In this episode of Next Act Ninjas, Rachael Van Pelt, empowers you with an essential strategy for thriving in the age of artificial intelligence (AI). If you’re in your 50s or 60s and worried about AI-related disruptions colliding with ageism in the workplace, this episode is your battle plan. We dive into the reality of AI's impact on the job market, discuss how older workers can turn potential threats into opportunities, and share proactive steps to secure your financial future. Discover how you can stay relevant, embrace new technologies, and ensure you retire on your own terms. Join us as we explore: • The intersection of AI and ageism and how it impacts older workers. • Real-life success stories, like Sarah the paralegal, who leveraged AI to enhance her career. • Strategies to turbocharge your retirement savings and investments. • Tips for maintaining a growth mindset and staying competitive in a rapidly evolving job market. Don't miss this empowering episode designed to help you adapt, thrive, and build a resilient future in the AI era. Remember, your Next Act is just the beginning. Let’s make it a story of resilience, reinvention, and thriving in the age of AI. Listen now to arm yourself with the knowledge and tools you need to navigate and succeed in the AI revolution. If you enjoyed this episode, please hit the like and subscribe buttons to help us reach more listeners. Until next time, live well, love more, and age less!
Chapters
00:00 Introduction: Surviving in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
01:13 Ageism in the Workplace and the Rise of AI
07:33 Prepare for Forced Early Retirement in the Age of AI
12:55 Conclusion: Creating a Future of Resilience and Reinvention
Welcome back to Next Act Ninjas, the number one podcast for mastering your lifestyle longevity. I'm your host, Rachael Van Pelt, and today I want to arm you with a strategy for surviving in the age of artificial intelligence (AI). And I'm not talking about simply navigating new technologies. I am talking about recognizing your value, protecting your future, and retiring on your own terms rather than being forced into early retirement. If you're in your 50s or 60s and you want to weather AI-related disruptions and potential ageism in your workplace, then this is the episode for you. This is your battle plan.
When I ask people when they plan to retire, I often find that not only are they unclear about their desired timeline, but many assume that they will have the option to work as long as they want. Some want to work as long as possible because they love their job, but others do it because they need the continued income. Either way, this assumption could be costly, especially in a world where AI and ageism collide. Let's be brutally honest, ageism is rampant in the workplace. Older workers are often unfairly stereotyped as less adaptable, less tech savvy, and more expensive to employ than their younger counterparts.
And with the rise of AI, these stereotypes are becoming even more weaponized. Think about it for a minute. AI excels at tasks that were once considered the domain of experienced professionals. It can crunch massive amounts of data, analyze incredibly complex information, and even mimic human creativity. This means that jobs that were once required many years of experience can now be done faster and cheaper by machines. And for some employers, the temptation to replace older workers with AI-powered solutions is simply becoming too great to resist. The result? A growing number of adult older workers are likely going to be pushed out of the workforce prematurely. Their skills and experience are going to be dismissed in favor of shiny new technologies. But here's the thing, this isn't just unfair, it's short-sighted. Older workers bring a wealth of real-world experience, wisdom, emotional intelligence to the table. And these are all qualities that AI simply can't replicate.
But ageism, it's not just about discrimination, is it? It's often rooted in fear. Companies fear being outcompeted and being replaced. They fear becoming irrelevant. They fear not being able to keep up with the rapid pace of change. These fears, they're understandable, but they can also lead to companies making bad choices. And that's why it's so important to arm yourself with the knowledge and take proactive steps to protect your career and your financial future.
I want to tell you about a paralegal named Sarah. For about 30 years, she's been the backbone of her law firm. She has encyclopedic knowledge of legal precedents, and she has the ability to connect with clients that make her an invaluable asset to the firm. But now, as AI-powered legal tools are starting to gain traction, Sarah's firm has started contemplating the use of AI Agents.
These Agents are capable of reviewing and analyzing legal documents in a fraction of the time that a human can. And they can run 24/7 So the sheer number of documents that they can get through is staggering. As a result, there have been whispers that these AI Agents will soon replace paralegals. So Sarah, not surprisingly, has started to feel the walls closing in.
Now the good news is Sarah's not one to go down without a fight. She's a Next Act Ninja. She knows that her story isn't over. She's only 59y and she plans to work until at least the age of 65y. So she has decided to make AI her ally rather than become its victim. That's why this year she immersed herself in the world of legal tech. She's learned about the latest AI tools, how they can be changing the game in just the next one to three years.
And so in the last five or six months, she discovered that while AI can automate certain tasks, it can't replace things like human judgment, comprehensive planning, the ability to build relationships with clients and so forth. And so she went in armed with this knowledge to her firm with the proposal. She suggested that they leverage her vast experience and the AI tools to create a more efficient and effective legal team. She showed them how AI can free her up from repetitive tasks, how it can allow her to focus on higher value activities like consulting with clients, right? Building client rapport, legal strategy, mentoring young colleagues and so forth. All these things that can increase the productivity of the firm beyond what they would get just from implementing AI.
Now Sarah's firm was initially skeptical, but they eventually agreed to give her a chance. And so far, they haven't been disappointed. By taking the initiative to embrace AI in the past few months, Sarah made herself even more valuable to her firm. Now does that mean her job is secure for the next six years? Of course not. Her industry, like so many others, will continue to be disrupted in new and unexpected ways over the next five to 10 years. She will have to maintain a growth mindset throughout if she wants to keep learning and pivoting with each technological advance that comes along. And that can be challenging for anyone.
Nevertheless, I think she's a great example of how older workers can thrive in the age of AI simply by adapting, learning, and leveraging their unique strengths. In fact, I could argue that our generation has already had to adapt to so much rapidly changing technology in our lifetime that we might just be the best people to usher in the next technological age. But that's only possible if we don't submit to the ageist stereotype of being less adaptable, less tech savvy, more expensive to employ than younger colleagues and so forth. So let's be sure to keep adapting and use AI to augment our wealth of experience rather than render it obsolete.
In the meantime, we'd better address the elephant in the room, or rather, the elephant in our bank account. And that's our retirement nest egg. What if AI's disruption of the workplace means that you do, in fact, have less time to save than you anticipated? What if your company isn't as forward-thinking as Sarah's, and you're forced to retire a few years sooner than you'd planned? Will you be ready?
If your answer is anything other than an emphatic yes, then right now is the time to turbocharge your financial engine and close the gap between where you are today and where you need to be in the next few years. If you don't know how much you need saved for retirement, I suggest you go back and listen to our previous episode on achieving your financial freedom number. You need to determine what that number is and set a date. I don't want you to get caught by surprise if advances in AI and ageism collide and you're forced to retire early. Prepare as if you need to retire sooner than you think. If you think your retirement date is six years out, prepare as if it could be three years.
Start by maxing out your retirement contributions. Contribute the maximum allowed to your 401k and/or your IRA. If you're 50 or older, remember you are allowed to make catch-up contributions on the order of about $7,500 per year to your 401k and about $1,000 extra per year to your IRA. That means you can contribute a total of up to $30K per year in your 401k and $8,500 per year into your IRA. If your employer matches your contributions, make sure you're taking advantage of that free money. Every dollar counts, and the sooner you contribute, the better, because the power of compounding over time, that's your secret weapon. Every little bit extra you invest today is going to help you close that savings gap, and it's going to keep growing throughout your Next Act.
Now, if you're wondering how you will come up with this extra money to max out your contributions. Start by taking an honest look at your budget. Can you temporarily cut back on expenses, free up more cash to invest in the future? This might mean downsizing your home, driving a less expensive car, cutting back on dining out, whatever. Or can you increase your income with a side hustle? Catching up will take a bit of discipline in the short term, but every dollar you save, today is a dollar that is going to grow and compound over time, giving you more peace of mind in these uncertain times. In other words, a little bit of frugality over the next few years can give you quite a bit more financial freedom long term.
Likewise, be sure to invest in your health today. The little bit of time and money you invest in improving your healthspan will not just save you hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical expenses throughout retirement, but you're going to have the mental and physical energy to keep up with your younger colleagues and the rapid changes in technology that we've been talking about. You're going to need that healthy body and mind if you want to stay competitive in the workplace.
And don't forget to diversify that portfolio. Don't put all your eggs in the 401k basket. Explore other investment options like real estate because you know a diversified portfolio is going to help protect you from any kind of market volatility, increase your chances of long-term success. Consider buying a rental property or even house hacking. That's where you live in one unit of a multifamily property while you rent out the others. Real estate is a powerful asset class. That's going to provide you tax savings, cash flow, long-term appreciation. Go back and listen to last week's episode on downsizing to accelerate your financial independence if you want to see just how powerful real estate can be (even in just five or six short years).
I love helping people leverage real estate to boost their retirement. It really does work. My husband and I, we've been able to double our nest egg in a few short years by buying real estate. Often, people nearing retirement think it's too late to invest in real estate, but that couldn't be further from the truth. You still have plenty of years to reap the benefits of a short-term rental, a long-term rental, a house hack. Now, if you have other assets like a 401k to access in early retirement, then that rental property can be an excellent investment tool to fund your later years. But again, it does take a little bit of discipline short-term to win your long game.
Of course, every situation is different, so you have to be sure to get personalized advice from a professional. If you're thinking about buying an investment property, use the link in the show notes to hop on my calendar for a free consult. And let's review your particular situation. The bottom line is you have to prepare yourself for what's coming. The AI revolution is here whether you like it or not. But it does not have to turn into a forced retirement apocalypse. Your value doesn't diminish with age. It grows. Your experience, your wisdom, your resilience, they're invaluable assets in this age of AI.
Embrace a lifelong growth mindset. Stay curious. Explore new technologies. Don't stop learning and evolving. Take online courses. Attend workshops. Network with other people who are also eagerly adapting. Because the more you understand your specific value, your value-add here in the age of AI, the more valuable you become. Just don't let ageism define you or your future. If necessary, speak up, advocate for yourself, challenge outdated stereotypes, show the world that you're not just keeping up your leading. If I've learned anything from working these past 30 years with middle-aged and older adults, it's that old dogs can still learn new tricks.
And that includes taking control of your financial future, even if you've been lax about it up to now. Start saving aggressively, invest wisely, build a diversified portfolio that can withstand any storm. Don't let fear hold you back. Be bold, be proactive, take charge of your destiny. By staying adaptable, investing in your future and turbocharging your finances, you're going to create a future that's even brighter than you imagined. Remember, your Next Act is just the beginning. Let's make it a story of resilience, reinvention, thriving in the age of AI.
That's all I have for today. If you like today's episode, please be sure to hit the like and subscribe buttons. It really helps us reach more people. Until next time, live well, love more, age less, my friends.