In the age of mass production, a person went to school, maybe college, worked 40 years and then retired. Everyone was expected to do the same exact thing.
Not so, in the information age. Our education, our work and our retirement all run concurently throughout our lives.
In this age, a person can be more valuable to the workforce in the old age than they were as young people. This was not true in the age of mass production.
In mass production, older people move slower and therefore need to be replaced with young people who have good eye sight, etc. Yet, the information worker can become more and more valuable over time, through constant learning. Where as in mass production, the person who did the job for 3 months and one who did it for 30 years were likely to do it just as good, in the information age, the right kind of experience is invaluable.
That’s not to say that every old person will be rich in this new economy. No. Only the ones who continue to learn, the ones who learn to teach and guide others. Sadly, that may leave many baby boomers behind. Yet, they may well be the last generation that will truly retire.
The rest of us, would be smart to find ourself in a place where we take time to enjoy life, learn and have fun at work, because our retirement may be nothing more than slightly adjusting the mix of what we are doing.
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