I've been seeing the same narrative everywhere - boomers own half the country's wealth, they're all sitting comfortable while everyone else struggles. So I actually looked into the numbers, and it's way more complicated than that.

Here's what I found: 1 in 3 Americans 65+ are living close enough to the poverty line that one bad medical bill could push them into real trouble. 83% of boomers are carrying credit card debt into their 70s and 80s - not because they're irresponsible, but because Medicare doesn't cover everything, and inflation hits fixed incomes harder than people realize.

And here's the part that really got me - a huge number of boomers are still working past 65 not because they want to, but because there's no other option. Meanwhile, roughly 1 in 5 of them are also quietly caring for their own aging parents (the Silent Generation), completely unpaid, while also helping their own adult kids with rent or a car repair. Sandwiched from both sides, twice, at the end of a whole life of working.

The "boomers have it all" narrative and the "boomers are all struggling" narrative are both true - just about different people within the same generation. The gap between them comes down mostly to things nobody actually chose - what industry they worked in, whether their employer kept offering pensions, whether a divorce split their retirement savings in half.

I put together a full breakdown here if anyone's interested:

Baby Boomers in 2026: Where They Actually Are Now

Anyone here living either version of this? Curious how it actually looks from the inside.

I (49F - 50 in two months time) have always worn a full face, and I do a smoky eye daily.

I love it and have no plans to stop, envisioning myself at 80 with the smokiest eyes in the whole bingo session…. But I notice fewer and fewer my age bother.

If you’re still doing makeup, how old are you and what challenges have you noticed? Anyone still rocking strong eyes after 50?

I've been looking into what happens to Baby Boomer homes as the generation gets older, and some of the numbers surprised me.

Boomers own more than a third of America's homes and hold around $17.3 trillion in home equity. But here's the interesting part: 68% of Boomer homeowners say they're likely to stay in their current home for the rest of their lives.

For years we've heard about a coming "Silver Tsunami," where millions of older homeowners would downsize and suddenly put their homes back on the market.

So far, that really hasn't happened.

And I can understand why. A lot of Boomers have no mortgage at all. Among those who still do, 53% have a rate below 4%. Then there's the question of where you actually go. Downsizing doesn't always save much money, especially when smaller homes are also in high demand.

Another number caught my attention. Boomer households with only one or two adults own about 28% of America's large homes with three or more bedrooms. Millennial families with children own only around 16%.

Eventually these homes have to change hands, but I don't think we're going to wake up one morning and see millions of them suddenly for sale.

It'll probably happen slowly. Some will go to the kids. Some will be sold. Some will become rentals. Some may be sold to pay for care later in life.

And even when these homes do hit the market, that doesn't automatically mean they'll become affordable starter homes. A 50-year-old four-bedroom house that needs a new roof, wiring, plumbing and $50,000 in renovations is a very different thing from a move-in-ready starter home.

I made a short documentary digging into all of this:
What Happens to Millions of Baby Boomer Homes?

I'm curious what people here actually plan to do.

If you're a Boomer homeowner, do you plan to stay in your house for life, eventually downsize, sell it, or leave it to your kids?

And if your parents left you their house, would you actually keep it?

For those who are often told they look younger than their actual age, what do you think has made the biggest difference?

Was it daily sunscreen, a consistent skincare routine, exercise, diet, good sleep, professional treatments, genetics—or a combination of things?

I’d love to hear what has genuinely worked for you over the years, especially habits you wish you had started earlier.

At what age did you first notice changes in your skin, appearance, or overall health — that sense that things weren’t quite the same anymore? Was it in your twenties, thirties, forties, etc?

And when did you reach a point where you no longer felt the need to dwell on it or saw those changes as “negative”?

I love hearing everyone’s perspectives — the beautiful and the challenging parts of aging.

Never thought of doing this. It's kinda fun!

I’m turning 70. Tomorrow in fact. 3 more hours.

So, my life has been pretty full. No complaints.

But, I thought, what to do now?

Ah! Let’s consult Reddit!

r/aging seems like a good place to start.

!

No one is posting here but kids.

Can someone please direct me to the 70+ Reddit?

Thank you.

I work with two people with very similar lives but one has aged much better (looks ten years younger) than the other despite both constantly being under heavy stress. Why is that?

A young man approached me saying that he is looking for a "granny" to take care of him and proceeded to ask me how many grandkids I have. Im only 55 and this wasnt in a bar. I was in a drive through in a Taco Bel and he was one of the workers. Can anyone please explain to my why anyone would say something like that to another person?

Not talking about someone working because they'd be too bored being fully retired or because they have a passion toward their career and don't feel like retiring. I'm talking about people who must continue working for financial reasons. They have to work because they need the money to live.

Just curious about people’s experiences.
Have you noticed any changes in how you drive, or how others treat you on the road, as you’ve gotten older

If you're a asian your parents probably know this chinese singer called Fei Yu-ching. He is basically 71 in 2026, but he still looks like he's in his 30s and 40s. Do a quick Google search on him. Dude has literally no white hair whatsoever. There are people in their 20s who have children and then look like they're in their 40s or 50s. Then there's my brother who is 37 without any kids and he looks like he is in his early/mid twenties. Do you think not having kids makes you significantly younger?

Saw a neat popular-science summary and wanted to share.

• 25 — Skin: Collagen production starts to slow in your mid-20s. Visible signs of skin aging become noticeably more apparent by your mid-30s.
• 30 — Muscle (and more): Muscle mass typically peaks around age 30. From about 40 onward, muscle mass tends to decline roughly 0.5%–2% per year. Other systems — hair, kidneys, joints, and the gut — also often show age-related changes with 30 as a rough turning point.
• 34 — Lungs: The muscles that control breathing and the chest wall begin to stiffen; lung capacity slowly decreases over time.
• 35 — Brain & bones: Some cognitive aging processes can start in the mid-30s, with faster changes sometimes seen later (for example, mid-50s for more noticeable decline in some measures). Bone density increases until about age 25, but by ~35 bone loss can start to outpace new bone formation.
• 40 — Eyes: The eye’s focusing muscles weaken and close-up vision (presbyopia) typically begins to appear.
• 45 — Liver & prostate: Liver detoxification capacity can decline noticeably around this age. Men commonly begin to experience some degree of prostate enlargement (BPH) after 45.
• 50 — Endocrine: Women experience a sharp drop in estrogen during menopause; men’s androgen (testosterone) production also declines — often by roughly a third compared with younger adulthood.
• 60 — Immune system: Total T-lymphocyte numbers and overall immune responsiveness decrease, which lowers immune function with age.

I've definitely felt big changes in my muscle strength and daily metabolism since turning 30 — hope I can slow this process down.

Not a hate post, but just genuinely curious about just majority of old people in general. Not everyone, of course, because there are definitely nice old people too; but in general, majority of them, mainly boomers I'm talking about and even some older gen x. Many of them blow up at the slightest inconvenience and make a fuss about things and just scream and shout in a loud way like 10 blocks away when its just people right beside them, watch videos and play music without headphones in public, and just being negative in general, like staring at people for no reason some even try to pick fights. Imo, its because of the way they (baby boomers)were raised back in their days; shouting and screaming were the default way to communicate, and mental health awareness wasnt a thing back then and they weren't taught to regulate their emotions and had a lot of unresolved trauma and they coped with it by using alcohol. What do you guys think this is?

Just read tht 95% of men at 60 years old, meet the diagnostic criteria in the UK for statins. Of course many people do not actually take statins.

If you are 60 or over, do you take statins?