Are you aged 55 or over?

[Vintagejazz]

Just heard an ad on Smooth FM for retirement homes for people aged 55 or over. . My sister will be 55 in November. She was at a party last night, is flying to Geneva tomorrow for some work meetings, and is meeting me next weekend for lunch and clothes shopping. She and her husband play tennis at least twice a week and work in very high powered jobs. They have barbecues, go to concerts and run marathons.

Seriously, marketing retirement homes at 55 year olds?? In this day and age?? AIBU to think this is absolutely crazy and totally out of touch with reality?

Christ on a bike, I'm 51 and not exactly doddery yet!

I agree with you. I'm 55 and I spent today hurtling around a racetrack in my sports car!

I'm tall, slim and can carry fashionable clothes. I'm athletic and can run 10k in decent times (well under an hour).

55 is the new 35!!!

What is 'old 55'?

Your sister sounds a rather characteristic 55. I cannot think of any of my friends who aren't!

This isn't new though ...

Housing like this has been around for honks and saga offer cheap insurance, holidays etc

Just another 7 years to go... But I expect they will put the age limit up in 6 years to 86 or something

I will be 65 in a few weeks. I do not want to live with a load of old folk.
It's not a normal thing to want. Your neighbours keep dying.

I work for a small charity that works with older people. Our definition of 'older people' is 55+, I think it comes from our funders.

When I started work there I did think, heck, 55 isn't old, but actually for some of the people that we work with who are not mobile, or have other health problems, it kind of is...

Note to self: avoid listening to Smooth FM! I am 52, listen to 1Extra and remain untroubled!

I am 50. My docs piss themselves at a tv ad for over 50's life insurance which features an older retired couple, and in which the man refers to the 'missus' tottering in the garden with the 'grandkids'.

FFS I would have to be dragged kicking away screaming to a retirement home at any age never mind in four years time.

I think you would be pleasantly surprised greenrex.

When my parents moved into their apartments at 69 they were the oldest couple !!!!

Er...you do know that anyone diagnosed with dementia under 65 is specifically 'early onset' which tends to be a different form, don't you? More heritable, to start with.

Most of us are not dementing or crumbling. In the words of the divine Terry Pratchett - who does have early onset dementia - we aten't dead yet.

Not me - but DH is nearly 57. He by no means even slightly doddery and will be doing all the tree climbing/adventure stuff with dd on our current holiday as I am scared of heights. And Kayaking and climbing up to the waterfalls etc. YANBU.

McCarthy and Stone have been marketing their apartments at over 55s for years. I suppose the idea is that you downsize while you are still fit and healthy and then you are settled when things start to go downhill. (Also they can probably make more money that way). We are over 55 but a bit scuppered by the fact that you can't take your teenage children to live with you

I am 63 yrs and wouldn't be considering it for at least another 20 years!

My dad only just moved into a retirement home 2 years ago and he just turned 90!

It is very unusual to develop age-related conditions - as opposed to pre-existing ones - at 55, surely? With the exception of osteoporosis, obviously. But you don't go into a home on account of osteoporosis.

DP's aunt and uncle live in one of those 'extra care' complexes. It induces the urge to get on a plane to Switzerland the minute one enters.

I don't expect that they allow you to take your teenagers with you if you are only 55yrs!

Hillary Clinton is considering running for president in the USA and she's got a good chance of making it IMO. She's 66.

I'm mid 40s and was horrified enough by that 'help for the over 45s to be computer literate' thing discussed here recently. Really?

Some people are ill, or disabled, at 55. I really am not sure how many of us develop specifically age-related conditions at that age.

YANBU. Yes, 75 years ago people in their mid 50s were probably very 'elderly' and set in their ways; in the same way that women in their 30s had sensible hair styles and lined faces; and people in their early twenties were married with a couple of children.

But the world has changed and it is absolutely ridiculous to be marketing retirement products at people in their mid 50s.

It reminds me of that task in The Apprentice last year where the teams had to conceive and market dating agencies and one team picked an agency aimed at 50 somethings featuring a sedate greying haired couple in the golden years of their lives.
They were laughed off the stage