Some of us know the feeling. One day we wake up to a forgettable milestone birthday, the one that tips us over the age of 50. In the part of the investment banking industry where I operated, this was often already beyond the career high point. What does this mean for our careers? Governments urge us to all work longer as advances in longevity, fitness and health ensure most of us feel fresh enough to be up for it, but having a five at the start of your age is akin to entering career no-man’s land.

It is likely that for most of us in financial services, ringing the 50 bell should make us start considering late-career choices. Easy job hopping, frictionless career progression and opening opportunities become factors of the past. The modern fifty-something faces closing doors and narrowing opportunities. Part of this is down to the shortage of really senior jobs in a shrinking industry and the need to keep people moving up or out. Add the difficulties of integrating hugely experienced older hands back into hierarchies designed for younger and less experienced staff, and conventional employment prospects may not be strong.