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The 100-Year Life

By: Lynda Gratton,Andrew Scott
Narrated by: Mark Meadows
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Summary

What will your 100-year life look like? Does the thought of working for 60 or 70 years fill you with dread? Or can you see the potential for a more stimulating future as a result of having so much extra time?

Many of us have been raised on the traditional notion of a three-stage approach to our working lives: education, followed by work and then retirement. But this well-established pathway is already beginning to collapse. Life expectancy is rising, final-salary pensions are vanishing and increasing numbers of people are juggling multiple careers.

Whether you are 18, 45 or 60, you will need to do things very differently from previous generations and learn to structure your life in completely new ways. The 100-Year Life is here to help. Drawing on the unique pairing of their experience in psychology and economics, Lynda Gratton and Andrew Scott offer a broad-ranging analysis as well as a raft of solutions, showing how to rethink your finances, your education, your career and your relationships and create a fulfilling 100-year life.

The 100-Year Life is a wake-up call that describes what to expect and considers the choices and options that you will face. It is also fundamentally a call to action for individuals, politicians, firms and governments and offers the clearest demonstration that a 100-year life can be a wonderful and inspiring one.

©2016 Lynda Gratton and Andrew Scott (P)2016 Audible Ltd.

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  • LC
  • 11-07-21

OK, but basic and lacking imagination

I found this book to be quite basic, which was disappointing as I expected the subject to be explored in more depth and with more imagination.
For someone that has never thought about this area and hasn’t thought much about different ways of planning your life and career pathway, it could be a useful introduction.

4 people found this helpful

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Important book on demographic change/aging society

A must-read for people involved in policymaking, as well as people interested in the scale and impacts of an aging population and the so-called inverted demographic pyramid. Lots to think about in terms of pensions and funding post-retirement, as well as demolishing the persistent myth about the three-stage life, ie you're a child, then you have a career,, then you retire. This book explains that this type of life won't exist for many of us in the 21st century and that the nature of work has changed and will continue to change significantly,

One impact of this is the need for reinvention in the world of work, acquiring intangible assets such as skills or education/qualifications in order to continue working and adapt to the jobs market in the future, and ensuring we have enough money for retirement, particularly as future generations can be sure that their state pension will approximate to almost nothing at all.

Challenging this "everyone has a three-stage life" myth is one of the most important things this book offers and is probably the most profound insight I gleaned from listening to it, I think the trend about job markets becoming less stable over time and underlining the need for reinvention is an important one too when you think about this in context with other destabilizing factors, such as technology, AI, robotics, IoT, and the impact this wil have on the job market, and in many cases are already having.

Look for example at the legal battle between Uber and their drivers about whether they should be legally treated as employees or as self-employed, this was very recently ruled so that Uber has to give them minimum wage, holidays, etc. We can see these sorts of challenges to societally accepted views of employment and expectations from employees and employers to continue as tech companies cointue to innovate and disrupt, and challenge convention.

In short, this is a good introduction to the impacts that the demographic shift/aging populations will have on society.

3 people found this helpful

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First book I would call essential

The multiple issues raised by the likely 100 year lifespan facing current 20-somethings are complex and go beyond finances. A wide ranging and informative book of equal interest to those in the 50s.

3 people found this helpful

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Explains well work life balance

Made me approach work from different perspective. The phrase "work life balance" has a different meaning to me after finishing this book.

2 people found this helpful

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Everyone should listen to this

It points out looming issues, cultural norms we take for granted, and offers alternatives to the status quo. If nothing else, it was interesting.

2 people found this helpful

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Sorry but not for me

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I made myself listen to one hour but then gave up

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

I had high hopes from the title but I learnt nothing on any level

Could you see The 100-Year Life being made into a movie or a TV series? Who would the stars be?

To be negative is to fail so I will not!

Any additional comments?

They do not sound as if they are are enjoying it either

2 people found this helpful

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  • J
  • 02-08-19

Powerful, profound and life changing!

I’m really glad I can across this book at the beginning of my 30s! The book has distilled so many challenges (and opportunities) that my generation face and ways in which we can prepare ourselves (personally and professionally) for a longer life! I would highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone - but perhaps more importantly, our politicians and policy makers!

Thank you Lynda and Andrew for sharing these insights!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

very interesting concepts explained, good listen!

absolutely loved it, very good deep dive into the 100 year life and what you can do to make the most of it

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Essential mid life reading

So glad I read this book as it affirmed a lot of what I had been thinking and planning towards in the last few years. The need for re-creation struck a chord ..it’s never too late to evolve...Good insights and well structured.

1 person found this helpful

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valuable info but too quick and dry to absorb.

valuable info but too quick and dry to absorb. needs to be delivered with more examples and or at a slower pace so that one can imagine how the information or idea applies to one's own life.

1 person found this helpful

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  • Sergio Faria
  • 11-06-17

Your handbook for a 100-year lfe

Can you picture yourself driving backwards on a high-speed freeway? Although this may sound scary, it's actually how we usually manage our own lives: looking in the rearview mirror to determine our future actions.

If you are an individual currently living at Planet Earth, this is a book which is very like worthwhile for you to read.

From the scientific evidence which shows that children who are born now have a 50 percent chance of living to 100 years (compared to 1 percent chance in early 20th century), Linda Gratton and Andrew Scott, suggest that we must evolve from a "three-stage life" (comprising learning, working, retiring) to a life of 4 or 5 "age-agnostic" stages, which should include material changes on how we obtain and accumulate tangible and intangible assets, allowing a 100-year life to be a gift rather than a curse.

This book isn't only for younger people who are statistically candidates for the 100-year life, but for everyone who will likely experience extended life expectancy and can not only make own decisions, but also influence corporations, governments André​ overall society on how to evolve from the yet prevalent 3-stage life.

3 people found this helpful

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  • Maksym
  • 11-02-17

Just a thought on 100 years life.

This is not how to book and in my opinion a bit slow futuristic view on 100 years life.
If you wants practical advices then this book is not the right one for u.

2 people found this helpful

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  • A M
  • 25-07-17

Starts of well

I thought the first half of the book was amazing. It really gets you thinking. However towards the end it becomes far to predictive.

This book is a great book to understand how you should plan your life for the future. But I felt depressed listening after a while because it was planning you entire existence.

I had high expectations and unfortunately I was slightly let down but I don't retreat listening and would recommend for other readers.

1 person found this helpful

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  • Amazon Customer
  • 23-02-17

not enough substance for a book

This is a drawn out treatment of a basic idea that we'll live longer, and should perhaps switch from a 3-stage mental model of our life to a 3-,4- or 5-stage model. It's all true and reasonable, just kind of stretched too thin.

1 person found this helpful

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  • Paul
  • 31-12-22

Love the concepts in this book

Im in my mid 50s and have been feeling stuck. The ideas in the 100 year life have given me a lot of hope for the future. I have listened to this book 3 times. I bought the hard copy to follow along and make notes on my third listening with my wife as an end of year exercise to seed ideas for 2023 and the future.
Thank you.

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  • Anonymous User
  • 24-12-20

Best book

One of the best books i read in a very long time. Opened my eyes to a new reality and made me action on it immediately!

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    4 out of 5 stars
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  • VerdereC
  • 27-07-19

Moving from Three to Multi-Stage Life

Cool to recognize many of the interesting trends and insights from their research. Need to process thier predictions on how personal paradigms and societal changes need to change.

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  • Irina Koksharova
  • 13-03-19

Great book!

listened from the beginning to the end, really good book that looks into future and tells what to expect and what to be ready for. highly recommend!

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  • Arutu
  • 01-03-19

Insightful

Simply put, awesome and challenging book. Would recommend highly to a friend or loved one.

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  • Artem Litvinovich
  • 15-02-18

Good ideas dryly presented

Book explores impact on life as we live longer. Practical and logical presentation makes for thought provoking ideas albeit dryly presented.