There are plenty of guys out there who are now over 60 and who have had widebody commands for 20 plus years, and gained them with the anticipation of a compulsary retirement at 55 (or 58 or even 60) Lucky them.
I'm of the next generation...approaching 50, approaching 20,000 hours and still hundreds of seniority slots away from that widebody command. To have anything like the financial security in retirement of the current age 60 pluses, I'll probably HAVE to work until I'm 70.
If I had the money, I would retire now. I still enjoy my job, but I have a life and a whole bunch of things I want to do whilst I am still able. I actually feel sorry for the oldies who won't give it up because they don't have anything else to look forward to...there can't be any other reason....anyone who has done 20 plus years as a widebody captain with a carrier like Qantas or Air NZ has no-one to blame but themselves if they can't afford to retire.
I think it's selfish for them to stay on...especially given their retirement age expectation when they stated.