"The boomers are the most successful, most confident and most individualistic generation that ever set foot on Earth," according to Barbara Beck, The Economist’s special reports editor. She also points out that in America "the over-50s account for over 40% of all after-tax income."

So does that mean all baby boomers are ready for lives of leisure? Not necessarily. Some enjoy working and don’t plan to retire anytime soon. Others, according to Beck, will need to go on working to make ends meet.

So companies should wake up and realize the benefits of employees who have skills and knowledge that can’t be replaced.

Beck writes in her “Older, wiser” column in The Economist that ageism -- discrimination against persons of a certain age group or a tendency to regard anyone except “the young” as unsuitable for employment – should be "the hot corporate cause of 2018." She suggests passing laws against discrimination on grounds of age, as well as freeing ourselves of stereotypes.

Read the full article by Barbara Beck by clicking Read More below.