Turning 60 this year...

[moecurlythanu]

Wish my memory was better for shows like Yes doing TFTO at Madison Square Garden in '74 when I was 15.

I blame the weed, and other substances.

[Yodelgoat]

Turning 60 in 2.5 months(who's counting?) I expect to weigh less and be healthier - so things are looking up, on the other hand, that clock is ticking....

[Shadow]

[chalkpie]

Is 60 really worse than 50? I'm still 46, so I have no idea, but I always thought 50 was the really scary one?

[Teddy Vengeance]

I reached the milestone just a week ago. It was scaring the hell out of me but when I looked in the mirror on day one of my sixties, I noticed with relief that I hadn’t in fact changed into my own grandfather overnight.

I thought about celebrating by downing a fifth of whiskey, racing a muscle car down the highway at double the speed limit, and having a brief fling with a 19 year old aerobics instructor but I settled instead for a shower and bed at 10.

I also put the finishing touches on my novel, which I’ll introduce here in a separate post next week, provided that the publisher keeps his word regarding the release date.

[nycsteve]

Is 60 really worse than 50? I'm still 46, so I have no idea, but I always thought 50 was the really scary one?

While 50 is a physcological jolt , 60 is when everything undeniably hurts. Like shoulders , knees , back , wrists , you get the idea. But all that beats the alternative.

[rickawakeman]

I think my essentially daily user of weed since my teens has kept me feeling young (-ish). That and the music, of course. To me, they go together like PB & J. Fortunate to have two dispensaries within 5 miles of Chez Rick...

[Rarebird]

While 50 is a physcological jolt , 60 is when everything undeniably hurts. Like shoulders , knees , back , wrists , you get the idea. But all that beats the alternative.

Actually nothing hurts, but perhaps I'm the healthy exeption.
My dad turned 90 last year and he is never ill. Yes, he has had some CVA and has medicines to prevent this from happening again. Besides he has some problems with his vision, but that's all. A friend of him, who is younger than me, has had mononucleosis last year.

[Vic2012]

While 50 is a physcological jolt , 60 is when everything undeniably hurts. Like shoulders , knees , back , wrists , you get the idea. But all that beats the alternative.

You ain't kiddin.' I find now that the best thing for me now is walking and doing planks at home. The gym workouts have become boring.

[Zeuhlmate]

My mother in law is 89, she walks around 6-8 kilometers every day.
Of course she is 'reduced' in strenght, speed, ability to deal with her PC, etc.
But is not necessarily inevitable that you have big age problems at 60.

My wild guess is that you have other issues like overweight, that you can feel more than when you were younger. Bones, knees, breath, condition, etc.
It takes more time to train an older body than a younger, your burn of calories have also slowed down, so you have to consume less if you wont get fat.

I'm 62, and what irritates me the most is worse hearing and I have to wear glasses more and more. I'm also easily more tired than before, but I'm sure that if I was less lazy, and trained my body it would help a lot.
I need to exercise more, I'm lazy, but I can still use my chainsaw cutting down a tree, and I bicycle every day and walk the dogs.
On the good side - I need to sleep less than before.

[Lopez]

60. Piece of cake, Rick. Just keep moving. Being sedentary is not good.

[Lino]

Will be 60 in June. My brain feels 18, my body feels 81. Don't need viagra yet, that's about the only good news.

[Sturgeon's Lawyer]

Will be 60 in June. My brain feels 18, my body feels 81. Don't need viagra yet, that's about the only good news.

Well, let me be the first to wish you a happy birthday, Lino

[Koreabruce]

[Yodelgoat]

40 was the big killer for me, I moved to Texas, Gained 80 pounds (I found REAL food instead of sawdust and granola), lost my hair and my beautiful Pacific Northwest accent. Actually, I didn't lose my hair - it just migrated from the top of my head down to my back.

[jake]

Will be 60 on St Paddy's day 2020. Can't wait to retire so I actually have time to get back in shape. Working from home in front of a laptop is not good for anything - esp during winter. Hope to retire in "less interesting" times.

[ronmac]

40 was the big killer for me, I moved to Texas, Gained 80 pounds (I found REAL food instead of sawdust and granola), lost my hair and my beautiful Pacific Northwest accent. Actually, I didn't lose my hair - it just migrated from the top of my head down to my back.

I always had a theory about hair loss. It doesn't go away. It simply changes direction and starts growing out your ears and nose.

[nycsteve]

My mother in law is 89, she walks around 6-8 kilometers every day.
Of course she is 'reduced' in strenght, speed, ability to deal with her PC, etc.
But is not necessarily inevitable that you have big age problems at 60.

My wild guess is that you have other issues like overweight, that you can feel more than when you were younger. Bones, knees, breath, condition, etc.
It takes more time to train an older body than a younger, your burn of calories have also slowed down, so you have to consume less if you wont get fat.

I'm 62, and what irritates me the most is worse hearing and I have to wear glasses more and more. I'm also easily more tired than before, but I'm sure that if I was less lazy, and trained my body it would help a lot.
I need to exercise more, I'm lazy, but I can still use my chainsaw cutting down a tree, and I bicycle every day and walk the dogs.
On the good side - I need to sleep less than before.

Nope. I'm not overweight , in fact I'm slim. I eat right and exercise daily. What got me is I have done physical work in a few professions since my early teens. Strenuous work. Stuff that's hard on the body. Things just wear out over time . Like knees , shoulders , wrists, back. At almost 61 , I still put out a days work that would tire a 40 year old. It looks like I'll be letting up sooner than later , whether I want to or not.

[Zeuhlmate]

Nope. I'm not overweight , in fact I'm slim. I eat right and exercise daily. What got me is I have done physical work in a few professions since my early teens. Strenuous work. Stuff that's hard on the body. Things just wear out over time . Like knees , shoulders , wrists, back. At almost 61 , I still put out a days work that would tire a 40 year old. It looks like I'll be letting up sooner than later , whether I want to or not.

Yes, thats a tough one, especially if you have to continue like this.
Win the lottery . . .

I Denmark in the 80'ties we introduced something called 'after salery', which was meant for people who were worn due to hard labour/work, could go on early pension (ca. 5 years earlier).
It was a huge success but got rather expensive for the state, because everybody, also those with no particular reasons, wanted to have some more years whithout having to work.
So its gone now - for everybody. Unfortunately.

[nycsteve]

Yes, thats a tough one, especially if you have to continue like this.
Win the lottery . . .

I Denmark in the 80'ties we introduced something called 'after salery', which was meant for people who were worn due to hard labour/work, could go on early pension (ca. 5 years earlier).
It was a huge success but got rather expensive for the state, because everybody, also those with no particular reasons, wanted to have some more years whithout having to work.
So its gone now - for everybody. Unfortunately.

I've been fortunate. I started collecting a pension at 45 after a 23 year career in my "primary" job. Then ,in retirement 1.1 ,a part time business became full time. Its more a matter of wanting to work than having to. I like feeling productive and benefit from the structure working provides. Also my work pays well , which is another plus. The irony , I'm sure shared by others, is at 61 with 30+ years of doing what I do , I've gotten to the point where I know what I'm doing and get satisfaction from that , and the work of building the business end has reached a self sustaining point. Just when I am feeling good about where that section of life is , its getting to the point of the inevitable retirement 1.2 . I'm having trouble picturing it. Somewhere in my 60's the real life changer is due. Im not complaining by a long shot, just never really contemplated this fork in the road as fully as I am now.

[SteveSly]

The irony , I'm sure shared by others, is at 61 with 30+ years of doing what I do , I've gotten to the point where I know what I'm doing and get satisfaction from that , .

Maybe it is just me, but I am starting to feel the opposite. I have been very fortunate to work for the same company for 32 years (although with mergers the name has changed over the years). I am 57 and in the past few years seem to really notice being surrounded by younger and sometimes more talented people. Although I try to keep up with technology / computers, I find that 20 somethings are light years ahead of me with what they know how to do. It seems to be getting more difficult as I get older to learn new things. Suddenly I feel like a dinosaur in many ways. I am a production supervisor for a large pharma firm and it seems like I spend the majority of my time dealing with people conflicts among my crew. My job has always had that aspect to it, but it seems to have become a lot worse in the last 5 years or so. I make good money, but I often hate my job, and can't wait to retire in a few years.

[Lopez]

Maybe it is just me, but I am starting to feel the opposite. I have been very fortunate to work for the same company for 32 years (although with mergers the name has changed over the years). I am 57 and in the past few years seem to really notice being surrounded by younger and sometimes more talented people. Although I try to keep up with technology / computers, I find that 20 somethings are light years ahead of me with what they know how to do. It seems to be getting more difficult as I get older to learn new things. Suddenly I feel like a dinosaur in many ways. I am a production supervisor for a large pharma firm and it seems like I spend the majority of my time dealing with people conflicts among my crew. My job has always had that aspect to it, but it seems to have become a lot worse in the last 5 years or so. I make good money, but I often hate my job, and can't wait to retire in a few years.

I notice the same thing, Steve, even in my industry, publishing, where people tend to stay in one place for a long time until they are streamlined out. We have many editorial assistants who are just out or a few years out of college and to whom the new technology and systems are a piece of cake; unlike me and some of the other oldsters here who are struggling with them. Once the systems become second nature it's fine, but then they change again. Where I've noticed almost exclusively young people is in the area of financial management. The wife and I have been talking to folks at Fidelity to get our accounts in order for my eventual retirement. Everyone we've met there is under 30, and they are bright.

[Buddhabreath]

Maybe it is just me, but I am starting to feel the opposite. I have been very fortunate to work for the same company for 32 years (although with mergers the name has changed over the years). I am 57 and in the past few years seem to really notice being surrounded by younger and sometimes more talented people. Although I try to keep up with technology / computers, I find that 20 somethings are light years ahead of me with what they know how to do. It seems to be getting more difficult as I get older to learn new things. Suddenly I feel like a dinosaur in many ways. I am a production supervisor for a large pharma firm and it seems like I spend the majority of my time dealing with people conflicts among my crew. My job has always had that aspect to it, but it seems to have become a lot worse in the last 5 years or so. I make good money, but I often hate my job, and can't wait to retire in a few years.

I'm much in the same boat working in IT, except the company I woked in for many years was eaten by a bigger fish and nearly all the employees let go. Now I'm bouncing around and bit and counting the days. IT can be a cut-throat world between outsourcing and younger employees who don't mind being online and available 24x7. I'm just not very motivated or interested, in fact if I could make the same $ working in a record store, teaching guitar, brewing beer, picking apples or some other moderate manual labor I'd leave IT in a hearbeat. f@@k IT.

[ronmac]

I got shit-canned when the economy tanked at the end of 2008. I had joined the company two years prior after they lured me away to their startup and sold me a bill of goods. When the economy fell apart, they were burning cash like crazy developing their new silicon. I got the "You're-no-longer-an-employee-you're-now-a-contracter" speech and was thrust into self-employment at age 47. Nobody was looking to hire anyone with my experience when the economy was hemorrhaging 700,000 jobs each month. After collecting unemployment for about three months and being saved by the COBRA subsidies (which dropped my monthly benefits from about $1200.00 to $378.00), I declared my independence and vowed never to go back to the corporate world of bullshit, ass-kissing, incompetence and politics. I was one of the lucky ones who had a skill set that allowed me to continue working, and doing so from my home.

We've had our ups and downs and healthcare fucking sucks (because our country can't get it's shit together). But, there is no way in hell I'll ever go back to that shit. Not unless someone offers me at least a $150K salary, which I don't see happening.

So, I plan to coast into retirement and do what I'm doing until I don't like it anymore. Hopefully, that will continue until at least 2026 when I turn 65. If I can do it after that and still enjoy it, I'll keep going.

[Buddhabreath]

I declared my independence and vowed never to go back to the corporate world of bullshit, ass-kissing, incompetence and politics. I was one of the lucky ones who had a skill set that allowed me to continue working, and doing so from my home.

Good on ya mate! I'm too washed up, lazy, complacent and cowardly for that. ooops, the bell's ringing - have to go back to my stall and silently await my turn at the abattoir...