I loved the movie The Intern.
Who wouldn’t?
Robert De Niro — a 70-year-old widower — joins a buzzing, young tech startup.
He’s polished. Wise and emotionally intelligent. He earns the team’s respect in his own way and wins over the founder, played by Anne Hathaway.
It’s the kind of heartwarming second-act story that makes you smile.
But here’s the uncomfortable question
What if you’re not Robert De Niro?
And your boss is nothing like Anne Hathaway?
What if you’re in your 40s or 50s…
Still showing up. Still delivering. Still growing.
But slowly, quietly — you’re being left out of the room.
You’ve given 15 or 20 years to the company. You know how the business works better than most.
But your seat at the table feels less secure than ever.
And then, I heard a term that hit a little too close to home.
When I first heard it, I paused.
Not because it was clever — but because it was cruelly accurate.
Payroll Cholesterol.
A term used in cost-cutting meetings to describe mid-career employees with:
High salaries
Limited future upside
A perceived plateau in performance
They’re not seen as assets anymore.
They’re seen as costs.
Just like cholesterol clogs arteries quietly and invisibly, these professionals are viewed as silent burdens on the payroll.
No appreciation.
No celebration of loyalty.
Just a line item — to be optimized or removed.
In today’s corporate world, people aren’t retiring at 60.
They’re being restructured, reassigned, or replaced at 45+.
If you’ve spent your entire career depending on:
Job security
Annual raises
Corporate loyalty
…you may be one reorg away from irrelevance.
You can’t rely on goodwill or tenure to protect your financial future.
You need leverage beyond your paycheck — now.
That means:
✅ Investments that grow while you sleep
✅ Income streams that aren’t tied to your employer
✅ The confidence to pivot or go independent, if needed
That’s exactly why I created the GAiM Plan — a structured, step-by-step framework designed to help mid-career professionals:
Build a Plan B while their Plan A is still running
Because staying employable is good…
But staying financially free is better.
✅ Don’t wait for a pink slip.
✅ Don’t wait for burnout.
✅ Don’t wait to be quietly labeled “Payroll Cholesterol.”
Start building your freedom while you still have the power to choose.
👉 Book a private 1-on-1 GAiM Planning Session here:
https://www.financialplanningindubai.com/meetings/damodhar
To your financial independence,
Damodhar Mata