The 50th birthday: time to take a look back and at the same time a time of certainty. If something new is to happen in life, it has to start now. It’s now or never! The late baby boomers are a generation that has experienced a lot, but is more open and younger than all 50-year-olds before them. “Young in mind”, says brain researcher Martin Korte, who has just turned 50 himself. “Memory and the body may deteriorate, but strategic thinking is much better at 50 than at 25!” This has astonishing consequences: “They are more experienced and more effective than younger people,” observes BMW company doctor Ralf Hervordt. “They are healthier than they think,” says preventive physician Christoph Bamberger. “They seem highly motivated at work and often stay that way until they are 75,” believes economist Victoria Büsch. But pension expert Holger Lüthen warns urgently: “Many of them are much, much more at risk of poverty in old age than they realize!”
NDR – ’45 Min’ takes a closer look at the 50-year-olds. Nina and Roger are put through their paces. How old are they biologically, how fit for what’s to come? Holger competes with a student friend of the same age against two female students half his age: Can their brain power still keep up? Are they still attractive for the job market at 50 plus? Which of the baby boomers can look forward to retirement, and who will have to toil against poverty in old age? After all, for many of them, their 50th birthday is just the middle of their lives.