A biz journalist turns 50 — and looks back at 25

Chuck Jaffe, a columnist for Marketwatch.com, writes about turning 50 last week and his goals in business journalism when he was 25.

Jaffe writes, “I would not say I was an insightful 25-year-old. At the time, I was a business reporter for the St. Petersburg Times in Florida, I was married but had no children and, apparently, I was convinced that I was going to be an ink-stained wretch in the newspaper business for life. My goals seem mostly focused on work and achievement; quite frankly, I’m disappointed at how shallow they were.

“I expected to be a high-level manager at a paper by age 50, with a healthy college-savings fund and a start on my own retirement savings.

“My career was plotted out; it’s vividly unclear how I expected to achieve peace of mind or balance work with family.

“Life changed that.

“Before I ever got to age 35, it was obvious to me that I didn’t want to stay on the executive track. By the time I was 40, it was becoming clear that the newspaper business was changing so dramatically that I had to consider some alternative, such as going to a business Web site. It was also clear that the stock market had stopped doing investors big favors and that income growth was going to stall in my chosen business.”

Read more here.