WEEKEND COLUMNISTS My father turned 80 this week. He continues to drive, work a day a week at the Citizens Advice Bureau, publish the parish magazine from his home computer and attend art classes. I am not sure how long all these things will continue, but I am delighted and encouraged by how active he remains and hope I will be the same at his age.
I will have to be. Now that we are all going to live to 100, I almost expect to be in full-time work at that age – a fate that my father has escaped, having had the wisdom to retire on an index-linked civil service pension. Considering this, I am reminded of Alan Greenspan, who retired from running the US Federal Reserve two years ago, on January 31 2006, just five weeks short of his 80th birthday. You could argue that he held on a bit long, but I think he is an example to the rest of us not to give up too early.
And now we have Sir Winfried Bischoff, appointed to chair Citigroup at the age of 66. Most people think 66 would be an acceptable age at which to put one’s feet up and have a cup of tea, especially if you had had as long and successful a career as Sir Win. But no, why not accept a job chairing one of the world’s biggest banks? And this isn’t just a case of showing up for a few board meetings and hosting the AGM, either. There’s real work to do for the new chairman of Citi – it has a new chief executive officer and its capital needs shoring up. Sir Win took over as chairman after Citi had parted company with the previous incumbent, Chuck Prince, a man nearly 10 years Sir Win’s junior who, according to the statement, retired – yes, retired. Forget 66, the pace of work required at Citi just now would make most 26-year-olds feel exhausted. I’m all for it myself. Go, Win! If you follow Alan Greenspan’s example, you’ve only got another 14 years to go.
The US is much better than Britain at keeping its citizens in work longer – hence my surprise at Prince’s retirement in his 50s. Warren Buffett will turn 78 in August, and shows no signs of slowing down. And even William Henry Gates III, that bright young thing that Buffett has enlisted to help him give away his billions, will turn 53 this October.
Mr M, who is a year younger than Bill Gates, thinks that he should be allowed to retire now. He regards work as something that gets in the way of golf. Not that it actually does seem to get in the way of golf, or at least the pursuit of golfing knowledge. Tim Yeo, the FT’s golf columnist, e-mailed me recently to ask if I would pass on to Mr M his inquiry about which Australian golf courses he should play during a forthcoming visit. This assumed, Tim added, that he managed to get his golf/wife balance right during the trip. Quite.
I duly forwarded the e-mail and Mr M kindly copied me in on his reply. To my consternation, he displayed a knowledge of Australian golf courses far more extensive than I had anticipated. Not only did he recommend several that I had never heard of, but he described them almost down to the last blade of grass – I was surprised he didn’t tell Tim which clubs to use. And by the way, Mr M was able to send his reply from the office during the working day without the need to consult any of the yards of books we have at home (example: 1,001 Golf Holes You Must Play Before You Die).
No doubt if my father lived in the US he would, like Mr Greenspan, be thinking of retirement only now. Or maybe not – there is one big difference between them. My mother turns 80 this year as well. Mr Greenspan, on the other hand, is married to a woman 20 years his junior. Maybe that’s the secret – and I need to start looking for a 25-year-old.
