What age is old and elderly?

[peasandpetals]

Just curious.
What age do you class as old?
As elderly?
Are they the same thing?
I ask as I'm unable to gauge what I am.
I'd love to know your age and your assessment.
Just a bit of fun.

You can't be serious!

I wasn't

Honestly I think it varies from person to person. A lot depends on their health and mindset. I know a lady in her mid 90s who is in excellent health and has a really positive outlook. I would not describe her as elderly but would describe her son as elderly as given his poor health he is frail.

80- 90 but depending on the person. My Nan is 88 and I wouldn't see her as elderly. She's fit, sharp and moves quickly. I know younger people in their 70s can look elderly so it varies. I'm 38 and I my colleague is 70 and he's much fitter than I am.

@Flopsythebunny

If I was dictating I would tell them. Except I don’t. I just let them carry on the way they want to live.

They have tons of money, a massive house and they do nothing. I repeat. They do nothing. They’ve stopped driving. Have their food delivered. Up to them I guess but at a fucking tragic life to live from your late 50s onwards. They also have zero health problems.

I'm mid 60s and generally don't feel much different to when I was in my 40s. Thankfully Im not on any medication and am pretty active. However, this year had a couple of health scares which fortunately turned out to be nothing but they did make me think about my mortality.
On one of the trips to A&E the nurse said she thought I looked 50, I'm sure she was lying to make me feel better and it did!

I feel fine, I haven't seen a GP for over 20 years and I still work.
But it's just about the numbers, and they don't lie.... clearly, I am coming into the final part of my life, so "old" is a fair reflection of that. Statistically, I'm much closer to death than someone who is 25 or 45.
Also, why do people think it's something negative that they have to shy away from? I'm quite proud of being a grumpy old woman 😂

Wow talk about positive thinking

😂 That's made me feel good! I'm 60, but still have a 15yo at home, work full time, run two or three times a week and practice martial arts.

No signs of things falling apart yet.

“Elderly” is pretty meaningless. I play in a table tennis club against two ladies who are both over 90, and they can thrash me off the table (I’m a mere 67!).
I play bridge, and my club has a couple of male nonagenarians plus several in their late eighties, all of whom are sharp as a tack and excellent players. Our president (a grandmaster) says the oldest player who has beaten him was 101 at the time!
Conversely, as a hospital doctor I’ve attended fatal cardiac arrests on men in their thirties and forties with severe heart disease. Age is just a number, it’s your health that matters.

Why do you feel the need to put yourself in a category OP? The thread seems strange timing with so much talk, rightfully, about ageism on mumsnet. 🤔

I’d say at least 75 to be old and usually 80+ to be elderly, but it can depend. If someone is in ill physical and/ or mental health they can often seem elderly sooner than somebody who is still physically fit and mentally sharp.

It's none of your damn business how they live their lives though. I for all you know they could be spending their days in bed having sex

@Flopsythebunny

Give over. I’m having an opinion on their life. They don’t know it. I don’t dictate. I’m not offering them suggestions on what “to do”. I leave them to it despite it being so fucking tragic. Lol maybe they are 🤣

How long is a piece of string?

Depends on people’s health. MIL was elderly at 63, with a heart condition and early dementia. But my parents are still healthy thankfully and don’t seem elderly at 76 and 73.

I know an 80 year old who’s planned a London helicopter ride for her birthday and is off on her travels this summer.

So I guess it’s when you stop being able to do what you want?

My dad used to complain about all the old people cluttering up the bus when he was 80😆 He never seemed old because he had a 'modern' brain. I remember him playing video games when he was in his seventies and he was also very engaged with the internet and interested in new technology.

I'm finding it hard to pin an age on each description because some people seem old at 70 and other people still don't seem old at 80. I do think health is definitely a factor. And engagement with the world.

I think of elderly as being a polite way of saying old!

For both I'd say 80+. This obviously varies a bit in terms of perception though - some people look or act old at much younger ages, whereas others seem to retain their youthfulness and vigour well into very old age.

I think it depends on the person. DF is 75 and works full time so I can't really see him as old. Obviously things can change quickly at that age though. My nan is over 90 and I'd say she's old. I don't like the word "elderly" - it just seems to have negative connotations.

Old and elderly are both older than me, whatever my age says.

Getting on is 70 plus. Old is 80 plus over 90 is ancient

I don’t. I use the Clinical Frailty Scale.

Old and elderly are both older than me, whatever my age says.

yep. with you on that 👍🏻

Old ~ About eight or ten years older than I am at any given time.
Elderly ~ Probably only slightly older than I am on a very bad day.

My parents are both the same age, mid 80s, but I don't see my mum as old really. My dad definitely is but he's got a load of health issues after losing a lung through cancer. So I do think it's more about health and state of mind than just an arbitrary number