Better Than Ever: Love... Zilbergeld, Bernie Best Price: $2.02 Buy New $86.77 (as of 06:25 UTC - Details)

When do we get old? People age 18 to 29 say "old age" starts at about 60. But those in middle-age figure it starts at 70. And those 65 and older put the threshold at 74.

So it goes with other perceptions about aging in a new survey from the Pew Research Center. The disparities between what younger people expect will happen as they age, and what really happens, are stark.

Healthy Aging: A Lifel... Andrew Weil M.D. Best Price: $1.09 Buy New $7.65 (as of 11:00 UTC - Details)

Good memory, good health, good sex. It’s enough to make the grandkids cringe!

Adults age 18 to 64 were asked what they expect will happen when they get old. Those 65 and older were asked what actually has happened to them. The results (18-64 / 65 and older):

• Suffer memory loss (57 percent think they’ll suffer it / 25 percent do)
• Not be able to drive: 45 percent / 14 percent
• Suffer a serious illness: 42 percent / 21 percent
• Not be sexually active: 34 percent / 21 percent

That means 79 percent of seniors are having sex, contrary to what they probably expected would be the case when they were younger. A separate study in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2007 found that more than half of 75- to 85-year-olds reported having sex at least twice a month.

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July 1, 2009

The Best of Robert Roy Britt