Is It Time for This 95-Year-Old Pianist to Retire?

Exit Strategy is a series about people confronting the challenges of retirement, told in their own words.

Lily Friedman has had a rollicking career as a pianist, a performer and a teacher.

But after more than seven decades of working, in the quiet moments a thought now nags at her.

All these famous guys say they stop while they’re “on top,” and I don’t know how you know when you’re on the top. Because I don’t feel I’m on top yet.

Has she already reached the top, and begun to decline? She doesn’t want to go out with her students dissatisfied, or her performance faltering.

Then again, she doesn’t want to stop at all.

Knowing when, how and whether to retire has long vexed people reaching the ends of their careers. By 2030, 74 million Americans will be over 65, and in that season of life when retirement usually begins, compared with 49 million a decade ago.

With the country becoming older as the baby boomer generation ages, the number of Americans on that precipice — as they reckon with their professional desires, new limitations and financial needs — will soon grow larger than it ever has been.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/25/business/piano-teacher-performer-retirement.html