Getting Old, Explained
Thirteen answers to burning questions about how to emotionally and financially prepare for the golden years.
Americans are getting old. In 10 years, there will be 78 million people in the US over 65, outnumbering the population under 18 for the first time. And, of course, aging Americans are reinventing the life stage to suit themselves, in life and in pop culture: The glamorous exploration of And Just Like That offers a very different vision of the mid-50s than the caftans and cheesecakes of The Golden Girls does.
Yet despite efforts to stave off aging (think supplements and preventive Botox) or to reframe it (picture geriatric athleisure and chic canes), getting old has some unavoidable downsides. In a society that punishes admissions of vulnerability, the specific indignities and revelations of aging are mostly kept private. There isn’t a user manual for an aging body. But there should be. May we be so lucky, the big questions and the little ones—how to retire, where to live, where to find love, how to actually talk to your doctor—will come for us all. Read on for some answers.