So, look, I\u2019m reinventing the wheel, and maybe even suggesting utter nonsense in light of literature on the subject that I haven\u2019t read, both by lack of time and lack of access to the genuinely scholarly stuff that doesn\u2019t show up on the library New Book shelf.<\/p>\n
But here goes:<\/p>\n
One of my pet peeves is the fact that we are continually coming up with new euphemisms for individuals who have reached the later stages of their lives: \u00a0when \u201celderly\u201d as a no-go, it became \u201csenior citizen.\u201d \u00a0Older workers are \u201cexperienced workers.\u201d \u00a0Sun City-like communities are for people \u201cage 55 or better.\u201d \u00a0And a book I\u2019m reading now talks about \u201cworking in retirement\u201d due to lack of a better word.<\/p>\n
So here\u2019s my try: <\/p>\n
Divide a middle-class human life in the developed world into stages by simple 20-year intervals. \u00a0You get:<\/p>\n
Youth
Young adulthood
Middle age
Late adulthood
Old age<\/p>\n
Youth<\/b>, is, of course, everyone up to age 20. \u00a0 Sure, age 18 is the legal onset of \u201cadulthood\u201d \u2014 but let\u2019s be serious here. <\/p>\n
Young adults<\/b> are the 20s and 30s, establishing their careers, their families, their lives in general.<\/p>\n
The middle aged<\/b> are the 40s and 50s. \u00a0Yes, there are people who insist that middle-age doesn\u2019t start until age 60 or so, but that\u2019s preposterous. \u00a0To be middle aged means you mostly have all this stuff figured out \u2014 you\u2019re settled in a career (or, if you\u2019ve had a string of careers, you have acquired a reasonable amount of experience), you\u2019ve got some experience at this whole parenthood thing (yes, if you\u2019re poor, you\u2019re more likely to be a grandparent by now, but we\u2019re talking about the middle class, and typical life experiences), you (ought to) have some savings built up by the end of this period. \u00a0At the same time, you know middle age sets in when you need to buy your first pair of reading glasses, even if you tell yourself that they\u2019re your sewing glasses because it just gets a bit difficult to thread the needle sometimes. \u00a0And women, of course, see the end of their fertility and experience menopause.<\/p>\n
The late adulthood<\/b>\u00a0(or \u201clater adulthood\u201d) years are your 60s and 70s. \u00a0That\u2019s when things start to go downhill. The trick is that the downhill is more gently sloped for some people than others, physically and mentally. \u00a0At different points during this time span for different people, even without our traditional concept of \u201cretirement age,\u201d it becomes necessary to slow down, to phase out of full-time work, especially out of heavy manual labor or high-stress, complex tasks. \u00a0At the same time, a new phase of life has begun for the typical parent, now an empty nester and freed from childcare responsibilities and (most of the time) college costs.<\/p>\n
And old age<\/b> is anything age 80 and up. \u00a0Yes, of course, many people don\u2019t make it this far, but, for the typical person who does hit this age, life has slowed down quite a bit, and enjoyment is found in family and friends rather than travel and excitement.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s the point of this?<\/p>\n
We have our definition fixed by mileposts coming from Social Security and Medicare, and an all-or-nothing in our work lives. \u00a0Maybe if we used concepts that don\u2019t presume this, we can think more effectively about the best way to spend our late adult years, and the best policies to adopt.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
So, look, I\u2019m reinventing the wheel, and maybe even suggesting utter nonsense in light of literature on the subject that I haven\u2019t read, both by lack of time and lack of access to the genuinely scholarly stuff that doesn\u2019t show up on the library New Book shelf. But here goes: One of my pet peeves […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[450],"tags":[90],"class_list":["post-129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-actuarial","tag-late-adulthood"],"yoast_head":"\n