Besides retirement, is there anything to look forward to in middle and old age?

I feel bad for you. You were born two years after I graduated from high school and I've never felt so bleak. You make twice the money I do as a high school teacher. Look around and you'll see opportunity and challenge everywhere.

The champions league final between Liverpool and Real Madrid

Life does not get any better if you choose it that way.

As Ben Franklin once said, you have the right to pursue happiness, but you need to pursue it on your own if you want to get it.

My experience has been that the last 8 years of my life have sucked in comparison to my life prior, some of it my own doing but some of it just “life” (eg, parents getting sick and dying). There is much less joy and it comes much more intermittently. Still, I feel that living beats the alternative and remember that I have it better than 99.9% of humans throughout human history.

Angry Willy wrote:

I am 50 and go through ups and downs.

I look at what I have to offer.

Decades of experience.

Very sound judgement and decision making.

I pass along *wisdom* to younger coworkers.

I take pride in being able to solve complicated problems.

I'd say something similar.. one benefit I had never considered about getting older is the value of experience & perspective. I'm not so strident or upset about all but highest priorities, and I'm overall more content and grateful.

maffeboner wrote:

HRE wrote:

I love having nothing to fill the time with.

I dunno, I've read a lot of horror stories from people in the FIRE community (financial independence, retire early) and from their experiences it seems that having nothing to do gets old really fast. They sleep in late, veg out, feel useless, and ultimately become lonely and depressed.

I hadn't heard that one - FIRE. I'm in that group. Volunteerism has given me a lot of fulfillment.

When you get really old - like in your mid 60s., you try to return your body to super fitness, and embark on a quest to set personal best.

I was a sprinter, now I ride a bicycle. On the weekends I get my strava segments out and try to KOM in the club rides.

I don't have the stamina for anything above 60 miles, but I still have a lot of horsepower. I hit them hard in the 50 milers and kick their asses on the final hill - a sprinter's hill - coming into the end of the ride. 3/10s of a mile average grade about 7% with 12% top.

Then I go to the pub and talk sheet.

I can't wait to move on to the next iteration.

crumpet wrote:

When you get really old - like in your mid 60s., you try to return your body to super fitness, and embark on a quest to set personal best.

I was a sprinter, now I ride a bicycle. On the weekends I get my strava segments out and try to KOM in the club rides.

I don't have the stamina for anything above 60 miles, but I still have a lot of horsepower. I hit them hard in the 50 milers and kick their asses on the final hill - a sprinter's hill - coming into the end of the ride. 3/10s of a mile average grade about 7% with 12% top.

Then I go to the pub and talk sheet.

I can't wait to move on to the next iteration.

when you find a running equivalent, please let me know.

intenserunner wrote: Nonsense. Running intensely, regularly, means you will feel at your greatest and most alive while doing everything else you enjoy in life. Running is basic sustenance for feeling alive.

I agree with this. I just finished writing a book called "Life After Google" (could be my best; it will be out July 17), but at age 78 I never expect either to retire at all or write "life after running." So far in 2018, I have run my best times of the last 5 years and I find that running is more satisfying than ever. Age group rivalry (Fred Ross III!) is just as interesting as my competitions in youth and because I never stopped--"never stop" being my prime rule in running--I find myself doing relatively better as I grow older. New age group course records every month or so never grow old.

Meanwhile I’m turning 34 and have a list of things daily I can’t wait to try, do, create, visit... its endless... I do have kids though and a spouse so clearly life is different for me.

maffeboner wrote:

oh and travel is so ridiculously overrated and it's nothing more than a shallow escape for stale people set in their ways. it won't help you. the exception here is if you go and actually live in a new place in a new culture, but that's not really travelling anymore.

You are a fool. So there's no point of traveling unless you MOVE there?

Face it, life is short, nasty, and brutish.

Rodrigo Diaz wrote:

Face it, life is short, nasty, and brutish.

not from where i'm sitting.

I don't think it's wise to engage in strenuous running at 78. Consider more gentle types of exercise like brisk walking, light yoga, etc.

Go for the 50 marathons in 50 states. Buy an RV.

my cents wrote:

Families are for losers who can't find any happiness so they pretend that watching their loser children learn to walk is meaningful

Says the guy with no family. Does that make you feel better?

The transition from being a parent to your children to their best friend. Being able to spoil your grandchildren, Having endless time to read, paint, write - whatever you want at the moment- to your heart's content. Going back to school and taking classes just for the hell of it. Volunteering for charitable causes. Having disposable income for philanthropic endeavors.

Board Certified MD wrote: I don't think it's wise to engage in strenuous running at 78.

Gosh, that's all right, I'll be 79 soon.

Find a wide open piece of road and see how fast you can drive your car.

Then keep trying to beat your top mph every day.

That'll give you something to look forward to.