Depends on the person, but in my case:
Giving less fucks in general
Most of the advantages don't come from being over 40, but rather, from the experience of having lived over 40 years. What you have is knowledge and perspective. You can make better choices, fall into fewer traps. It's that "wisdom" thing you may have heard of.
Also, as most people over 40 have been working for some time now, many of us (though definitely not all) have reached a different phase of their life financially. In my 20s, when things went wrong it was generally like "well, this is my life now", but in my 40s when something goes wrong it's more often like "ok, how much will it cost for this problem to go away?". And don't forget, with all of that wisdom we have, sometimes we can just solve the problem, but when that won't work, throwing money at problems is generally effective.
Finally, I think someone already said it, but it's worth repeating. You stop giving a shit about a lot of things, and it's liberating. It feels like honesty and confidence and contentment.
Honestly, the only disadvantage is that you can start to feel your body breaking down.
Everything else just gets better. You're wiser, smarter, more confident, less bothered, and you have fewer fucks to give.
And honestly, I look hotter now than I did in my twenties or thirties.
If only the world didn't keep on getting worse every year.
Not giving a shit what other people think of you. I think this starts, for most people, earlier than their 40's but it's still great. I don't care about impressing anyone except me.
You know more, but you're also aware of how much you don't know.
I just turned 60, and in the wake of my divorce 5 years ago I've made a dedicated effort to get my health and fitness in order, and am now in the best physical condition of my life. As I recently re-entered the dating pool, I've discovered that being a fit, good-looking man over 40, I'm in high demand.
Roughly half of all Americans are overweight, and I have no doubt that percentage increases significantly in men over 40. As a consequence, I have access to more attractive women than I've ever had in my life, and older women can be quite aggressive.
In the U.S., at age 30 there are roughly 120 single men per 100 single women. By age 45 there are only 95 single men per 100 single women, and by age 55 there are only 57. That is a massive shift that completely changes the power dynamic. There are a LOT of attractive women over 40, and I'm finding that while I did very well with women in my younger days, that pales in comparison to my experience today.
It's easier to stop caring and engaging with aspects of culture that you find distasteful.
Not giving a shit about so much stuff.
as a woman: less street harassment.
Only advantage for me is that I'm closer to death and ending this exhausting existence on this world.
Mid 40 here.
I'm hard pressed for advantages. I care less for opinions of others, but also feel immense frustration that those exact opinions influence my life too often.
I appreciate many things more because I have the experience to know how much effort they were, but also lost my fascination amd feeling of wonder.
I think it is not an issue with being older as such. It is the time we live in.
Struggles increasing while the body and mind are decreasing.
I live by two simple statements, "No one can make me" and "No one can stop me". I adopted this some time in my early forties.
This applies mostly to social events and activities.
Want to jump on my motorcycle and head off for a weekend? No one can stop me.
Don't want to attend a wedding or birthday party? No one can make me.
My time is mine, and I'm free to choose that which I do and don't want to engage in.
Aside from that, as others have said, you really do stop giving a fuck what other people think of you.
This leads, at least in my case, to a smaller, but far higher quality social circle.
Nobody expects great feats of strength. They look to nephews for manual labor.
Experience.
As long as you stay current and are willing to be malleable, your mind is a weapon forged with time.
You don't have to wait as long to die.
Turning 40 freaked me out a bit, but it hasn't been that bad, outside of the whole "collapsing society" thing that's been going on the last several years. I have a wonderful wife and kid, chickens, a dog, a cat with a heart full of disdain, and two dorky cars. I have good neighbors, a decent job, I honestly feel kinda guilty for how well I've been doing since I turned 40.
Emotional regulation. Better pay, if you have been able to work consistently. Kids older, easier to deal with. Happier, and can make better decisions because we are not so hotheaded.
Do you remember how anxious and insecure you were 10 years ago? Think about how much better are you at dealing with that shit today.
That just keeps growing.
It's almost over.
Being immune to the vagaries of pop culture and being pleasantly baffled when celebs make the news and you have no fucking idea who they are.
It's also kind of wild because a lot of the really, really famous young people look entirely the opposite of the super-good-looking A-listers of the past. Guess its great that the younger generation seem less superficial than we were, but my programming struggles to process it when I see some pasty, odd looking dweeb and find out they're outstreamng the Beatles or whatever.
Theoretically you have savings and assets but that is highly job and economy dependent. From my experience every year the math on retirement gets more grim.
People think you know more than you do.
Physical feedback becomes un-ignorable.
If I’m not standing or moving enough, my body tells me because my back, legs, or knees hurt. Drink too much or too late? I’ll wake up at like 3am and not be able to go back to sleep. Haven’t worked out lately? Everyday tasks are perceptively harder and I’ll sleep like trash. Eat too much or not healthy enough? Tummy ache.
Feeling good is simply being kind to my future self and I actively know when I’m mortgaging my short term future.
Now if I could just figure out how to do the same thing with work obligations…
The absolute absence of shits I now give.
As a 45 year old white man, I feel much more comfortable in giving my opinion and uneducated wisdom to others.
My best years were between 40 and 47: my body was still mostly problem free, I was already financially secure, and I had enough life experience to know stupid when I saw it.
Then at 47, the progressives came onto the scene. Then shortly after, the small aches in the morning for no reason. Then I started to get a gloved finger up my ass on a regular basis to check my prostate...
That's also when I realized aging comes in bursts, and my first big burst was around that time - just before 50 - and it fucking sucked. That's the first time I felt limited in some of the things I did before, and that's the first time I felt on the decline for real.
If you're 40, enjoy it bubba, because it'll be over before you know it.
Experiencing all the various pain you only ever read about.
Oh, wait..
Money!
More vacation days (probably depending on your union, but at least where I work the older you are the more vacation days you get).
Can start looking forward to retirement maybe?
People don't follow me on the street or interrupt my day to try to chat me up. Though soon they'll start doing it to scam me instead, so staying sceptical.
A lot fewer people stubbornly mistake my friendliness for flirting.
I'm more aware of my limits, and people tend to respect it faster when I set boundaries.
Though I'm early in it, so there's more to come for sure.
Wellllll...
I got married.
For the rest, physically things were going really well until I got post covid.
For the most part, cops leave me alone. That was not the case in my younger years. It helps that I don't do illegal things as much anymore.
For me is confidence, self awareness and focus. And money too. If I could only heal like when I was in my 20s...
I have generally stopped caring what people think of me, and it has actually made me a more pleasant, confident person.
People stop pushing you to get married and have children. By now, they know you're not interested, have terrible taste in partners, or they regret their own marriages/children and envy your slack life. The surgical removal of organs needed to reproduce helps too, and you can get it done much easier if you're older. For free! Thanks Obama.
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