Have you seen this year’s global list of 60 top entrepreneurs over 60? What about the best novelists over 50? Or the winner of the old scientist award? No? That’s no surprise. These things scarcely exist.
On top of that, if the over-50s are not kept gainfully employed, the OECD reckons the number who will need to be supported by each worker could jump by about 40 per cent in rich countries between now and 2050. As a resident of London, I can look forward to a free bus pass once I turn 60, which is excellent. In places like my native Australia, turning 50 brings a far less cheering government birthday present: a free kit in the mail to test yourself for bowel cancer. Give me a mention on a Forbes entrepreneur list any day.