re: Is there a certain age people starting counting down the years they have left?

I’m only 34. I don’t think about death that often, but I do have oh shite moments where I’m like damn I’m closer to retirement than birth.

Just watching my elders, they didn’t/don’t seem to think too much about mortality until they’re into their 80’s.

In a “perfect world” it seems like it’s:
Get to retirement
Enjoy things while being prudent about end of life planning
Keep on keeping on until body starts to fail you, then it’s a countdown.

My grandfather had cancer for 7 or 8 years and never really bothered to talk about, or let on that he even thought about it much until he had like 4 or 5 months left. He used the last bit of strength he had to build his own casket. While sad, because he was just at retirement age when all this went down, it was a perfect way for him to end it.

Like anything else, I am sure it depends on the person. If someone is 65 and in good health and they still feel like they can do a lot, they probably don't think about it yet.. But if someone is 65 and not in the best health, I am sure there is a time they come to peace with the idea of dying.

It seems like the older someone is when they lose their spouse, the more likely they are to reach that stage in life. Or when there is a time in life when there is nothing else to look forward to.

I also think there are people who have trouble accepting the fact that death is inevitable. Or maybe its more of a fear they have of dying, but no one really knows when it will happen. It could happen 10 mins from now, a month from now.. 30 years from now, but its something you can't control. Of course we can do things that can speed the process up and there are things we can do to slow it down, but even then.. You can have someone who is as healthy as can be die way before someone who has lived a hard life.

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I realize that when that happens, I'll be the old grandpa of the family.

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I was 19 when my first grandparent died and 40 when the last one did. I think that was pretty good compared to many people. My kids got to know both of their great grandfathers. But I've lost aunts and uncles since and my parents are in their mid 70s.

I do sometimes think that if I live the average life span for a man in the US that I'm already playing the back 9.

I think it comes very soon after the age people start counting down the money they have left.

“Only 15 years” you know how much you can do and see in 15 years? I know plenty of guys in their 70s, 80s and none of them think like that. Weak mindset

It's more a confluence of what's happening to friends.

Lots of us have and have had friends who are fifteen to twenty years older or younger.

When these friends die suddenly, when you check the internet because you've lost their emails and phone contacts and the answer is their obituary, then it hits you, big time. It's worse when they are younger that you are.

Dealing with their surviving spouses, with their children isn't easy. You do it for them.

None of my Grandfather's friends attended his funeral. He died at 89. He outlived all of them except MC, and MC was visiting Florida that week.

I started really thinking about and factoring how to spend my remaining years at about age 55. I'm in great health btw.

As I see it age 60 is the start of the fourth quarter.

I feel like I responded to a health board post of yours. Stay on top of those health issues.

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I find myself not so much thinking about death at my age (37),

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I’m in my 50s but 30s is a common age for people to start developing those thoughts. I did in my 30s and it stopped I’d say early 40s. I read an article about this one time a few years ago saying something along those lines, something happens in your 30s where fear of death or thoughts of death become common. I guess raising kids or being so busy with work it’s hard to enjoy life and it hits you, I dunno.