We’ve all seen ‘comebacks’ from old rockers like the Rolling Stones, Tina Turner but does it follow that the rest of us will want to ‘keep on rockin’ into our 70’s? The Employment Minister Esther McVey suggested recently that the generation gap between parents and children has almost disappeared with the groups wearing the same clothes, listening to the same music etc.

In recent times, we are seeing more people between the age of 50 and 64 going back into work and changing career. This is up 242,000 on the year and means a record number of older people are now in work.

The ‘armoury of skills’ certainly makes older workers very valuable in a world where the UK economy is said to be losing out on 18billion due to 520,000 job vacancies that businesses are unable to fill due to lack of relevant skills. Esther McVey warned “The last bastian of inequality between generations is now between those who know how to use new technology and those who struggle. We have come closer in all other areas but not there!

For many people, retirement has been deferred from the traditional 60’s to the 70’s and beyond. The consequences of working longer on our health and well-being are largely unknown. The general feeling seems to be that working longer provides a good buffer for mental health but I guess that depends entirely on an individual circumstances. In general terms people are staying healthier longer and it may be true for some that there are only so many rounds of golf you can play before the whole retirement thing starts to become downright boring!

The biggest thing we would all value is choice – something not everyone enjoys.