50 productive years?

My friend Chris Freeman says that 65 is the wrong number.

And given that life expectancy for someone in their 40's in Australia is now 82 and if you live healthy you should plan on seeing 100, I think he’s probably right.  

What he means is that 65 years is the wrong age to retire at.  

When we expected to die at 70 or 75, retiring at 65 made sense. Now, not so much.  

I figure if I’m going to live to 100, my productive years are going to be from 25 to 75.  

I love this perspective. I’m 45 now, so that means I’m only 40% into my productive years.  

And someone who is 50 and doesn’t feel like they have achieved what they set out to professionally, or saved enough money … no problem. You’re only half way through.  

Unfortunately, lots of companies haven’t caught up with this. They are still looking to move people on at 60 or 65. It’s one of the advantages of running a thought leaders practice. If you are in the business of giving advice, having some grey hair and some miles under the hood is an advantage.  

Would you rather get your wisdom from a 70 year old or a 25 year old?