Survey Asks: How Old Is Old?

When you're 10, 20 seems ancient; but when you're 50, 60 seems young. As we age we keep pushing back the definition of "old." In 2005 MetLife Mature Market Institute surveyed Americans asking: What age do you think is "old"? and How old do you wish you were? The results were fascinating. (Click the post title to read the full report.)

How old is old? Survey respondents in the 18-29 age range thought 61-70 was old. Those 30-49 pushed old age back a decade to 71-80, the age also considered old by 50-64-year-olds. Americans 65 and older generally agreed with their younger peers but a nearly equal number felt old age didn't begin until 81-90. The consensus? You're old when you reach 71-80.

Other interesting findings:

• More men than women thought any age under 60 was old. Four times as many men as women thought 31-40 was old and twice as many felt 41-50 was old. At the other end of the spectrum, twice as many women as men didn't think you were old until you reached 81-90 or even 90-100.
• Singles chose a younger age than their married peers as "old." For singles it was 41-50 whereas married couples didn't think old age arrived until 90-100.
• Whites thought they aged fastest, choosing a somewhat younger age as "old" than African Americans or Hispanics.
• Republicans thought old age started sooner than did Democrats or independents.
• There were surprising regional differences in the concept of old age. Respondents in the West said you're old at 71-80; in the South, 61-70; in the East, 41-60; and in the Midwest, 90-100.

How old do you wish you were? Overwhelmingly, the golden age for all age groups from 18-64 was 21-30. Those aged 18-29 were happiest living in the present moment. It's not until age 50-64 that Americans were willing to consider being post-30 desirable. A slightly lower percentage of respondents in the 50-64 age range chose 31-40 over 21-30 as the optimal age and a nearly equal number selected 51-60. Interestingly, the most desirable age was fairly spread across the age ranges for those 65 and older. An equal number of Americans over 65 (13%) chose 21-30, 31-40 and 41-50 as their favorite age range. An only slightly larger number (15%) delighted in being 61-70 and 71-80.

Other interesting findings:

• An overwhelming number of men wished they were under age 30. One in five women found 31-40 to be the ideal age, and twice as many women as men liked being 51-60.
• More parents than non-parents were satisfied with their present age.
• Singles more than marrieds wished to be younger, with half wanting to be 31-40.
• Fully 50% of Hispanics wanted to be 21-30. Only 34% of Whites thought that was the golden age, followed by 29% of African Americans. African Americans were most likely to find older ages (51-60) acceptable.
• Independents wished to be younger (21-30) than their Democratic and Republican brethren, both of which chose 41-50 as their favorite age.
• Regional differences were again noticeable. Westerners most wished to be 21-30; Southerners, under 21; Easterners, 31-40; Midwesterners ran the gamut from 21-40.

Everyone has an age when they felt most alive, most challenged and stimulated by life. There's a lot of truth to the old adage, "You're only as old as you feel." The trick to enjoying life is to continually expose yourself to new ideas, new people and new experiences, to continually rejuvenate your life as you move through it. In other words, as you grow old, live young!