That Retirement Thing

By Michael Hodin

Tom Brady is not really retiring and yet this is how we describe his next phase in life and career. Of course, his age at 44 is to football what, oh, say 74 is to the rest of us. The term is ludicrous for Tom, who can swiftly and flawlessly move to, well, pretty much whatever he wants to do, next. Not so easy, simple or smooth for the rest of us, who, in our 21st century are experiencing longer and healthier lives way past that 20th century retirement age with, nevertheless, similar aspirations for work, fun, family, and full lives well beyond that retirement thing.

Tom Brady’s change in what he does and does not do every day comes precisely as the mega trend of aging — long lives and populations with more old than young — has reached a milestone where the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing is celebrated across the globe. And at the very center of the Decade is precisely what Tom Brady embodies. Transform how we think about age — the culture of ageism — where it is presumed age itself defines who we are, what we do, and how we are treated. Playing American football — winning and succeeding beyond all expectations — to 44 is itself challenging the traditional ideas informed by age. What he or any of us do next, and next, will become a hallmark of 21st century life.

But equally important to reimagining this retirement thing is for institutions of society to themselves adapt to an “aging world.” Three guides to consider:

Employers have before them an opportunity to align the revenue and growth opportunities of today’s $17T Silver Economy with keeping older workers and hiring new ones. Diversity of gender, race, and ethnicity can be joined by diversity of age for a workforce that looks and behaves like the consumer. That 70% of American disposable income is held by those of us 60 and over is reason enough for a change.

Governments will go bankrupt if we continue to operate on a 20th century retirement model. There will not be enough taxpayers to support retirees. But, why not change the arithmetic through a change in culture and thinking. The Tom Brady model. Work way past traditional retirement and then — each in our own way — keep going. The alternative will bankrupt government programs from Medicare to Social Security, all created in an earlier 20th century when we died much younger by decades and there were more young than old. Today’s reversal of this structure must inform 21st century public policy and culture.

Health and education become age friendly: Shortness of breath or weakness is not a sign of “old age” but an early symptom of heart failure; a fall from a fragility fracture, itself caused by osteoporosis is a disease to be managed or cured and not a symptom of old age to be automatically accepted and ignored; add adult immunization to the brilliance we’ve had with childhood immunization; cognitive decline might be correlated with older age, but it is a disease that scientific innovation will cure if we approach it as a disease and not a condition of getting old. Similarly, on education. Yes, it is essential for our children, but why is it not also a linkage to an active and healthy aging well after 65? New skills, additional competencies, happiness against loneliness through learning. Health and education for the older among us is the key to unlocking economic value in this century even as it is the right thing to do.

The Decade of Healthy Ageing was invented by a few policy leaders inside the WHO, starting roughly 10 years ago. It worked its way from idea to adopted proclamation of all 192 Member States and now animates both delicate public policy reform and powerful cultural changes consistent with the profound shift in age demographic realities. Dr. John Beard led this effort inside the WHO and helped bring together governments across the planet in its behalf. Yet, before the Decade could be fully and formally endorsed at the World Health Assembly of 2021 and the UN Proclamation in the Fall of that year, John ran afoul of the WHO’s forced retirement at age 62. And since the employability metrics for those inside the WHO are less objective than, say the NFL, John, unlike Tom, was forced into a 20th century idea of retirement.

John is doing just fine in his second very successful career as I am confident Tom will be. But many of the one billion of us over 60 will not be ok if the norms, culture, and policies don’t change. And, as that number doubles by mid-century and more countries join the ranks of more old than young, there is even more at stake.