Midlife

So why is this blog entitled “A Midlife Adventure” ? I started by exploring the term “midlife”.

Wikipedia says”midlife is the time from 45 to 64″.
It’s a time when people are often evaluating their own life and a time when people can get overloaded with day to day stresses thus the term “midlife crisis”.

Then again according to Gabby Logan on John Bishop’s Show recently midlife is between 38 and 60. Judi Love, a fellow guest who is currently 42, was astonished as am I. What comes after midlife then if 60 is on my horizon? Old age? What you are now a senior at 60 looking back on life rather than forward?

That surely can’t be right!
Life expectancy today in Western society is around 80+ and continues to rise. This means that at 53 -the median age of people, like me, born into the baby boom generation (born between 1946 and 1964) on average are likely to live another 30 years.

Since few people enter the workforce until they have completed their education – usually when they are in their 20’s -the average baby boomer has as many years of productivity ahead of them as they have behind them! I hope this is true!

I like to do a bit of research now and again, it gives me a chance to read something a little more educational rather than the books I avidly devour every night before bed.
I came across an article entitled “The Existential Necessity of Midlife Change” written by Carlo Strenger and Arie Ruttenberg in the Harvard Business Review (Feb 2008) The authors were looking at the application of midlife to the working environment.

Apparently two opposing myths underlie many people’s fears about midlife, inhibiting successful midlife change.
The first is the myth of midlife as the onset of decline which is rooted in historically outdated conceptions. According to this myth, people end their productive lives and retire at age 65. Sixty five is not a magical number however. It was introduced as the retirement age in Germany in 1916. Twenty seven years earlier Chancellor Otto Von Bismarck had established that 70 was the age to begin receiving a pension. When asked how the state could afford such largesse Bismarck replied that almost nobody would reach this age anyway. He was right! According to one source life expectancy in Germany at the time (1889) was 49 years old!

Personally retiring at 65 had never held much of an attraction to me. At age 45 and still in my single Mum faze my intention was to retire at 55, sell my house, buy a flat and a camper van and set off around the UK before trying out Europe.
My peers and even some of my friends were bewildered by my idea but, being fully aware that life is not forever, I couldn’t see the point in devoting another 10 years to making money for someone else to benefit from. More to the point I didn’t want to lose out on my best years to do as I pleased.
I did retire at 55, partly thanks to my hubby who I met at the age of 52 ,opting to continue to work for another 5 years which meant I didn’t have to touch my private pension for living costs. Unfortunately the camper van remains a dream for now but why not join me as I explore this new phase of my life?