To ask what age you would say is no longer dying young

[Whyohwhy88]

Although hard still I feel from 80 onwards it’s expected

My friend died last year. He was 70.
I thought he was old. But actually he was only 15 years older than me.

That really made me feel old.

75, though I still am surprised if someone dies in their 70s unless it was from cancer or something. My dad died at 79 and he was still active and fit so it felt too young (he had a stroke). I’d say once you get into your 80s it’s not so much a surprise.

Yes and no. If you claimed your pension today, those are the eligibility requirements.

In future years they could (a) change the number of years of NI required (b) lift the age minimum or (c) means test the pension, and so your current entitlement could vanish. There’s no one putting aside your £x/weekly of NI taxation for your specific benefit in future years, unlike a workplace pension.

I hope I live to a ripe old age, but at least by the age of, say, 70, I'll have had my best years health-wise. Whilst some of the elderly people I've known lived full active lives, others had far less freedom due to dementia or substantial disabilities caused by strokes or Parkinson's disease. In some cases, they also had depression. The ages on their gravestones really didn't tell the full story.

Also, when I think of the people I knew who died much younger, I can't honestly say I'd be short-changed if I didn't make it past 70. I knew people who died at 9, 13, 14, 15, 19, 22 (2 people), 27, 29, 46 and 55. Several of them were people I went to school with. They made up a small minority of my peers, but individually they were robbed of so much.

I would say 50. By this point you are well into late middle age. I know a few people who died around this age, and while shocking, I wouldn’t say it was young. Your 50s are known as ‘sniper’s alley’ for a reason.

@MidnightMeltdown Yes, I’ve joked with DH that we’re in sniper’s alley now. 50-70 does seem to be a period that you either get through relatively unscathed (and probably then live to a ripe old age), or something nasty hits you.

Doctor - anything under 85 is young to me now ! 🫶😊

75 is old in terms of (current) lifespan, which is really what concepts like "dying young" vs "a good innings" refer to.

That functionally you're living a great life is separate from this.

At 75, you are well past the halfway mark of the most optimistic estimates of your lifespan and also, you've already had a long life and have accumulated the wisdom, skills, relationships and habits to reflect that.

Old isn't or shouldn't be a dirty word. It doesn't mean dependant, decrepit, worthless or not to be mourned(!)

If you die over 75, you're not dying young. If children were part of your life, they are grown. You have well exceeded pension age. Whereas if you'd died at 35, you'd have missed out on the last 40 years! It's extraordinarily unlikely that you've got another 40 years ahead, and if you did, they won't be remotely as formative.

Yes, I see what you mean but I only said below 70 was young and I also didn’t say below 85 was unexpected. I left 80-84 as very much a grey area dependent on overall health to date.

I said this:

Very young - before 50
Young - before 70
Too early - before 80
Expected 85+

Anyway, this is just what deaths have generally felt like to me over my life so far.
Sadly, I have known a lot of people who died well before 79 too - just in my own family three people in their thirties and three as children and many more than that if I include neighbours, friends and colleagues.

My mum died at 41, and I was only 4 so that will always feel very young to me.
My dad died at 84, and it was a surprise he lived that long as he didn’t look after his health at all, and his death was definitely expected. PIL are 84 now and they are chalk and cheese in terms of their health, independence and mobility compared with my dad. Think that is why 80-84 feels more like a grey area to me. In the last five years also had a couple of dear friends/neighbours die of cancer at 78/79, they were fit and active and didn’t present as elderly at all so yes that did feel too early although of course not shockingly so or young.

So, yes 85+ good innings. 80-84 not bad…

I would agree with a PP who said this-

Very young - before 50
Young - before 70
Too early - before 80
Expected 85+

I lost my Dad 2 years ago, he was 76. Fit and well a month before he died, but then suddenly that changed and he died at the end within a month of heart failure. That felt too early, but at the same time I was aware he was ‘older.’ I think in abstract, I would say before you are 80 feels younger than expected nowadays.

Any age you couldn’t say they had a good innings is too young.

Dying young 60s or lower.

Dying too early 70s.

Pretty normal 80s.

Had a good innings 90s

I remember many of aunties years back commenting on someone dying at 83.

And saying "Ooh..That's no age"

I would say 75.

65+

I would say 70

Under 80 is too young, between 80 and 90, its a shame as there's still a life to live, after 90, then yeah, good innings

It's not young, but it's young to die.

85 + my mother was 94 and still working voluntarily..

60 something. You’ve lived a fairly full life, any kids are usually adults.

’Very young’ to me is under 40, and ‘young’ is 40-60.

My dad died aged 67. I was 17 at the time. I always thought he was old but looking back I realise he wasn’t at all.

I'd say before 50 is young, 50-60 is middle aged. My Mum died at 68 which felt too young to die but I wouldn't have thought of putting "died young" on her announcement in the newspaper.

However, I've noticed that the older I get, the older I think "old" is. As a kid I actually believed people were old once they hit 30. I'm now 35 and how very dare I! 😂

I think once you lose someone the perspective changes. I lost my Dad 3 days after I lost my Granny. Dad was 76, Granny was 94

I processed DG differently because she had lived a really long fulfilled good life. With Dad I felt that he was robbed of another 20 years and so was I, even though I knew that was unlikely, it felt so hard to accept and I was slightly bitter at the world for that.

So for me personally I’d say anything over 85.

I'd class dying young being in your 60's now with anything over that still in "had a good innings" territory.

I tho I it depends how old you are. When I was in my 20s I thought 70 was a good innings. Now im in my 50s it’s too young!! I’d say 80+ isn’t “too young”!