In the days after Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s National Day Rally speech, “young seniors” became a buzzword on and offline. Writer Tracy Lee, 51, weighs in.
, Jennifer Lopez and Cate Blanchett that I have finally come to terms with being middle-aged.
Now, it feels like the “50 and fabulous” label I’ve applied to my ageing psyche has been prematurely replaced with “soon-to-be senior citizen”, though I am 14 years away from being 65. Being called a young senior smarts more than receiving that letter, shy of my 40th birthday, informing me I was enrolled in ElderShield. At 39, old age seemed too distant to contemplate.It appears that my sentiments are not widely shared. I messaged a group of friends, comprising four 50-year-olds and one 51-year-old, to ask how they felt about being “young seniors”. None of them were fussed.
One friend added that she appreciates Singapore paying attention to ageing-related issues now, in preparing for itsI thanked my girlfriends for their calm words of wisdom, and wondered if I was the only petty, neurotic 50-something in town.I’m lucky enough to be a child-free, debt-free semi-retiree whose parents are in relatively good health.
This while dealing with practical and existential considerations about ageing. As the late Nora Ephron wrote: “Do you splurge or do you hoard? Do you live every day as if it’s your last, or do you save money on the chance you’ll live 20 more years? Is life too short, or is it going to be too long?”
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