Preparation for old age should begin not later than one’s teens. A life which is empty of purpose until 65 will not suddenly become filled on retirement.

The remark argues that “old age” is not chiefly a financial or medical problem but a moral and spiritual one: the habits, aims, and inner resources that make later life meaningful must be cultivated early. By placing the start “not later than one’s teens,” it stresses formation—character, purpose, and service—during youth, when patterns of living are set. The second sentence rejects the fantasy that retirement itself supplies meaning; if one has lived without vocation, community, or disciplined values, the removal of work will more likely expose emptiness than cure it. In a Moody-like register, the implied remedy is purposeful living—especially religious commitment and service—long before old age arrives.