pointed towards the garden shed. It’s a terribly inefficient model, a relic from an era when life expectancy was considerably shorter and a final salary pension actually meant something. Today, that model is not just outdated, it’s crumbling.
I’m not just talking about financial necessity, though that’s certainly part of the picture for many. What I’m seeing is a quiet revolution, a movement of experienced professionals who are rejecting the scrapheap in favour of a second act. They are healthier, living longer, and frankly, have no desire to spend the next thirty years playing bridge and complaining about the youth of today. They want to stay engaged, but on their own terms.