The old age thread

I know plenty of people that live full lives past 60. Jeez man, anymore it's not that old. I think part of it is you've got no significant other or kids, and I'm wondering about your social life - do you have a few good friends? I'm also wondering if you're a bit depressed, and if taking care of your parents is giving you a skewed view of older age. I mean, if you're taking care of them I assume they are sick or otherwise in need of help.

We had my son a bit later than normal (I'm 36 now), so I'll be about 52 when he graduates high school, and I may be a grandfather, or close to it, by the time I'm 60. I feel there's SOOOO much to look forward to. The only thing that sucks is knowing all the shit I won't get to see after I'm dead. Medicine and medical technology is only going to get better, which in turn should improve the quality of life in our later years.

My wife's grandma passed away not too long ago, and spent the last several years of her life mostly deaf, partially blind, sitting in a chair "watching" TV all day. I'd have killed myself. But that's not everyone's experience. Eat your veggies and see a therapist, you'll be ok bro =)

The true key to old man happiness is making enough money to upgrade from your old wife to a young piece of ass.

My parents are mid 70s and are totally self sufficient. They are slowing down (joint issues etc) but still get around just fine. Hell my dad still has a side business in his retirement building security cam DVR/NVRs for banks. Keep active physically and mentally and you can be active well into the 70s/80s.

^^ Truth in that, I know a lot and I mean a LOT of old people. Mostly due to my parents playing bridge with them so I pick up a lot of work that way being in restoration. They tell me and I tell the ones that don't truth so much in the day you stop doing things is the week you will die. I've seen it a dozen times in the past 10 years. Those that keep going to work or has a hobby that keep at it keep going. The ones who retired and did basically nothing have pretty much all passed on. It is both a mental and physical thing. Stay active doing something even if it is only golfing.

As to your retirement question, the wife and I got married young (me 20, her 24) and we put away a good amount for the first few years. We slacked off for a bit, and unfortunately that was during the economic downturn, so we didn't get to buy in low. But either way, we don't have kids and we're going to try to retire by our mid-50's. We have 401k's, Roth IRA's, and a good amount of savings (we keep a $10k emergency fund and have around another $8-10k in savings).

So now we're going to start working on a "carry-over" type investment. Something liquid that we can draw on to take us from the day we retire until we hit whatever age they change the draw on our various retirement accounts (likely mid-60's).

I've been thinking that once we've got a decent amount of money around age 45-50 and could conceivably retire, it'll make going to work incredibly freeing. I think the knowledge that you could retire but choose to continue to work makes actually going to work a lot more palettable.

It's generally 100% dependent on your health in old age, some of it is luck, but a lot of it is how well you take care of yourself when you are younger.

I saw two drastic differences just in my 2 sets of grandparents. On my moms side of the family, both grandparents smoked, my grandpa drank(socially, wasn't an alcoholic) and both were a little overweight(not huge, more stocky/thick). My grandma died at 68 of lung cancer(and was bedridden almost the entire last 2 years), and my grandfather also died of lung cancer at 75, and needed home nursing care the last year or so.

On my dads side of the family my grandparents were farmers. Worked hard on the farm all their lives. Lived out in the woods after they sold the farm and retired in their late 60s. My grandpa hunted and fished everyday(owned 500 acres of woods with a large pond), and my grandma was an avid gardener(flowers and food). Neither ever had any chronic health problems, my grandpa dropped dead of a heart attack at 84 one day while out hunting and hiking through the woods, and my grandma lived to 94 and was still active until the day she died. She'd be out raking leaves, planting flowers, harvesting her garden on zucchini, strawberries, etc. Damn old lady had more energy at 90 than I did in my late 20s at the same time. They had a huge yard and leaf ranking + big bonfire was a yearly tradition in the fall, I'd be winded and tired and taking breaks every hour and she'd just keep plugging along. It was crazy how much stamina she had even at 90. Then she'd go inside and make a huge dinner for 20+ people. I don't know how she did it.

So really, don't abuse your body when you are young, and your odds of being able to be active well into old age are much, much better. I need to follow that advice myself though, I'm in my mid 30s and I drink(socially, 2-3 times a month) and I'm fat. I'm not going to make it to 94 at this rate.

I now have aunts and uncles that are pushing into their 70s and I see similar patterns. Some are super active with running, biking, walking, etc and you'd swear they weren't a day over 55 or 60. Others just sit at home and lay on the couch watching TV and smoking, and you would have sworn they looked like they were 70 a decade before they actually were. I have a 72 year old aunt that is super active and still works out and she looks younger than another aunt I have who is only 59, but fat and lazy.

Quality of life is important. But that's a personal decision. Very personal.

You ain't the only one. Alzheimer's is not a pretty way to die. I've watched it many times. Bullet in the fucking brain time. Got a family history of it too.

Also got about 20 more years before I need to buy the gun. Maybe by then we'll have cooler guns.

Alzheimer's is the scariest shit I've seen and would rather have cancer a hundred times then that shit. I'm looking forward to retirement and seeing the advances in science and technology. We were born at the right time where we embrace technology and aren't confused by it. Just think about the stuff you had in 2000 and compare it to what you have now. Can't wait to see what new toys the future brings.

Sometimes you get caught on the bad end of genetics.

Many times people treat their bodies like shit for 50 years and then start worrying about their situation when they are already on a cocktail of drugs and nearing their golden years.

Biggest issue many people face is the battle of the bulge. Your metabolism changes in your 30's and slows down a good bit as you age. People fail to adjust and end up carrying around another 20-30lbs+ which is terrible for you. How many people in their 80's and 90's are fat asses?

Very close second is the shit we call food. Tons of salt in just about everything and much of the shit people eat is processed garbage. Take a look at some studies on processed meat, 67% more likely for cancer is fucking scary and frankly scares me more than smoking did in the 80's. People knew that smoking was bad for them at that point many are oblivious how bad much of the food they eat is. Many families view the convenience of certain foods to be far more important than the health.

Booze and drugs. Many that use them aren't doing so in moderation. We all know boozers and people that are hooked on mind meds or pain pills.

Stress from work and shitty family life. Poor financial decisions. All factor in. Stress is a huge killer. People are working longer hours and living check to check to pay their bills. Years of that takes it toll.


Add all that up and people are getting sick. No surprise.

I meet plenty of guys cycling and on the trail and at mountain bike events who are well into their 60's and even 70's and still charging it on the regular. They are my hope and inspiration. I've done a fair amount of abusive behavior in my younger years but I can't go back so I'm just trying to keep on the right mindset as much as I can now. I've heard cycling referred to as a fountain of youth, plus it doesn't wreck you like running and lifting.

I want to live forever. Barring that, at least as long as I can. Short of something bad happening to my family, nothing scares me worse than death.

You ever trip your balls off so much that you saw the precipice of eternity? Infinite realities colliding into each other The fish tank glass walls formed by limitless timeless streams of reality. The inescapable terror as you realize for as many lives you live as a hero, you live as a villain, or a failure? That moment you were kid, that reference in time fading with all your memories blurring who you loved, what you loved, what you hated, what you believed in, every defining characteristic that was you fading into complete entropy--millions of little tiny individual thoughts that form human sentience. That's why I don't get stoned, always the same thing.