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I’m tired of 30 being the new 20, 40 being the new 30, 50 being the new 40 — all those phrases that seek to keep us locked into numbers to frame age and buy into the idea that a higher number is undesirable. So, how can you reframe your age past 48 so it feels positive?   

Jubilation towards Fifty 

I’ve encountered a fascinating perspective in the Hebrew Scriptures, which stems from their ancient concept of the jubilee.  You might be familiar with “jubilee” — like celebrating a monarch’s silver or golden jubilee.  However, in the Hebrew Scriptures, the year of jubilee is based on a seven-year cycle.  The Israelites were called to live off the excess they’d gathered the year before every seven Years.  Then, you were expected to do that again in the 49th year — the seventh of the seven years.  But you were also expected to prepare for the year of jubilee — the 50th year.   

Again, in that 50th year, you were to live off what God had provided for you. All their indentured servants—people working to pay off debts—were released. You were given freedom. Any land held as security for debts was returned to its original owner. All debts were cancelled. It was a year when people could step into new freedom.    Jubilation all round! 

Preparing in the 2nd Half 

As I work with people approaching the second halves of their working lives — in my view, after 45 — I see a pattern: as you enter your 49th year, something often happens. Something shifts. The things you’ve relied on for income may fall away, and you need to rely on the resources you built up earlier in life. Some people get desperate and thrash around. Others use it as a chance to reassess — and step into the jubilee of their 50th year.   

What would that mean? It’s an opportunity to be released from slavery. A chance to release others from slavery. An opportunity to write off the debts you feel you owe to employers or society—a chance to step into a new season of freedom. Again and again, I see this pattern: every seven years, there is a significant opportunity to re-evaluate. And in the 49th and 50th years, there is a chance to recover what’s been lost and to be released from what’s holding you back.  

Refirement v. Retirement 

Maybe “jubilee” doesn’t quite resonate with you. But I still think it’s valuable to reframe life after 48. For many of us, it’s realistic to imagine living not just to 58, 68, or 78, but to 88. At 48, do you want to see the next 30 or 40 years as merely a short prelude to a long holiday? Are we seeking retirement — or refirement?   

I love the organisation Wendy Garcarz has created, especially encouraging women over 50 to become entrepreneurs, to reignite their lives by pursuing their passions and building businesses with all the skills, knowledge, and experience you have gathered — confident in all the skills, knowledge, and expertise you have developed so far, using that to express themselves in an entrepreneurial endeavour.   

Building from your Identity 

Or is it that what you want most is to discover those parts of you that have been held back and start now, with intent, putting in place the things that will enable you to have a future that meets your needs, expresses your identity, and fulfils your desires?  

What would that look like for you? As the old story says, is it going and sitting by the sea and fishing? Or would you be advised by the consultant who visits you by the sea and says, ‘Why don’t you get a fishing boat and go out to fish more? And then, with the money from your fishing boat, get other fishing boats?’ With the money from those boats, you could become richer and, sooner or later, have enough money to build a wonderful house by the sea and sit there watching the sun go down, enjoying the fruits of your labour?   

Doing Nothing? 

However, if you view age beyond 48 as merely a brief pause before retirement and see retirement as a chance to do nothing, you may end up squandering some of the most productive and fulfilling years of your life.   

You can now pursue all those things you perhaps wanted to do when you were younger but didn’t have the time, money, or experience for. I was talking to a woman in her mid-seventies who said, “I’ve always wanted to scuba dive. I’ve only ever done snorkelling.” Now she’s going to learn scuba diving, and she’s had the opportunity to go to Grand Cayman — a wonderful place to scuba dive — and she’s looking to get a trainer to teach her for the first time how to dive in that extraordinary environment.   

Is that simply self-indulgent, or is it an attempt to live life to the fullest?   

Perhaps there is a place you’ve always wanted to live, an activity you’ve always wanted to do, or a cause you’ve always wanted to pursue. But how will you begin to create opportunities for the future you envision in 10, 20, 30, or even 40 years? When you’re in your mid-sixties, it might be too late. You could find yourself facing a future where your job ends, and you haven’t established a rewarding, sustainable, and enjoyable path that fills you with a sense of significance.   

Four Steps Forward 

How can you begin doing that now? I recommend three actions that could make a difference.   

1. Reflect on the story of your working life so far. Delve into the details and seek to identify the golden threads and hidden gems—the things you can bring to every situation. 
2. Engage in some imagineering: envision what would be fulfilling, enjoyable, and rewarding in your early seventies. Where would it be? What would it be? Who would it be with?   
3. Reflect on those early hopes you had — the hopes and dreams you held when you were so young that you hadn’t yet become disillusioned by the cultural realities of the world and its demands.  Whether it was living in a community, playing a musical instrument, painting, travelling, or even becoming an astronaut — what were those desires you had when people asked you, “What do you want to do when you grow up?  What do you want to be when you grow up?” What were all those things you enjoyed so much but had to set aside when you went to university and diligently pursued the work-style path laid out before you?   
4. Reflect on the ages your children and grandchildren may be as you approach your seventies. Consider the condition your parents or parents-in-law might be in as you enter this decade. Imagine what life could look like in the world 20 or 30 years from now. And look deep within you to discover what truly matters to you.   

These four ingredients should provide clues to help you begin identifying what that future might look like.

Charles McLachlan is the founder of FuturePerfect and on a mission to transform the future of work and business. The Portfolio Executive programme is a new initiative to help executives build a sustainable and impactful second-half-career. Creating an alternative future takes imagination, design, organisation and many other thinking skills. Charles is happy to lend them to you.