I will turn 70 next March, and for the first time in my life, full retirement feels not only possible, but perhaps appropriate.

I’ve spent more than 53 years building and working in the family business. At some point, a man has to honestly ask himself whether he is still helping the company or merely occupying space that should belong to the next generation.

Parts of today’s business world have passed me by. Some of it I simply no longer understand. Technology, marketing, communication, customer expectations — the landscape changes faster now than ever before. I still have experience, instinct, and perspective, but I also recognize something equally important:

There comes a time when experience can quietly become resistance.

Current management doesn’t care how you used to do it.

I have begun to wonder whether my influence might eventually hinder the business more than help it. That is not an easy thing to admit after devoting most of your life to something.

That realization struck me after watching a recent Sunday Morning interview with South Carolina Congressman James Clyburn.

Clyburn is 85 years old and preparing to run for what would be his 18th term in Congress. He claimed he was still “considering it,” though the interview made it fairly obvious that, barring death, both his candidacy and reelection are practically guaranteed.

In the private sector, age eventually forces difficult conversations. Are we adapting? Are we still effective? Would the organization be stronger with younger leadership?

Washington rarely seems to ask those questions.

There are currently nearly 100 members of the House of Representatives and more than 20 U.S. Senators older than I am. The House — led by Kentucky Congressman Hal Rogers at age 86 — is among the oldest in American history.

The Senate, led by Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley at 92, is now the oldest Senate in American history.

Grassley is older than my mother.

What is even more shocking than their ages is how long many of these people have remained on the public teat.

By the way, I intentionally avoid calling them the “longest-serving” members of Congress. Service implies sacrifice. After four and five decades in Washington, many appear more committed to preserving their positions than representing the people who sent them there.

Consider this list:

• Chris Smith — 46 years (and he’s “only” 74!)
• Chuck Grassley — 45 years
• Hal Rogers — 45 years
• Steny Hoyer — 45 years
• Mitch McConnell — 41 years

California Rep Nancy Pelosi has also managed to accumulate extraordinary wealth during nearly four decades in Washington, something many Americans increasingly view with suspicion.

The late Michigan Congressman John Dingell Jr. is the longest-operating member of Congress in American history, remaining in office for more than 59 years.

Fifty-nine years.

Imagine spending nearly six decades inside the insulated world of Washington royalty without ever truly returning to the reality most Americans live every day.

The problem is not simply age. Age can bring wisdom. The problem is permanence.

Business would not survive if its leadership remained frozen for half a century. Markets change. Technology changes. Customers change. Cultures change. Leadership eventually must change too.

Yet in Washington, staying forever is treated as experience instead of what it usually becomes: self-preservation and elevated gamesmanship.

Perhaps that’s why Congress feels increasingly disconnected from ordinary Americans. Too many of its members stopped living ordinary lives decades ago, addicted to the power and prestige that comes with the position.

And maybe the hardest — and most honorable — thing a person can do is recognize when it is time to let go. I understand the fear of irrelevance and the difficulty in surrendering control as well as anyone. It is a stab to your ego when your life’s work marches on without you. Frankly, there is usually not much of an identity after retirement – unless one of my books becomes a best-seller.

That applies to business owners. Many corporate boards have age restrictions – and for good reason. CEOs are often put out to pasture in their 60s. Piloting a commercial plane has an age limit and for good reason.  

And it should apply to politicians who won’t live with the long-term consequences too. It is up to us to make that happen as it is quite obvious politicians won’t do it.