Editor’s Note: Reinvention Is A Necessity, Not A Choice

The recently released Netflix series, Younger, charts the story of a 40-year-old woman Liza, who wants to rejoin the workforce after 15 years, but is faced with a slew of rejections because of her age. The series turns the idea on its head, when Liza, who pretends to be a 26-year-old to get an assistant’s job and kickstart her career in publishing, proves to be an efficient worker who seems to have the right experience. “You talk like you are 40,” she gets that often from her bosses and colleagues.

In a feel-good series of the kind, it’s possible to keep up the charade, but in real life, employees have to go through intense HR scrutiny and it’s almost impossible to pull something like that.

The reality is employees in their 40s are often boxed into stereotypes like older people are incapable of generating new ideas or buzz and are unproductive in general, with little regard to the value their experience can add. Those in the work force are already victims, but women like Liza who take breaks for childcare and other reasons in India are worse off.

The result: fewer job opportunities, the threat of job losses looming large, especially in private corporations (the shrinking government positions mostly have age bars).

That’s why reinventing oneself has become more of a necessity than a choice. This is especially true for those in their 40s as they find themselves juggling income uncertainty, increased financial responsibilities (of children and ageing parents) and planning for their retirement as life expectancy rises.

The government’s start-up push is aligned well with this crisis that many employees are facing in India. The process of opening your own venture has been simplified to a large extent already (read our cover story Founders’ Full Circle: From Entry To Exit). The Union Budget 2026, announced on February 1, 2026, makes an attempt to ease this further. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s Budget had some strategic announcements for artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities, data centre economy, and manufacturing, all of which can give an impetus to start-ups. She also cut out separate allocation for sectors like fisheries to strengthen the start-up ecosystem in India.

Experts say that one’s 40s and 50s should ideally be income-generating years, laying the foundation for financial independence in retirement. So, the earlier you start planning, the better. In fact, that could also give meaning to your life post retirement. As TED speaker and author Riley Moynes says one of the groups that are able to enter the fourth phase of retirement (when you have found a purpose and are pursuing it) is entrepreneurs, the other being those who identify their passions or hobbies early on (see page 54).

However, any plunge you take needs to be clearly thought-out and well-planned because the middle-class can often not afford to take the risk of leaving a regular income stream and rushing into something uncertain.

What can you do about it? Plan ahead. Build a large emergency corpus for your personal expenses for at least 2-3 years, keep your business and personal accounts separate, and always think of a back-up in case the venture doesn’t take off, which could be owing to a myriad of reasons.

Taking the first steps while you are still employed can put you on a firmer footing. So start on that journey now!