AS YOUNG AS YOU FEEL

By Steve Murphy and Jackie Rankin

Is our perception of ‘old age’ changing?

Are you feeling your age? Or are you still 21 in your head? It seems we don’t consider ourselves ‘old’ until past our mid 70s.

Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood (pictured) may be 75 but he’s just completed a European tour and released a new album.

Grandparents surveyed by leisure company Treasure Trails typically feel 13 years younger than their actual age. Some saying old age begins in our 80s, while others boast more vitality than their children and proclaim that 60 is the new 40.

Travel company TUI’s research, with 1,000 over 60s, shows almost all were enjoying a new lease of life. They cite bonding with grandkids, keeping fit and active and spending time with younger people.

Older music lovers have caught the festival bug – one out of three people aged over 50 now attend more music festivals than they did in their younger years.

Lisa Edgar, from the charity Saga, says enthusiasm for festivals is part of a wider trend of over 50s challenging perceptions around being older.

“There has been a societal shift... in attitudes to ageing. Saga research shows this generation are healthier, wealthier, and more focused on hedonism than they have been before. As soon as they are retired, they are doing a plethora of activities.”

Keep On Rocking

Festival goers aren’t the only ones getting older; it’s the artists too.

Debby Harry, Cat Stevens, Elton John and our cover star Chrissie Hynde, were all in their 70s when they performed – and reportedly smashed it – at Glastonbury Festival in June.

Nile Rodgers, the 71 year old music dynamo behind disco super group Chic, told Rolling Stone that he puts more into a Chic show in his 70s than he did in his 30s, adding ‘I feel like I put 10 times more energy out there than I’ve ever done in my life’.

A Hankie Up Your Sleeve Is A Big No No

From relying on cash, to eating dairy and watching television here’s some things millennials – those born between 1980 and 1995 – think make you appear old:

• Using cash

• Getting bills by post

• Writing lists on paper

• Ringing for a taxi instead of using an app

• Watching actual TV

• Being on Facebook

• Reading books

• Wearing skinny jeans

• Using a satnav

• Eating dairy

Source: Poll by Love Energy Savings

• Page 20. An expert tells how to think yourself young.