Home > Articles

Age Smart: Discovering the Fountain of Youth at Midlife and Beyond

Aging well isn't about trying to appear young with plastic surgery and personal trainers. It's about living a physically and emotionally healthy life after midlife, and this chapter will help you get started on the path to aging well.
This chapter is from the book

A number of years ago, Donald Keough, president of Coca-Cola, retired. At 66, this garrulous, hard-charging, oft-described "people- person" executive was reluctant to leave, but he had reached the mandatory retirement age. Most of his friends and colleagues, as would be expected, thought he would walk into the sunset with his pockets full of cash to enjoy devoted family time. He would lead the retirement life so many people dream about—rich, abundant in energy, and free of worries. So, on a cool Friday morning in Spring, Don packed up his office, bade goodbye to his colleagues, and made his graceful exit.

But by Monday, much to the surprise of his friends, Don flew to New York to take a job chairing a boutique investment bank called Allen & Co. "Don, what are you doing?" his friends asked, perplexed. Don was a man with many millions of dollars who could do anything he wanted—join some boards, travel the world, and build his dream house or houses. But Don wanted to work again. Hard work. "You’ve been working all your life," another friend declared, who seemed more puzzled by the move than happy for him. "Why don’t you relax for a bit and then jump back in?"

"You kidding?" Don replied to each of the inquiring friends. "I’d end up like those guys in pink pants."

As Don later told us when we interviewed him, he’d been vacationing for many years at an exclusive coastal golf resort. The place was Palm Springs meets Southern hospitality. Most people were retirees from the upper echelons of society, spending their days enjoying the beaches and golf courses, dining at world-famous restaurants, and driving their yachts out onto the sapphire-blue water. To you and me, it would be Retiree Utopia. But for Don, it was Retiree Prison.

Over the years, he’d begun to realize this happy place was inhabited by some unhappy people. Every time he visited, invariably one or two friends or acquaintances would tug at his sleeve and take him aside. "Don," they’d breathe. "What’s it like out there in the real world?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know, the real world. The place where things happen, where you’ve got a place to be, people to meet. I’m going crazy here with all this time on my hands. I never thought I’d say it, but I need to get away from this." This, of course, meaning a permanent "dream" retirement.

The one thing Don noticed about these people was that many of them wore pink pants. Or pink shorts. Some pants were more of a pastel pink. Others wore salmon-colored pants. One sported generous flamingo pink neon. "There’s something about when you go into retirement and spend a few years in that phase of life, that suddenly all these perfectly well-dressed men start wearing these God-awful pink pants. I said to myself, I said to my wife, I will never be caught dead in those damn pink pants."

That was how Don decided his second act was going to be as far away from the golf resort as possible. At 79, he’s as energetic as ever, jetting across the globe to meetings, overseeing corporate mergers that you and I have probably read about in the newspapers, and mentoring the next generation of corporate leaders and CEOs. Rather than pink pants, he has stayed in his favorite business suits.

Don’s story describes a lot of what this book is about. It’s about throwing out all conceptions about the traditional retirement years. It’s about defying the conventions that say aging means a bland, low-excitement life. It’s about how to prepare now—financially, physically, mentally—for your second or even third act.

It’s about saying no to wearing pink pants.

Aging Is Not a Dirty Word

Age Smart is about aging well, not staying young.

Staying young is something Hollywood does, presenting ageless beauties and hunks who look better at age 45 than at 25. That’s not what we are talking about. We think that’s unhealthy for a variety of reasons, but mostly because to look the way Tom Cruise or Demi Moore does requires a lot of money and trainers.

You probably know of many people who personify the "no pink pants" ideal. Here are just a few:

  • Millionaire and extreme adventurer, Steve Fossett, who set a world record for flying solo nonstop across the globe at the age of 60.
  • President George Bush, Sr., who dove out of an airplane to celebrate his 80th birthday.
  • Soul legend, Tina Turner, who slid back into her high heels to start an exhausting world tour at the age of 65.
  • Clint Eastwood, who won his third Oscar for Million Dollar Baby, proving that he is amazingly doing his best work at the age of 74.
  • Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who is the last remaining woman on the powerful Supreme Court and who entered 2006 at age 72, having served 12 years on the top court.
  • Joe Paterno, who coached Penn State over Florida State in the Orange Bowl in January 2006 at age 79. (Interestingly, Florida State was coached by the "young" Bobby Bowden, age 76!)

Growing older is not what it used to be. It’s better. Newspaper and magazine articles loudly proclaim "Sixty is the new forty" or that "Seventy is the new fifty." Whatever you like. But the truth is that people really are living richer, fuller lives in their later years, thanks to all sorts of advances in the medical field—from blood pressure medications, to new knees, to better health monitoring. We’re eating healthier, despite the justified obesity concerns.

We’re smoking less. We’re more environmentally concerned. It’s all adding up to an improved quality of life. I bet if we asked you to name at least one or two people who are active, passionate, don’t-look-their-age seniors, you’d be able to name them in a second. Perhaps they are your own parents, grandparents, an aunt, or a friend’s father. These are people who appear to defy the odds—and surprisingly, there are plenty of people out there who are just like them.

What we’re proposing in this book isn’t a post-retirement life plan or a plan for what to do after you reach age 65. It’s a life plan that prepares you for your post-65 period. That’s a big difference. What can you do right now—in your 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, and beyond—to ensure your life is vibrant and dynamic up until the very end?

We show you that achieving this is not dumb luck. Clint Eastwood isn’t "lucky" to be working at 74—he most likely practiced for this vibrancy his whole life. He might not have done everything right, but we’re pretty sure that staying involved in directing movies—a huge intellectual undertaking—helps him age well by challenging his brain. That doing this comes to him naturally is a gift, but it’s certainly not exclusive to him. If we all mentally challenge ourselves throughout our lives, we’ll have a much better chance of aging well.

Luckily for Clint, he doesn’t need to worry about his finances. But chances are, you do. A goal of our life plan is to help you in all aspects. Aging well is not just about preserving your body, exercising your brain, or making sure your retirement nest egg is enough. It’s about integrating all those things. Just as exercising does wonders for your brain, plenty of savings can do wonders for your peace of mind and happiness. We don’t compartmentalize daily living—we are not file cabinets in which we can access each part of our lives when we feel like it.

Money, health, happiness—all these things come tumbling at us in waves, jumbled together like seaweed.

We take all this into account as we construct a guide for you to age well and age smart. We’ve also added in real-life stories from people who live like Clint—smart, savvy, and incredibly active at a time when most think they should be heading to the nursing home. People who age well and smart are true followers of "no pink pants." We hope you’ll learn a thing or two from them or just enjoy reading about their experiences.

First, we want to tell you a little more about the dirty little word—"aging"—and why it’s so important you know as much about it as possible.

InformIT Promotional Mailings & Special Offers

I would like to receive exclusive offers and hear about products from InformIT and its family of brands. I can unsubscribe at any time.

Overview


Pearson Education, Inc., 221 River Street, Hoboken, New Jersey 07030, (Pearson) presents this site to provide information about products and services that can be purchased through this site.

This privacy notice provides an overview of our commitment to privacy and describes how we collect, protect, use and share personal information collected through this site. Please note that other Pearson websites and online products and services have their own separate privacy policies.

Collection and Use of Information


To conduct business and deliver products and services, Pearson collects and uses personal information in several ways in connection with this site, including:

Questions and Inquiries

For inquiries and questions, we collect the inquiry or question, together with name, contact details (email address, phone number and mailing address) and any other additional information voluntarily submitted to us through a Contact Us form or an email. We use this information to address the inquiry and respond to the question.

Online Store

For orders and purchases placed through our online store on this site, we collect order details, name, institution name and address (if applicable), email address, phone number, shipping and billing addresses, credit/debit card information, shipping options and any instructions. We use this information to complete transactions, fulfill orders, communicate with individuals placing orders or visiting the online store, and for related purposes.

Surveys

Pearson may offer opportunities to provide feedback or participate in surveys, including surveys evaluating Pearson products, services or sites. Participation is voluntary. Pearson collects information requested in the survey questions and uses the information to evaluate, support, maintain and improve products, services or sites, develop new products and services, conduct educational research and for other purposes specified in the survey.

Contests and Drawings

Occasionally, we may sponsor a contest or drawing. Participation is optional. Pearson collects name, contact information and other information specified on the entry form for the contest or drawing to conduct the contest or drawing. Pearson may collect additional personal information from the winners of a contest or drawing in order to award the prize and for tax reporting purposes, as required by law.

Newsletters

If you have elected to receive email newsletters or promotional mailings and special offers but want to unsubscribe, simply email information@informit.com.

Service Announcements

On rare occasions it is necessary to send out a strictly service related announcement. For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance we might send users an email. Generally, users may not opt-out of these communications, though they can deactivate their account information. However, these communications are not promotional in nature.

Customer Service

We communicate with users on a regular basis to provide requested services and in regard to issues relating to their account we reply via email or phone in accordance with the users' wishes when a user submits their information through our Contact Us form.

Other Collection and Use of Information


Application and System Logs

Pearson automatically collects log data to help ensure the delivery, availability and security of this site. Log data may include technical information about how a user or visitor connected to this site, such as browser type, type of computer/device, operating system, internet service provider and IP address. We use this information for support purposes and to monitor the health of the site, identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents and appropriately scale computing resources.

Web Analytics

Pearson may use third party web trend analytical services, including Google Analytics, to collect visitor information, such as IP addresses, browser types, referring pages, pages visited and time spent on a particular site. While these analytical services collect and report information on an anonymous basis, they may use cookies to gather web trend information. The information gathered may enable Pearson (but not the third party web trend services) to link information with application and system log data. Pearson uses this information for system administration and to identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents, appropriately scale computing resources and otherwise support and deliver this site and its services.

Cookies and Related Technologies

This site uses cookies and similar technologies to personalize content, measure traffic patterns, control security, track use and access of information on this site, and provide interest-based messages and advertising. Users can manage and block the use of cookies through their browser. Disabling or blocking certain cookies may limit the functionality of this site.

Do Not Track

This site currently does not respond to Do Not Track signals.

Security


Pearson uses appropriate physical, administrative and technical security measures to protect personal information from unauthorized access, use and disclosure.

Children


This site is not directed to children under the age of 13.

Marketing


Pearson may send or direct marketing communications to users, provided that

  • Pearson will not use personal information collected or processed as a K-12 school service provider for the purpose of directed or targeted advertising.
  • Such marketing is consistent with applicable law and Pearson's legal obligations.
  • Pearson will not knowingly direct or send marketing communications to an individual who has expressed a preference not to receive marketing.
  • Where required by applicable law, express or implied consent to marketing exists and has not been withdrawn.

Pearson may provide personal information to a third party service provider on a restricted basis to provide marketing solely on behalf of Pearson or an affiliate or customer for whom Pearson is a service provider. Marketing preferences may be changed at any time.

Correcting/Updating Personal Information


If a user's personally identifiable information changes (such as your postal address or email address), we provide a way to correct or update that user's personal data provided to us. This can be done on the Account page. If a user no longer desires our service and desires to delete his or her account, please contact us at customer-service@informit.com and we will process the deletion of a user's account.

Choice/Opt-out


Users can always make an informed choice as to whether they should proceed with certain services offered by InformIT. If you choose to remove yourself from our mailing list(s) simply visit the following page and uncheck any communication you no longer want to receive: www.informit.com/u.aspx.

Sale of Personal Information


Pearson does not rent or sell personal information in exchange for any payment of money.

While Pearson does not sell personal information, as defined in Nevada law, Nevada residents may email a request for no sale of their personal information to NevadaDesignatedRequest@pearson.com.

Supplemental Privacy Statement for California Residents


California residents should read our Supplemental privacy statement for California residents in conjunction with this Privacy Notice. The Supplemental privacy statement for California residents explains Pearson's commitment to comply with California law and applies to personal information of California residents collected in connection with this site and the Services.

Sharing and Disclosure


Pearson may disclose personal information, as follows:

  • As required by law.
  • With the consent of the individual (or their parent, if the individual is a minor)
  • In response to a subpoena, court order or legal process, to the extent permitted or required by law
  • To protect the security and safety of individuals, data, assets and systems, consistent with applicable law
  • In connection the sale, joint venture or other transfer of some or all of its company or assets, subject to the provisions of this Privacy Notice
  • To investigate or address actual or suspected fraud or other illegal activities
  • To exercise its legal rights, including enforcement of the Terms of Use for this site or another contract
  • To affiliated Pearson companies and other companies and organizations who perform work for Pearson and are obligated to protect the privacy of personal information consistent with this Privacy Notice
  • To a school, organization, company or government agency, where Pearson collects or processes the personal information in a school setting or on behalf of such organization, company or government agency.

Links


This web site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects Personal Information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this web site.

Requests and Contact


Please contact us about this Privacy Notice or if you have any requests or questions relating to the privacy of your personal information.

Changes to this Privacy Notice


We may revise this Privacy Notice through an updated posting. We will identify the effective date of the revision in the posting. Often, updates are made to provide greater clarity or to comply with changes in regulatory requirements. If the updates involve material changes to the collection, protection, use or disclosure of Personal Information, Pearson will provide notice of the change through a conspicuous notice on this site or other appropriate way. Continued use of the site after the effective date of a posted revision evidences acceptance. Please contact us if you have questions or concerns about the Privacy Notice or any objection to any revisions.

Last Update: November 17, 2020