Research Reveals the Top Fifty Things to do Before You’re Fifty
Learn a new language, attend a music festival – and be able to say no to your mother are among the 50 things everyone should do before they turn 50, a study has found.
While many expect to have fallen in love, got married, bought a house and had children by the time they reach the big 5-0, Brits aged over 50 also think you should have seen the Northern Lights, quit a job and gone skinny dipping.
Other things everyone should have done before they reach their fifties include staying out all night partying, having sex on the beach and jumping into a pool fully clothed. It also emerged less than four in ten over 50s have accomplished all of their life aims, with another 39 per cent believing life really does begin at 50.
Ian Atkinson, director of marketing for over 50s insurance experts SunLife, which commissioned the research to mark the launch of its 'Welcome to Life After 50' campaign today (March 11), said: "For many, 50 is a milestone age when you may start to look back and take stock of everything you have done or achieved so far. And while most people want to be married and settled down in their home with a family, there are also a host of other activities and experiences they want to have tried.
"But with many believing 50 is the point where your life is just getting started, there is still plenty of time to tick more things off the list if you are coming up a little short."
The study, of 2,000 over 50s carried out with OnePoll, found buying a house is top of the list of things to do before you turn 50, followed by having children and getting married. Falling in love came fourth with eating fish and chips on the pier at number five. Donating blood, reading 100 books, seeing your favourite band or musician live, learning a language and attending a music festival completed the top ten.
But there is also a rebellious streak in many Brits with taking part in a protest, getting a tattoo and trying drugs all in the top 50.
Some over 50s have gone one step further with the experiences they have had in their lives so far with one being among one of the first female priests to be ordained while another has foiled a bank raid. One adventurous over 50 also described how they got a ferry to France with just a sleeping bag and spent three years travelling around Europe while another got engaged the day they met their partner.
Researchers also revealed 47 per cent of over 50s feel they still have so much more to achieve in their life. Almost nine in ten have at least one regret, with not seeing enough of the world the most common.
Other regrets include losing touch with old friends, marrying the wrong person, not starting a pension soon enough and spending too long worrying about what others thought of them.
TOP 50 THINGS TO DO BEFORE YOU'RE 50
Buy a house
Have kids
Get married
Fall in love
Eat fish and chips on the pier
Donate blood
Read 100 books
See your favourite musician/band live
Learn a language
Attend a music festival
Own a dog
Learn to say no to your mother
Stay out all night partying
See the Northern Lights
Visit Stonehenge
Be able to remember which side of your car the petrol cap is on
Travel somewhere alone
Sleep underneath the stars
Watch a meteor shower
Dance in the rain
Become an expert at something
Quit a job
See a volcano
Visit all seven continents
Throw a coin in the Trevi fountain
Take a helicopter ride
Have sex on a beach
Swim with dolphins
Go skinny dipping
Ride a gondola in Venice
Make a snow angel
Take part in a protest
Own your own business
Go in a hot air balloon
Ride an elephant
Climb Snowdonia
Jump into a pool fully clothed
Backpack across Europe
Perfect a signature dish
Drink beer at Oktoberfest
Run a marathon
Get a tattoo
Ride a Vespa
Watch comedy at Edinburgh Fringe
Write a novel
Write a journal
Spend a month technology free
Try drugs
Have a threesome
Go to an airport and pick a random flight
What's on your bucket list? Let us know on Twitter @theladymagazine
While many expect to have fallen in love, got married, bought a house and had children by the time they reach the big 5-0, Brits aged over 50 also think you should have seen the Northern Lights, quit a job and gone skinny dipping.
Other things everyone should have done before they reach their fifties include staying out all night partying, having sex on the beach and jumping into a pool fully clothed. It also emerged less than four in ten over 50s have accomplished all of their life aims, with another 39 per cent believing life really does begin at 50.
Ian Atkinson, director of marketing for over 50s insurance experts SunLife, which commissioned the research to mark the launch of its 'Welcome to Life After 50' campaign today (March 11), said: "For many, 50 is a milestone age when you may start to look back and take stock of everything you have done or achieved so far. And while most people want to be married and settled down in their home with a family, there are also a host of other activities and experiences they want to have tried.
"But with many believing 50 is the point where your life is just getting started, there is still plenty of time to tick more things off the list if you are coming up a little short."
The study, of 2,000 over 50s carried out with OnePoll, found buying a house is top of the list of things to do before you turn 50, followed by having children and getting married. Falling in love came fourth with eating fish and chips on the pier at number five. Donating blood, reading 100 books, seeing your favourite band or musician live, learning a language and attending a music festival completed the top ten.
But there is also a rebellious streak in many Brits with taking part in a protest, getting a tattoo and trying drugs all in the top 50.
Some over 50s have gone one step further with the experiences they have had in their lives so far with one being among one of the first female priests to be ordained while another has foiled a bank raid. One adventurous over 50 also described how they got a ferry to France with just a sleeping bag and spent three years travelling around Europe while another got engaged the day they met their partner.
Researchers also revealed 47 per cent of over 50s feel they still have so much more to achieve in their life. Almost nine in ten have at least one regret, with not seeing enough of the world the most common.
Other regrets include losing touch with old friends, marrying the wrong person, not starting a pension soon enough and spending too long worrying about what others thought of them.
TOP 50 THINGS TO DO BEFORE YOU'RE 50
Buy a house
Have kids
Get married
Fall in love
Eat fish and chips on the pier
Donate blood
Read 100 books
See your favourite musician/band live
Learn a language
Attend a music festival
Own a dog
Learn to say no to your mother
Stay out all night partying
See the Northern Lights
Visit Stonehenge
Be able to remember which side of your car the petrol cap is on
Travel somewhere alone
Sleep underneath the stars
Watch a meteor shower
Dance in the rain
Become an expert at something
Quit a job
See a volcano
Visit all seven continents
Throw a coin in the Trevi fountain
Take a helicopter ride
Have sex on a beach
Swim with dolphins
Go skinny dipping
Ride a gondola in Venice
Make a snow angel
Take part in a protest
Own your own business
Go in a hot air balloon
Ride an elephant
Climb Snowdonia
Jump into a pool fully clothed
Backpack across Europe
Perfect a signature dish
Drink beer at Oktoberfest
Run a marathon
Get a tattoo
Ride a Vespa
Watch comedy at Edinburgh Fringe
Write a novel
Write a journal
Spend a month technology free
Try drugs
Have a threesome
Go to an airport and pick a random flight
What's on your bucket list? Let us know on Twitter @theladymagazine