What age range do you consider to be "middle aged"?

larsmi

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I was just having this discussion with friends this week and boy did our answers vary. I'm not interested in dictionary definitions here, but rather what your gut answers would be -- along with your age - my buddies and I noticed that there was a correlation between our ages and the ranges we classified "middle aged" :)

Thanks guys, getting a wider range of answers might be interesting.
 

insert_8

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Ummmmm . . . . It may be more accurate to define it in terms of attitudes and actions rather than chronological ages. Having said that, I'm at a loss to succinctly specify what those attitudes and actions are. For me, my mindset started changing when my youngest completed his undergraduate degree, and I might define that as starting to end my own "middle age". But that event probably isn't universal enough to use as a gauge for the general population. By the way, I was 59.

Using a strictly chronological scale I'd say "middle age" runs from early 30's to late 50's (or maybe 60). The fact that this end point agrees with my previous definition is purely coincidence.
 

palakaorion

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I'm 57.

Young adult is 20s to early 40s. Still full of piss and vinegar. Attitudes still youthful.

Middle age is up to retirement age. About when physical limitations start to accumulate. Worldview changes to a more measured, mature outlook.


Senior is retirement age and beyond. No more fucks given. Set in your ways. Stay off my lawn.
 

Mikehard9

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Well its called ' middle age' as its the middle part of your lifespan .

So if the average person lives to 80 .....middle age would be 40 .

If a person lives to 100 , middle age would be 50 .

Theres a limitation though ....calling a 60 year old middled aged would mean they have to live to 120 .
 
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Mikehard9

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People are living longer though

my gran always says life expectancy is three score and ten (or 70 years) and to live with beyond that is unusual .... And my gran is 84 now but many of her friends died in their 70's
 

bigbucky

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40 - 60 is middle aged. individually, I've known people who are declining physically in their 30's, and in some it doesn't start til their late 40's. we're all different. I know you'll last longer if you get off your ass, stay busy, ride a bike or walk, work out a little bit, laugh, love. I'm 66. people guess I'm 10 yrs younger than that.
 

halcyondays

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0 to 30 is young
30 to 60 is middle age
60 to 90 is old

^This.

Middle age begins at 30. Evidence:

1) by age 28 the human cardiovascular system has lost 50% of it's efficiency compared it's peak in youth (no surprise then that most professional athletes are washed up by age 35-37).

2) most people see their first few gray hairs by age 30.

3) Thirty is halfway to 60 and 60 is when old age begins because almost all reproduction has ceased. Women have gone through menopause. Men are deep into andropause and have less than half the testosterone they had at their peak in their mid-20s.

We have a shelf life but that's okay. Or as Shakespeare said it:

Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore
So do our minutes hasten to their end
Each changing place with that which goes before
In sequent toil all forwards do contend.
Time doth transfix the flourish set on youth,
Delves the parallels in beauty's brow,
Feeds on the rarities of nature's truth
And nothing stands but for his scythe to mow.
And yet to times in hope my verse shall stand
Praising thy worth despite his cruel hand.
 

TexanStar

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^This.

Middle age begins at 30. Evidence:

1) by age 28 the human cardiovascular system has lost 50% of it's efficiency compared it's peak in youth (no surprise then that most professional athletes are washed up by age 35-37).

2) most people see their first few gray hairs by age 30.

3) Thirty is halfway to 60 and 60 is when old age begins because almost all reproduction has ceased. Women have gone through menopause. Men are deep into andropause and have less than half the testosterone they had at their peak in their mid-20s.

We have a shelf life but that's okay. Or as Shakespeare said it:

Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore
So do our minutes hasten to their end
Each changing place with that which goes before
In sequent toil all forwards do contend.
Time doth transfix the flourish set on youth,
Delves the parallels in beauty's brow,
Feeds on the rarities of nature's truth
And nothing stands but for his scythe to mow.
And yet to times in hope my verse shall stand
Praising thy worth despite his cruel hand.

You guys are so far off.

People just exiting grad school are pushin 30. The average age of first marriage for men in the USA is 29.5. People don't come home from their honeymoon and start having mid life crises. That's when they're just starting their families.

Seriously... Emma Watson and Jennifer Lawrence are 2 years off from being middle aged women to you?
 
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japetty

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I have always considered:
18 - 30 young but I never could add the word adult on most that age...some (very few exceptions)
31 -50 Middle aged adults
51 up old age

forgot to say that once you get much above 65 that is ancient
 
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