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Detail of a Dutch portrait: a seated gentleman in a broad white collar and gold chain, a sailing ship at sea framed in the window behind.

Golden Handcuffs After 40: The Things You Cannot Take…

ByIan HwangAug 9, 202620 min read

The Tuesday after Marguerite left, her name went grey in the chat sidebar. Not gone. Grey. Twenty-six years compressed into a small circle with two initials in it, sitting in a list, unclickable. Somebody in the channel asked a question about an account she had handled since 2011, and…

Detail of a Courbet portrait: a bearded man's face lit sharply from the left, the top of his head cropped by the frame.

How to Build a Second Career After 40 (Without…

ByIan HwangAug 3, 202617 min read

There is a particular kind of Sunday evening that people in their late forties know well. The week ahead is fully visible: the standing meetings, the project…

Detail of a Dutch genre painting: tailors sit cross-legged on a raised bench by a window with cloth and shears while a woman waits at right.

The Transferable Skills Audit: What Actually Carries Over After…

ByIan HwangJul 20, 202618 min read

Someone asks what you are good at, and you hear yourself answer with your job title. Then they ask what that actually involves, and the sentence falls…

Detail of a Caravaggio painting: a young man in red sleeves bends low over a table, counting with a quill, inkwell and ledger before him.

Am I Too Old to Change Careers? The Honest…

ByIan HwangJul 19, 202615 min read

You’ve done the math in your head more times than you’ll admit. Maybe on the drive home, maybe at 2 a.m. when the house is quiet. You…

Detail of a Rembrandt portrait: a middle-aged man in a broad black hat and plain white collar looks past the viewer, lit from the left.

Career Reinvention After 40: How to Turn Your Experience…

ByIan HwangJul 16, 202616 min read

Worried your skills are losing value at 40? Learn how to turn decades of experience into consulting, advisory work, or a career change that actually pays.