Is 38 years-old "Middle Aged"?

[SteveSmith1985]

I was casually referred to as a "middle aged man" by a punk-ass-kid; who I thought I was having a pleasant conversation with.

Is it true? Am I now, properly "middle aged?" Would describing myself as "a middle aged man" be an accurate overall description of my age?

When I image search "middle aged," I get people like the dude in this picture. This dude's at least 50. Right? (this is a stock image for "middle aged"). This is what I think of as middle aged. The time when someone might have a "midlife crisis." I don't think you can have a midlife crisis at 38 years old... can you?

So please, give me the cold hard truth here. I don't want to be under any illusions.

(I also feel like any 38 year old woman would slap-the-shit out of somebody who called them "middle aged." Am I wrong?)

Yes. At 38 years old, you are Middle Aged. It's a fact

No. 38 years old is no spring chicken. But not Middle Aged yet.

[OlderAndWiser]

On your 38th birthday, your life expectancy was an additional 40.55 years. That means that your expected age at death would be 78 years old. If we are dividing that into young, middle-aged, and old, young would be birth to age 26, middle-aged would be 27 to 52, and old-age would be 53 to death. . . but tat obviously doesn't sound right. thnk most people would divde your ADULT life into three parts, so if we say adult = 18, then youth is 18-37, middle age is 38-57, and old age is 58 and above. Those numbers sound more palatable and more consistent with common usage.

[abc3643]

Yes. Not only is 38 middle-aged but, in the United States it ___IS___ the middle age!

The median age in the United States is about 38.3. This means that 1/2 of the people living in the USA are older than 38.3 and the other 1/2 of the people living in the USA are younger than 38.3.

[MidnightOwl57]

Ok, 38 might be the median/middle age in the literal sense of the word (the point at an equal distance from the sides, or ends of something) but where exactly does middle age start? What would be the cutoff ages for middle age? Almost everyone who answered this question gave his own interpretation/definition. A dude said that if we divide a person's lifespan into thirds, then 28 would be the start of the middle age. Others set dividing the line at 30, others say 35 and some 40. Olderandwiser said that if you divide your adult life into thirds then 18-37 is youth and 38+ is middle-aged.
The American Psychological Association defines "middle adulthood" as beginning at 35 or 36. There seems to be a huge discrepancy of opinions on the subject, so it's really puzzling :/

[abc3643]

@MidnightOwl57 If you're 38, you're in you are middle-aged.
You're not a kid, but death isn't around the corner.

[MidnightOwl57]

Oh ok, I see. I just got confused because everyone seems to define the term differently

[MidnightOwl57]

I'm almost 24, so I wanna know how many year I have till I become middle-aged

[abc3643]

@MidnightOwl57

Look at it like this...

In the United States Constitution, there are minimum ages for certain things.

To vote: 18
To become a member of the House of Representatives: 25
To become a Senator: 30
To become President: 35

Why the escalation?
The more serious the position, the more life-experience you want because that helps you 1) see the big picture, 2) foresee problems others won't, 3) better understand the nature of problems and stakeholders, and, finally, 4) have a better understanding of human nature.

At 35, you've "been around the block" living as an adult 1/2 of your life. You have normal day-in, day-out responsibilities to keep yourself alive and, by now, you've probably had kids. At this point, you really ARE an adult as most adults are.

So, consider middle-age starting around 35 and lasting 25 more years.

[MidnightOwl57]

@abc3643 yeah that makes sense! Thank you for your answer

[abc3643]

@MidnightOwl57 I've thought some more about this...

Roughly, every generation is separated by about 25 years.
Stage 1 (0-24): You have no kids.
Stage 2 (25-49): Kids
Stage 3 (50-74): Grandkids
Stage 4 (75-): Great grandkids.
One can think of "middle age" as going from between the middle of Stages 2 and 3:
That would be 37.5 to 62.5.
And that seems just right.
Indeed, the earliest you can collect any Social Security is around 62 or 62.5.
Anyway, if you then divide up the lifespan, you can think of it like this:
0-17: childhood.
18-37.49: Young adulthood
37.5-62.49: Middle age
62.5 and beyond, Senior.

That last one is a bit questionable, but, more or less accurate.
You could split it like this:
18/2 = 9
62.5+9=71.5
So, 62.5-71.5 is "working senior" since many people in this age group are still working; I will be.
After 71.5, really, you're a senior at that point.

[midnightmoon05]

When I was little. I used to think 30 is OLD!! Then I turned 30…well my mom called me a kid and grow up more.
then I turned 40. I still act like a kid.
people have no idea how old I am since I am always so active and suppose to be looking younger.
I work with 6-7 yr old kids. They have no concept what old means. They asked me… some guessed 20s, some said 30s, some said 40s.
some have no clue what middle age means.

[melanieeeB]

I wouldn't call you middle aged, maybe in 10 more years or something.

Also some can have midlife crisis but doesn't have to, my ex employer was something around 43-ish and had a midlife crisis... it was pretty fun tbh

[Still-alive]

10 years? sweet! i still got time lol

[melanieeeB]

Yeah but even if, being middle aged is nothing bad

[Apple1996]

Pretty much yes since average age of death is somewhere in the 70s age range

[williael]

1. Consider the source of the comment. Kids may be outspoken, but they have very little concept of time or age.

2. I was exactly 38 years old when a medical professional first used the phrase "it's just a part of aging" with me. Maybe so, bucko, but hold it right there! LOL

3. I conceived my child at age 35 and bore her at age 36. The clinical term for women having a first child at age 35 or older is "elderly mother." I was appalled, and rejected that appellation! (Didn't say anything rejecting to the doctor, just inside myself). But when I turned 40 with a 4-year-old and also realized I'd hit menopause at the same time my daughter would hit puberty, and when I'd come home from a 9-hour shift at work to a 7-year-old who wanted me to crawl around on the floor and play "spies," I started to own the "elderly" term! Hahaha!

4. Find a 50-, 60-, 70-, 80-year-old, and they'll tell you you're "just a pup."

5. All this to say, it's a matter of perspective, in which YOUR perspective matters more than anyone else's! Throw it off as long as you can!

[NostalgiaSenpi]

Technically, yes. It comes down to where you live and the average life expectancy there. Fifty is more or less assuming that you're going to be one hundred. I consider myself middle aged. I expect myself to live to be early sixties and drop dead. I've already experienced cancer, premature birth, my family on both sides has most people living to sixty to eighty depending on life style choices. The ironic thing is that the longest lived went through dementia early.

[ArrowheadSW]

When I was 43, I was on a date with a lovely lady who was 33. She mentioned something about someone who she knew who was 45 and she didn't consider 45 to be middle aged. But then I thought that I'd consider 45 to be middle aged.

But no I would NOT consider 38 to be middle aged. That is still young in today's world I think.

[HighValue]

Actually it would depend more on your genes and how long your bloodline typically lives naturally (not considering any substance abuse, etc.). Some people's bloodline typically lives only to their mid 60s and others often live to their 90s +. So it actually varies quite a bit to be accurately middle age.

[MrOracle]

The average male American has a life expectancy of 73.1 years. You're well over halfway there, so, yes, you are middle-aged. Really, "middle-aged" is 30-55. That's just the cold hard facts, my man.

[MidnightOwl57]

Actually the American Psychological Association defines "middle adulthood" as beginning at 35 or 36
Unless my maths fail me 70:2=35. Therefore, 30 isn't middle-aged

[MrOracle]

@MidnightOwl57 The term isn't "half-aged", it's middle-aged.

If you divide an average lifespan into 3 roughly equal parts - young, middle-aged, and old, where would those dividing lines go? They would be approximately (for American men):

Young: 0-24
Middle-aged: 25-48
Old: 49+.

However, that's simply dividing by thirds. In practice, we think of those ages as a bit older than that, because even though the AVERAGE life-span is 73, that includes a lot of men who die far earlier than they naturally would, due to war, crime, and youthful idiocy (all reasons why women, on average, live longer). But for those men who actually survive their youth, they tend to live longer than this average - closer to 80.

So, those thirds (for those who survive their youth) would be more along the lines of:

Young: 0-27
Middle-aged: 28-54
Old: 55-81

Each of those is a 27-year span - perfect thirds.

[crossdressingrihno]

A middle aged would be around 40 to 45 that said with how close 38 is to 40 I would say it say it passes as early middle age.

[Anonymous]

If that's you on your profile pic, you're handsome and no you're neither old nor middle-aged

[SteveSmith1985]

Thank you so much!

That's definitely me in the profile pic (how insane would it be if it was just a random picture of a dude).

I'm actually turning 38 tomorrow, and while I'm in no way "freaking out" about it. There's nothing really "happy" about getting another year older.

This compliment honestly went a lot further than you realize. You totally just made my day. I really appreciate that. Your timing is excellent. Thank you. 🙂

[SteveSmith1985]

Wait a minute... I just realized which of my friends might possibly post this anonymously. If we're already friends, and you just said this to be nice... please don't ever tell me. Let me continue under the illusion that you're a stranger (or at least... not someone I talk to all the time on here).

[RobT312]

Technically maybe it’s middle aged, but I think most people consider late 40’s / 50 middle aged

[NamerOfStars]

If you live for the expected three score and fifteen, then anything between twenty six and fifty would be "middle aged".

[PBandJ_Nerd]

Your middle ages are your 50s. 30s is still young.

[AviatorTom]

Traditionally, 38 would be the start of middle-aged, but more recently, middle-aged starts in late 40s and early 50s.

[DubiousIntentions]

I thought it referred to men in their 40's, so you are almost there.

[Brainsbeforebeauty]

You’re 38? You got two more years to 40, then you’re “middle aged”😁

[OfMiceandMen]

I am middle-aged, you're not even close yet.

[WonderBell99]

I would consider that as middle aged, yes. Anyone over 36 is middle aged to me.

[MidnightOwl57]

WonderBell99 What about late twenties-early 30's? Would you consider that middle-aged too?
A dude said that middle-aged starts at 28

[WonderBell99]

Nope, that's def not middle aged lmao. That guy is nuts.

[Bethany22]

You are too young to be middle aged. I would still go outside with someone your age happily

[LiamJHayden]

The average Canadian male life expectancy is around 81.75, so you are not quite there yet. If you were an American with a 77.3, then you'd be right about there.

[Dargil]

I think it is on the "cusp". There is nothing wring with that. It's coming for me.

[CateM]

I'd give it another 7 years before calling yourself middle aged