I realize it is anecdotal evidence, but when you have power lifters in there 70s and 80s still pulling heavy (like a John Bourgoin from Canada's powerlifting federation), you don't have to let age deter you. I know of one 63 year old power lifter in New Zealand who still feels as if he's making good gains.
Recovery will become more of an issue the older you get. The big difference between a young guy in their 20s and 30s and an older guy is how soon they need to change to slower progression. If you were to employ some of Wendler's philosophy where you have four lifts a week (squat, bench, deadlift, overhead press), make increases and have a deload week once a month, you can leverage that approach for quite some time. Essentially, on Wendler's 5-3-1 plan, you keep making increases until you start stalling. Once you start stalling, take 90% of your current max and work your way back up.
I also know of an ex-military lifter in his 50s who when he was told he should consider taking disability due to his acute back pain, made some positive changes and is seriously quite an impressive guy. He now favors high volume training such as the Sheiko programs. His basic philosophy is that he's done chasing max effort numbers, and is simply seeing how many times he can hit his current maxes.
Some of the guys I referred to can be found at the IronStrong.org forums, but the bottom line is that you can continue to make increases for quite some time. All the tools to manage recovery are all there. You won't be able to do linear progression as well, but you sound like you are past that stage anyway.
