David Sinclair, ILC’s Chief Executive, reflects on the milestone of his 50th birthday and how businesses and policymakers should make the most of the opportunity of this mid-point of our lives when we reflect on what might lie ahead. And next week we will be gazing into our crystal ball with a panel of experts to discuss what the future might hold for 50-plus-year-olds today, and tomorrow. At the webinar we will be launching our report “The future of ageing in an uncertain world”, supported by Brightwell. If you’ve not already done so, do join us from 12.00 BST on Tuesday 22 October and register via Zoom here or via the button below.

I spent my 50th birthday at an event in New York talking about why philanthropy doesn’t invest in global ageing.

I know how to have fun.

During the event the Chair asked everyone to say how old they were. When I said it was my birthday, someone from AARP said that had I been American I would have received my membership invitation that day.

For someone who thinks all the time about age, I’ve never really paid attention to my birthday. But this year I realised that those things I’ve talked about hypothetically in presentations are now happening to me. Within two years, my eyesight has gone from 20:20 vision to not being able to read labels on food packaging. I’m probably developing hyperacusis – noise sensitivity – as I’ve started complaining to the family about why the TV is so loud. Oh, and my doctor tells me to cut back on saturated fat or be on statins for the rest of my life.

A decade ago, ILC teamed up with a group of our friends to form the Ready for Ageing Alliance. We published a couple of reports, one of which argued that Government should develop a “Ready for Later Life pack” to be sent to all of us when we hit 50 years old.[1]

We argued that the significant birthday might be a good opportunity to get people to reflect on our lives and think about what we want to do next. I remember going on BBC Breakfast and watching a whole series of vox pop interviews saying how patronising it was to have to be reminded that they could still be a VSO volunteer or that they should think more about their health or review their savings.

In the US, charities like AARP have been very successful at using this birthday to engage potential members. Getting your AARP membership on your 50th might even be a rite of passage. And AARP are good at chasing you if you don’t engage. At the event in New York, one person said that if AARP had managed to get the email to me on my birthday, but I haven’t replied, they would send it again to me a few days later in Spanish. They know how to engage people, and they have secured 38 million paid up members as a result.

There have been some marketing faux pas though. People used to complain about getting their Saga cruise catalogue on their 50th birthday. Every now and again people receive “funeral plan” marketing letters alongside their birthday cards. It might be a useful communication, but perhaps it’s not the one to inspire people to think to the future in a positive way.

While I might not have got my AARP invite, what did I get beyond the usual birthday emails offering a free doughnut or some dough balls with a pizza?

Positively, within days I had three letters from my pension providers all opening the door to a conversation, “counting down to my selected retirement age” and explaining my options.

It would have been better if I had been automatically given a Pension Wise appointment or even had an email where I could book a slot via an online platform. But it was a communication that I was pleased to get.

Arguably, the Mid-Life MOT idea emerged from a combination of pre-retirement education, our seminal work on “the missing millions”, and this simple idea developed by the Ready for ageing Alliance. So perhaps we are making progress,

But I’m not sure how I feel about getting an unsolicited bowel cancer screening kit from the NHS within a few days of my 50th. They could have waited a week or two.

It has got me thinking though. Being 50 is fantastic – I was almost last in the 45-49 age category in my local parkrun. Now I’m in the 50-54 group I’m up to 5th. And I did manage to use my birthday as an excuse for a fun party in Ashton Applewhite’s  garden in Brooklyn.

I love the Japanese idea of building an Ikigai (sense of purpose). I’m driven a lot by having fun but when we wrote our route map for long lives last year, we struggled with how we define or explain fun. We wrote the least fun press release on the topic you could possibly imagine. While spending my 50th talking about global philanthropy wasn’t really that fun – I did at least meet two fascinating people who I will keep in touch with.

Perhaps I’m over analysing it but having something akin to the “Ready for Later Life pack” or similar to prompt me to think about what could drive happiness and health would be useful. And the age of 50 is a good time to do it.

We know that having purpose is key to whether older workers stay in or return to work. I do a lot of consuming (food; arts; music; digital content) but it isn’t always satisfying. Perhaps my Ikigai would be more satisfied by creating than consuming.

Now, where did I put those letters about my pension? And what do I need to do with that screening kit?

[1] https://www.ageuk.org.uk/latest-press/archive/ready-for-later-life-pack-targeted-at-50-year-olds