The age beginning older adulthood is undergoing change. While many researchers continue to make 65 as the entry point, today there is no set age:
• The Older Worker Benefit Designation Act (1990) begins older adulthood at age 40.
• AARP invites those at 50 to join.
• Senior discounts vary from 50 on up.
• Senior centers may require entry for those 50+.
• 62 is required for partial Social Security.
• Medicare requires the recipient to be 65.
• Employers either have raised age limits or omitted them altogether.
• Americans are working longer, almost to 65.
The 19th century novelist, Victor Hugo, once declared that “Forty is the old age of youth. Fifty is the youth of old age.” The meaning of age changes with your perception, as well as that of society.
Munnell, A. (2017). MarketWatch. Why the average retirement age is rising. https://www.marketwatch.com/
This post originally aired on KUAR in February 2018.