Fifty Plus (50+) - At what age would you call yourself "elderly?"

At what age would you call yourself "elderly?"

At what age would others call you "elderly?"

A Personal Trainer on a Fitness Forum thinks one is "elderly" at 70. Here is what he said:

"(I work with elderly people, 70-90+)"

What do you think about the term "elderly" as a descriptor?

What value did the word "elderly" add to the above quoted sentence?

Would

"(I work with people, 70-90+)"

have been a better sentence?

At what age would you call yourself "elderly?"

10 years from today. Of course, if you ask me again this time next year, I'll give you the same answer. ;)

At what age would you call yourself "elderly?"

I'll let you know when I get there. I suspect that some factors, like general health and mental outlook might be more important than chronological age.

10 years from today. Of course, if you ask me again this time next year, I'll give you the same answer. ;)

I agree, except I think it's 15 years from now. Always have, by the way. When I was 15, elderly people were 30 or more.

My stepfather is 87. He plays golf three times a week, goes to the City to play dominoes with his cronies, and walks 2 miles a day. I never consider him elderly. Elderly to me has more to do with poor state of health, state of mind, and physical frailty than age. My husband's parents are elderly. They are younger than my stepfather, but one has dementia and other health problems, and the other has just given up. They seem elderly to me. :(

The word has no real meaning, it's a stupid word. :) It' relative. How high is up?

I'm the same guy I was at 30, I just cannot imagine myself ever being elderly.

I'm the same guy I was at 30

Me too. The only problem is that the only women who seem to realize it look like my grandmother.

Me too. The only problem is that the only women who seem to realize it look like my grandmother.

Are any of them single? PM me if so. :D

When they throw six feet of dirt in my face, I may consider calling myself elderly... maybe.

Me too. The only problem is that the only women who seem to realize it look like my grandmother.
Hmmmm...come to think of it though, they are the ones who seem the most attractive these days.:o

I'm flexible. It depends on who I'm talking with and what I want from them. I can be elderly in a heartbeat if it gets me what I want. I'm ready, willing and able to play the AARP card.

And Dnvr, from your sensitivity on the issue, (Wasn't your rant last week about "geriatric"?) I think you're confusing "elderly" with "decrepit." Elderly simply means older. Face it, at 68, you *are* older than most Americans. Be glad you've made it further than many have or will, and accept it with grace and dignity.

Although you've been known to complain about your knee around here, I certainly don't think you're decrepit.

Edit: According to my Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged (and not one of those newfangled web dictionaries the kids all use):

elderly adj. 1. somewhat old; between middle and old age; a resort for elderly people. 2. of or pertaining to persons in later life.

See? It says nothing about physical, emotional, or mental condition. Calendar age, pure and simple.

I had to vote never. However I'm currently "helping" inlaws and an aunt. The father in law at 90 is starting to zone out and the aunt at 89 is like wise. My father was still sharp when he died at 77; although not sharp enough to get an annual checkup. So based on my genes, I expect to die of a heart related disease before I zone out, probably about 2031, just short of elderly.

Elderly is n+20, where n=my current age.

Everytime I ride my mountain bike.

You have got me mixed up with someone else.

Sorry. Must be my "Sometimer's" kicking in. :p


I am glad you don't think I am decrepit.

Jeepers Dnvr, my father is 72 and he's been sitting around waiting to die ever since he had his first MI at 55. Since then he's gone through three recliners and lord knows how many remotes. How the hell do you wear out three reclining chairs?

Meanwhile, you're riding your bike, going to some sort of classes and swimming with your wife, doing some actual living, yet you're wasting your time and energy on someone's use of a word? Dude, you're way ahead of the pack. Instead of getting upset with them, you should be laughing at them.

"Depends"

Sorry. Must be my "Sometimer's" kicking in. :p



Jeepers Dnvr, my father is 72 and he's been sitting around waiting to die ever since he had his first MI at 55. Since then he's gone through three recliners and lord knows how many remotes. How the hell do you wear out three reclining chairs?

Meanwhile, you're riding your bike, going to some sort of classes and swimming with your wife, doing some actual living, yet you're wasting your time and energy on someone's use of a word? Dude, you're way ahead of the pack. Instead of getting upset with them, you should be laughing at them.

Well, I got a great ride in today, my singing group performed for some folks in an Assisted Living facility, and am sitting here bored watching some stupid TV with my laptop on my lap, laughing at YOU!:roflmao:

laughing at YOU!:roflmao:

Back at 'cha :lol:

Hey, way O/T: Are you doing the BikeJournal Reunion this summer? I plan to make a week of it. I'd like to ride with you.

Not yet.

Will it get me a discount or allow me to cut to the front of a line?

Back at 'cha :lol:

Hey, way O/T: Are you doing the BikeJournal Reunion this summer? I plan to make a week of it. I'd like to ride with you.


Nope.


Wife and I are thinking of doing our local MS 150 in June. I don't participate much in BJ anymore. My current emphasis is exercise hours, not mileage, and I like to include all forms of exercise. I try for 2 hours of significant exercise daily. BJ doesn't fit into that too well.

The only time I actually rode with a BJ'er was with Zen. We did 20 miles from my house.

Not sure. It certainly wouldn't be before 70. But much of it is a frame of mind. I've known people in their 70s that I do not think of them being "elderly."

Am only 75 . . . you'll have to ask someone that's older!

I believe nearly all states define elderly as being 60+. To be eligible for various forms of assistance for the "elderly" requires one to be 60 or older.

I answered "never," but to be honest it depends on what I feel like when someone asks. Today I felt elderly when the 35 year old grad student I supervise "complimented" me by saying, "You are kind of like my dad." Ah - elderly!

I don't know. I don't mind being an "elder", and I've always been called the "elder sister", but the word elderly connotes some type of frailty or susceptibility to fraud. It implies needing help.

So I guess I was elderly at 20. :D

Would "(I work with people, 70-90+)" have been a better sentence?

Yes.

I said 85, because my dad didn't seem elderly until he reached about that age, and he's 88 now and he's still not a feeble old man. My mom is 77 and also doesn't seem elderly to me. Maybe because their change is subtle and I live close so I don't see sudden changes.

What really surprised me is that, so far, 3 folks have chosen 65 as being "elderly" and 7 chose 70. In fact, besides "never," 70 is the modal age.

3 of you think that I am "elderly" and 10 of you think my wife is "elderly."

I think we will go and have a good cry.:D

We don't feel "elderly."

16 of you think that Zonatandem and his wife are "elderly."

I'll be elderly the day I can't swing my leg over the Madone and ride:D

Me too. The only problem is that the only women who seem to realize it look like my grandmother.

Don't be dissing grandmothers:D

My granddaughters say I don't look (or act) like the typical grandmother. They won't even ride with me anymore because they can't keep up with me. They're little wussies:)

About 25 years ago, a lady called my printing company and asked to speak to the elderly man who worked in the front. It was, of course, me. Really pi$$ed me off. I got off my duff, quit smoking, started hiking and biking, got in a lot better shape and never looked back. At that time, I was sick all the time and caught every virus that came along. Now, I haven't even had a cold in the past five years. I will consider myself elderly the day after they bury me.

I won't be elderly until I am too senile to realize that I am elderly!

"IN a well-known insult line from the song ''Bosom Buddies'' in the musical ''Mame,'' one dear friend figures the age of the other to be ''somewhere between 40 and death.''"

If you're that sensitive to the matter of semantics, be thankful you do not live in England, where they do not have "social security" but do have "old age pension".

What really surprised me is that, so far, 3 folks have chosen 65 as being "elderly" and 7 chose 70. In fact, besides "never," 70 is the modal age.

OTOH, no one has picked 60, and that is the legal definition of "elderly" over most of the USA.

For example, one qualifies for family services provided for the "elderly" at 60 under this Virginia law:
http://www.manassascity.org/index.asp?NID=66

What really surprised me is that, so far, 3 folks have chosen 65 as being "elderly" and 7 chose 70. In fact, besides "never," 70 is the modal age.

3 of you think that I am "elderly" and 10 of you think my wife is "elderly."

I think we will go and have a good cry.:D

We don't feel "elderly."

16 of you think that Zonatandem and his wife are "elderly."

OK...I answered 65 as I think of that as the age of most "senior perks"...

I'm scared frankly. My Dad died at 58 of a massive heart attack and my Mom was a frail arthritic invalid in her early 50's.

What makes Alice run??

I prefer Old as the Hills

OTOH, no one has picked 60, and that is the legal definition of "elderly" over most of the USA.

For example, one qualifies for family services provided for the "elderly" at 60 under this Virginia law:
http://www.manassascity.org/index.asp?NID=66

This federal definition does not agree with you.

"Accordingly, for the purposes of this part,
the definition of elderly persons may be determined
by the FTA recipient but must, at a
minimum, include all persons 65 years of age"

http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/04nov20031500/edocket.access.gpo.gov/cfr_2003/octqtr/pdf/49cfr609.5.pdf

And another

"Elderly (over 62), "

http://www.cga.ct.gov/2006/rpt/2006-R-0186.htm

And another

"The elderly. In 2001, Medicaid covered five million adults over the age of 65."

http://www.surgeryencyclopedia.com/La-Pa/Medicaid.html

One more:

"The definition of “elderly” for the purposes of D&E Waiver is an individual who is aged 65 or older."

http://www.theabilitycenter.org/dew.html

And so we agree that almost every US government & state agency would consider someone to be elderly by 65.

Actually, many states "elder care" services have an eligibility criteria of 60+.

It is hard to make a case that someone is not legally considered to be "elderly" if they are 67+ (Where the retirement age under Social Security is going).

Someone who is 70 or 75 and is fit a fiddle, would not be frail or weak or sickly, but they would still be elderly.

I do think it is much better to use the term "senior" as that doesn't imply weakness nearly as much. For example there are athletic uses of the term senior, as in the PGA Senior Tour and various Senior Games in many sports. But the PGA Elderly Tour conjures up a much more negative image. To have finished 3rd in the 100K Senior Cycling Event creates an image of one who is fitter than to have finished 3rd in the Elderly Cycling Event.

Well, I consider it a state of mind
I said 65 because that's when I plan to take full advantage of any perks available to the "elderly". It is also my cutoff plan for retirement. But I fully embrace any advantages of old age NOW.

When hanging around "yutes", I often refer to myself as having been born sometime after the Cretaceous Period. Or I will remember fondly dodging dinosaurs on the way to school.

If you're that sensitive to the matter of semantics, be thankful you do not live in England, where they do not have "social security" but do have "old age pension".I really don't care what it's called, just as long as they pay it to me (I've been collecting the U.S. version for 5½ years, now).

I do think it is much better to use the term "senior" as that doesn't imply weakness nearly as much. For example there are athletic uses of the term senior, as in the PGA Senior Tour and various Senior Games in many sports. But the PGA Elderly Tour conjures up a much more negative image. To have finished 3rd in the 100K Senior Cycling Event creates an image of one who is fitter than to have finished 3rd in the Elderly Cycling Event.


And even better would be

"He won in the 65-70 year-old race."

Words such as "elderly," "senior" and the like have absolutely NO absolute meaning.

Words like 70-75 have an excellent meaning.

My goal is to eliminate "elderly" and all similar words from the vocabulary, as they are confusing and relative words.

Which is why I named this forum the 50+ forum, NOT the "Senior" forum.

DG will be counted in the California "Elderly" population in less than 3 years:

http://www.cda.ca.gov/stats/fact_about_elderly.asp

According to the U.S. Census, it is 65+

And you are in the "Older" demographic at 55+

http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/age.html

We asked a tree trimmer (whose age was approx. 50) about his opinion of a tree we were considering for our yard, the Chinese Pistache. It produces gorgeous fall color in the fall and does shed its leaves. He asked us "Are you going to be able to rake the leaves when you're 70?" -- in a tone that suggested most people that age can barely get out of bed. It seems to me that anyone who thinks of someone that age as unable to rake leaves, probably won't be able to when he is that age.

DnvrFox,

My mom is 75, she's unfortunately "an elderly woman" at 75. She is afraid to drive, she sits around all day complaining how cold she is (in front of the fireplace), she's on 100 different pills... It is very sad for me to see. The other day she went to (Parker Adventist) Hospital with chest pains that woke her out of her sleep. Since she lives in Parker, could you stop by on your bike and show her the life she's missing?

My next door neighbor is 78. He still works 6 days a week, wakes up at 4am, volunteers every Sunday at the Cancer pavilion (that bears his name) at the hospital, cuts down trees in his yard, and generally makes me tired to watch him. He's not elderly.

DnvrFox,

My mom is 75, she's unfortunately "an elderly woman" at 75. She is afraid to drive, she sits around all day complaining how cold she is (in front of the fireplace), she's on 100 different pills... It is very sad for me to see. The other day she went to (Parker Adventist) Hospital with chest pains that woke her out of her sleep. Since she lives in Parker, could you stop by on your bike and show her the life she's missing?

My next door neighbor is 78. He still works 6 days a week, wakes up at 4am, volunteers every Sunday at the Cancer pavilion (that bears his name) at the hospital, cuts down trees in his yard, and generally makes me tired to watch him. He's not elderly.

In your mind "elderly" equates with "frail" and similar.

To others, "elderly" is simply an age.

My point, exactly.

I'll be elderly the day I can't swing my leg over the Madone and ride:D



NNnooooo...then you will get a step through...:p

I feel like a 20 year-old... I just can't get my hands on one.