I am only 70 but have noticed a massive change between my early 60’s and now.
I am still physically active, trying to walk every day, but struggle with high heat / humidity and extreme cold.
Work ended for me at 60 following a serious health issue. Despite my career being high stress, I was desperate to return to work to bridge the income gap between 60 & 66, but a whole raft of drug reactions to the NICE drug protocol for my condition put paid to that, and has meant my retirement financial planning has been blown out of the water. Downsizing was the only way to release capital to bridge the gap.
Brexit clipped my wings, preventing thoughts of retirement in Europe, solo travel and long visits to friends.
And Covid added to the misery. Lockdown may have been bearable for some but if you were deemed ‘vulnerable’, widowed relatively young and living alone, it was a miserable soul destroying experience.
However, all of that pales into insignificance alongside the societal changes we are currently experiencing. Our Politicians seem to think they can lie and cheat with impunity, the NHS is in freefall, scamming is becoming a massive issue, trust and respect seem to be a thing of the past and the media inject fear into our lives by telling us on a daily basis that Nuclear War is imminent. They along with the current government, also seem intent on pitting generation against generation.
No wonder anxiety has become so prevalent.
And I, for one, have found my life totally derailed by that anxiety. I may have travelled the world solo in my younger years, but now I am fearful of driving on a Motorway. I dread any kind of house issue that necessitates finding a tradesperson to deal with it, ditto having to deal with a Utility company or financial institution and don’t get me started on the NHS. Having recently sat for 23 hours in A&E with a suspected Heart issue, turned up for surgery to hear that the CT scans have been lost and been on a priority waiting list for four years, I have just given up.
Actually, that pretty much describes my current mental state. It has just all become too much.
As a teenager in the 60’s, fighting to change the lot of women in our post war world, I never envisaged that this was what my life would look like at 70. And despite planning, working and saving to be self sufficient during old age, life clearly had other plans.
The advice I would give following my experiences, is ensure you live every moment you can while you still have youth and health. Both are so precious. Don't focus on what old age will be. You can’t predict it and regardless of what you plan it is very unlikely to play out as you envisage.