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

42 here. Things to look forward to, in no particular order. You can win masters races. Women really dig early 40’s guys who have their acts together. You can afford custom clothing and skin care products and look better that most 30 year olds as long as you skip the nachos and jog some.
It’s not always been this way but the running and runners are actually cool. Like if you show up and run a 1:14 half you are Total F*cking legend status.
You can have a low pain in the ass life - as in the car/house/other stuff you get can be high quality and you’re not just limping stuff along.
You can build community bonds - and give/get support from your people. Conversation will not be as much of a d*ck measuring contest - it can be more about ideas that totem poling.

If you find your own life so boring, no wonder women are not interested in you. ;)

I'm 42. About to become a dad (to twins), much later in life than I thought it would be but really looking forward to the fatherhood journey. But I think the key areas that keep me stimulated are:

- learning new things, such as a hobby, a language, how to renovate a house

- meeting new people, whether that's through work or social settings

- volunteering, in my case that's mainly through my church, but there are so many options

- going on adventures, preferably active ones, going hiking, travelling etc

I was married at 34, and my wife is a huge blessing to me. It's because of her and all that's led to (moving cities, new job, meeting so many people, travelling together) that the 30s was the best decade of my life to date

Travel is incredible. There's 200 countries out there. You have 30 days annual leave plus weekends - make the most of it.

Also running as a vet/master is super competitive these days. Stop comparing to your PBs and compare on Power of 10 to your age group.

When competitive running becomes a thing again, then training suddenly becomes enjoyable. And before you know it you're running 70 miles a week and loving life.

Maybe learn a language? Most offices in cosmopolitan cities have a baffling array of languages and culture. Learn on Mondly then surprise them all by cranking out some Japanese or Spanish.

Tldr: there's loads of cool things to do, no matter your age

I was doing something similar at age 25, though I had already left the newspaper business by then (making ~$7 hour then, but that was from 1989-1991). At age 25 I was making $19,000 a year in the SF Bay Area as the Business Manager of a publishing company...a company that was so small I also wrote for their publications including work as a food critic. It was not a career job, and I did not know for sure then what I would be doing career-wise. I kept it though for a little bit because my wife was in graduate school, and we didn't know where we would go after that.

I'm in my mid 50s and your last sentence is spot on! My 30s were also my best decade, would love to live those years again

Also looking forward to retirement and doing a lot of fun things

I'm 38 and see this. Some running groups are better than others, but generally this last sentence is accurate. Some groups promote their politics than others and that sucks but thankfully there are other groups that are more understanding.

You kept me going--I finally found a freelance writing job that brings in an extra 18k a year (freelance social media for a health system in the greater Columbus area), on top of the outbound calling job (which is at least easy and stress-free). This buys me time to build the writing career back.

Coding and software engineering wasn't horrible but I just didn't have the passion for it and it didn't come easily to me. Tech writing is great but most of the time they want people who are already in disciplines such as business, engineering, medical, and teach them to write, versus former general journalists trying to specialize.

What is power of 10?

I'm not reading 9 pages of this thread, but I'll just drop this article off here.

nypost.com

Romance and STD’s: Inside Florida’s wild retirees getaway

@nypost

LADY LAKE, Fla. – It’s 11 p.m. at the Bourbon Street Bar, and Roselyn’s gyrating her hips to the blues band, Sue’s sipping a cocktail and flirting with her new boyfriend, an…

Link:nypost.com/2009/01/25/retire-to-the-be...