At 40 you can imagine being 80. At 50, you can’t really imagine 100?
Interestingly, this is borne out by the current life expectancy figures for England. At age 30 the average man can expect to live just under 40 more years, the average woman 53. By age 50 however neither man nor woman can expect the number of years left to exceed the number they have already lived – only 30 years left for a man, 33 for a woman. The tipping point does indeed come round about 40.
I think that’s what used to be defined as the midlife crisis.
But it's funny that, when you are twenty, you cannot imagine the decrepitude of forty – not you! And when you are sixteen, even eighteen seems impossibly mature & sophisticated.
Then, when you get to the age where twenty more years sounds good, would be better than average, you look back & 1990 was only yesterday.
As I hurtled towards 40, the optimistic view was that I was at the halfway point - Louise Doughty
Link
5.1: Period expectation of life: at birth and selected ages, UK and constituent countries (37Kb - Xls)
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