A recent scientific study claims that what was once regarded as elderly should now be seen as middle-aged. The study suggests that, because we’re all living a lot longer, categorising someone as old when they turn 65 no longer makes sense, and that people in their 60s are middle-aged rather than elderly.

We thought this was quite interesting, so we decided to conduct our own study to find out how people felt about their age and their perceptions of getting old. We asked 2,000 people over the age of 40 a series of questions, and here is what we found: 

-You’re not considered old and past it until you have finished celebrating your 80th birthday
-93 per cent believe ‘you are only as old as you feel’
-82 per cent admitted they feel younger than their actual age, by an average of 11 years
-61 per cent feel like old age is a long way off for them.

The cost of living longer

This all sounds great, but the trouble is that our perception of youth, and denial of old age can lead to poor financial decision making. In fact, our research study showed that four in ten people admit they are putting off important decisions such as life insurance or pensions because they just don’t feel old enough. 

The fact we are all living longer means we have to give even greater thought to how we manage our finances. Why? Well, because we need to ensure we have enough money to survive retirement, and we also need to take into account the fact that our families may need support for longer. This could mean funding higher education fees, helping them onto the property ladder, or just making sure you have enough life cover to ensure they are not left high and dry if you were to suddenly die tomorrow.

What is your life expectancy?

Michael Ward, Managing Director of PayingTooMuch.com said “The fact we are all living longer is great, but financial planning doesn’t seem to have kept pace. It’s actually very hard to make an accurate judgement on how long you might live, and what that means for your finances.

We can give you a personalised life report, which will give you an idea of your life expectancy based on some simple questions. You can use this report to select the right type of life insurance product for you, with the most appropriate length of term, as well as to help you with other financial decisions.”

But if this is not for you, don’t worry. There are other ways to determine if you’re getting old:

1. You fall asleep watching TV or reading the paper
2. You become forgetful
3. You groan when getting up from a chair or out of bed 
4. Choose clothes for comfort rather than style
5. You repeat yourself
6. You have no idea what is in the music charts
7. You insist ‘things aren’t as they used to be’
8. People offer you a seat on public transport
9. You forget where your glasses are
10. You don’t hesitate to complain about poor customer service