I’ve been contemplating age. Not just my own.

I’ve retired from the workforce twice so far. Once only lasted a few weeks, and indeed I hadn’t made a decision, I was just thinking about retirement.

The second time I retired to move overseas and do volunteer work. In that case retirement was from the paid workforce. It could be argued I was a lot busier living and working in Germany.

Moving back to Canada during COVID, I unretired, more or less. I’m still doing some of the work I was doing in Germany, and have picked up some part-time paid work as well.

But recently I have been pondering really retiring. The stack of unread books seems to be bigger than a year ago. I never seem to have enough time to play guitar. I like both my jobs (and the two volunteer boards I sit on as well), but I’m looking at the calendar and thinking about an exit date. Probably not 2024, but maybe 2025. At which point the pile of books will probably be even bigger.

My generation is living longer than my parents generation, so it makes sense that we would stay in the workforce longer. Especially as frequently there aren’t the workers to replace us. The demographics have shifted. The next generation is numerically smaller.

What got me thinking about aging today though was the announcement by Nancy Pelosi, former speaker of the US House of Representatives, that she will run for re-election in 2024. Why would she do that? Is she afraid of retirement.

On election day Pelosi will be 84. She will turn 85 shortly after the new term starts, assuming she is re-elected. And I can see no reason she wouldn’t be – she’s won 19 straight elections. Still, at that age, doesn’t retirement look appealing? Perhaps do something less grueling?

She’s had a stellar career, something that hopefully her political opponents are willing to admit, but doesn’t it make sense to retire before you health gives out? In recent weeks Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a spring chicken compared to Pelosi at 81, has experienced a couple of “freezes” at public events, incidents that look suspiciously like mini-strokes. Doesn’t an orderly transition to younger leadership make sense?

Maybe not in the United States, where the two most likely candidates to square off in the 2024 presidential election are Donald Trump, who will be 78 on election day, and Joe Biden, who will be 82. Biden, who I saw earlier this year, is definitely showing his age. Is either of them up to the rigors of what is arguably the most stressful job on the planet?

Mick Jagger famously said he would rather be dead than still be singing “Satisfaction” at age 40 (some stories say it was 45). Now that he is 80, people are still paying to hear him sing the song. But the time is coming when he will take the Rolling Stones off the road. Ever the showman, I suspect he’ll know when the time has come. Most of his generation have already made that decision.

Is Nancy Pelosi still able to perform her duties at age 84? That will be up to the people of California, unless God retires her first.

As for me, I have no desire to stick around too long in any job. I’ve worked too long to not put some time aside to enjoy my retirement.