Bookworm: The 100-Year Life

Living and working in an Age of Longevity is going to mean rethinking how we look after ourselves and plan our careers, write Lynda Gratton and Andrew Scott.

What’s the premise of the book?

It’s essentially a self-help book written by London Business School’s professor of management practice Lynda Gratton and professor of economics Andrew Scott.

It draws on the authors’ expertise in economics, psychology and sociology to offer a broad-ranging analysis and a raft of solutions covering what to do with our finances, our education, our career and our relationships to succeed in creating a fulfilling 100-year life. 

They don’t expect us to live to 100, do they?

They do. As Gratton and Scott point out, 100 is now becoming what 80 used to be – the age at which most of us would be expected to die. If you were born in 1914, you would have had a 1% chance of reaching a century; if you were born in 2014, your chances would be 50 times better.

Sounds great; what’s the downside?

The authors’ point is that it means we have to think carefully about how this longevity will affect the way we live and work. If we live to 100, that may well mean we have a good many more retirement years in us – and our pensions might not cover them.

Someone who retires at 60 might go on to live to 101 – meaning their savings and pension would be expected to last them a full 41 years. In the decades before, when people were dying at 80, this wasn’t as much of a concern. For a 100-year life to be a gift, it must be not only longer, but also different.

What can we do?

We’ll need to think beyond the three-stage life (education; work; retirement) and expect to work for longer and to ensure we remain employable in the face of technological disruption. The strict relationship between the life stages will disappear and, instead, we’ll have multiple careers, multiple transitions and greater flexibility. Longer careers will require more dedicated times for rest, which may involve career breaks and sabbaticals.

Sounds as if we’ll need to hold onto our health, then?

Yes, we’ll need to view physical and mental health as a vital asset to be nurtured and maintained. We’ll also need to develop supportive social networks and to take the time to master new skills in order to keep up with technological and societal change, constantly reskilling and reinventing ourselves.

What am I most likely to say after reading this book?

“I’d better get to the gym.”

What am I least likely to say after reading this book?

“I’m going to retire at 50.”