When the System Decides You’re Old

Mind the Age Gap | Retirement Age, Identity and the Psychology of Ageing

What does retirement age really mean in modern life?

In this episode of Mind the Gap, Michael Comyn explores the idea of the “age gap” — the gap between chronological age and how we actually experience ourselves.

The reflection begins with a moment in a bank: an older couple being gently coached through online banking. They were not confused. They looked displaced. That observation opens a wider discussion about ageing, identity, and the subtle ways institutions categorise people after 65.

Retirement age began as a 19th-century pension policy in Germany. Over time, it evolved into a powerful cultural label. Today, that label influences marketing, workplace perceptions, digital design, and even the tone of television advertising.

In this episode, Michael explores:

• The history of retirement age and its origins in public policy

• The psychology of subjective age and why most adults over 60 feel younger than their years

• The impact of marketing stereotypes, including the Werther’s Original “grandfather” campaign

• Why certain UK television channels seem dominated by funeral and cremation advertising

• The cultural reality that people now in their seventies once danced to The Rolling Stones

• Why ageing is not the issue, dismissal is

This episode blends psychology, leadership insight, cultural observation, and personal reflection to ask a simple question:

Is the real gap between 50 and 65 — or between vitality and resignation?

If you’ve ever felt younger than your demographic category, or sensed the system quietly repositioning you, this conversation will resonate.

https://amzn.eu/d/irNfaHO