The multistage life
Andrew Scott, Professor of Economics at London Business School, co-wrote the acclaimed book The One Hundred Year Life[7], which sets out the challenges and opportunities that living longer brings. The book describes how as we are living longer we are moving from a three-stage life, split into education, work and retirement, to a multistage life, with periods of learning, building up both tangible assets (such as income, property, savings) and non-tangible assets (like social networks, building up skills in a process of "re-creation").
I read the book when I started my health innovation business at the age of 52, a little over three years ago. It resonated completely and helped me assuage the panic I initially felt as the newbie "oldie entrepreneur" about the time it would take for the contracts and revenue to start flowing (building up my "intangible assets," as they are described in the book). It also helped me manage my feelings...