Put aside the cruise brochures and let the garden retain that natural look for a few more years. Demography and declining investment returns are conspiring to keep you at your desk far longer than you ever expected.
This painful truth is no longer news in the rich world, and many governments have started to deal with the ageing problem. They have announced increases in the official retirement age that attempt to hold down the costs of state pensions while encouraging workers to stay in their jobs or get on their bikes and look for new ones.
Unfortunately, the boldest plans look inadequate. Older people are going to have to stay economically active longer than governments currently envisage; and that is going to require not just governments, but also employers and workers, to behave differently.
Employers act differently? Really? So many today choose the option of (involuntary) early retirement without pensions for their employees over 50, and though age discrimination is not legal, age discrimination cases are rare (nearly non-existent) in the US court system. There are only so many Wal-Mart greeter positions available these days.