Cartridge life really only 3 years??

This is scaring the heck out of me. Now I have about $6000 invested in analog and I am contemplating selling it all because the cartridge I have chose as my ultimate reference can only be traded in for new with a 20% credit. That only provides about $1.80 per hour return in investment. This is my major concern in staying with analog as a reference source and seems like a bad investment because of the cartridge wear.

About 8 years ago I called Grado and asked them (maybe it was "He") if I should replace my 25 year old Signature 8, wondering if it had "worn out" or gone flat. The response was no, the coils and magnets do not wear out or go flat. The stylus of course, is another thing. He even offered to check the cartridge out if I mailed it in. I took him up on his offer after which he told me it still sounded beautiful and that I should hold on to it. At some point after that I purchased a Grado Gold reasoning that after 25 years of improvements, a Grado Gold (top of the Prestige series) should sound better than an old Signature. I was wrong. I much preferred the Signature over the Gold. The Signature is still in use today.
That being said, this year I purchased 2 new cartridges, a Grado Reference Sonata1 and a Grado Statement Sonata1 and couldn't believe the refinement I heard compared to the Signature. I guess there's a reason they keep coming out with newer models.
Based on my experience, I don't think cartridges need to be replaced every 3 years because the coils and magnets deteriorate. Stylus use and suspension degradation are another issue entirely.

It was nice when we had the brick and mortar stores.The best one in my area retired,and didn't do much in home theater. People that didn't even buy anything from him,used to bring their stylus by for him to check it under the scope.He was the last knowledgeable analog dealer in my area.I guess I'm going to need to start keeping track of my play time now too. The big box stores sure don't offer that service,and most likely wouldn't be able to tell the wear on the stylus correctly.