Greener Pastures: Personal Finance

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Today is Wednesday, January 07th, 2009

Pushing Fifty. We Carry a Big Stick.

July 31st, 2008 • Related • Filed Under

I’ll be an official AARP member in two months. That means I’ll be 50. I can go kicking and screaming but, other than possibly pulling my back out, what’s the point?

Time to accept.

So, getting into the spirit of it, I borrowed my (over-50-I-won’t-say-by-how-much) spouse’s copy of this month’s AARP magazine. We have a subscription.

One of the articles in the magazine is entitled “50 reasons to love being 50+“. 50, sheesh, are there really that many reasons? By the time I finish reading them I’ll be 51. Actually I did read them, and I found a lot that were similar to each other, so I don’t think there are really 50 reasons. Maybe by the time they were writing 40-50 they had forgotten 1-10.
I did find reasons 30-35 pretty good, especially with the November election. Here they are:

“30. 41 percent of American adults are over 50, the highest percentage in U.S. history.

31. 80 percent of Congress is over 50.

32. Half of the Americans who voted in the 2006 elections were 50+.

33. People over 55 own 77 percent of all financial assets in the United States.

34. 50+ adults account for 45 percent of U.S. consumer spending, or $2.1 trillion per year.

35. By 2011 the American 50+ population will surpass the 100 million mark.”

We over 50 people carry a big stick!

Any thoughts on aging out there? Is it something you ever think about?

There Are 2 Responses So Far. »

Comment by RogerDJ on 1 August 2008:

I hit 50 a year ago but I keep throwing the letters from ARP in the trash. I have a 5 year old and an 8 month old. They keep me feeling younger. I bought some stuff for my hair so my other people won’t think that I’m the Grandpa when we’re out in public but I havent’ been able to use it yet. I think about it from time to time but I cant’ afford to let it get to me. I fully expect to live to 120 but only God knows the number of my days so I’ll try to live whatever is left for Him and for others. Good Post !
Comment by marie on 2 August 2008:

I guess 50 is just another number, and no reason to fear it (yea, right). I like your list, Lisa, but it seemed like it was all statistics. Is there really anything good about being 50? The only thing I can think of … it’s better than the alternative.