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.

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, sometimes with all of that wisdom we have, 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.

You don't have to wait as long to die.

As a 45 year old white man, I feel much more comfortable in giving my opinion and uneducated wisdom to others.

People think you know more than you do.

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.

Not giving a shit about so much stuff.

Money!

Experience.

As long as you stay current and are willing to be malleable, your mind is a weapon forged with time.

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.

For me is confidence, self awareness and focus. And money too. If I could only heal like when I was in my 20s...

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.

Giving less fucks in general

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.

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.

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…

Depends on the person, but in my case:

• Financial stability
• Fewer worries
• I've learned to relax and not take things too seriously. Especially when it comes to myself.
• I finally know what I'm gonna do "when I grow up"
• Time and resources to spend on my hobbies

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.

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.

You know more, but you're also aware of how much you don't know.

It's easier to stop caring and engaging with aspects of culture that you find distasteful.

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.

Only advantage for me is that I'm closer to death and ending this exhausting existence on this world.

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.

Nobody expects great feats of strength. They look to nephews for manual labor.

I have generally stopped caring what people think of me, and it has actually made me a more pleasant, confident person.

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.

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.

Wellllll...

I got married.

For the rest, physically things were going really well until I got post covid.

In a very pragmatic way: Not having to care about society ending events as much as younger generations. Even if shit hits the fan tomorrow, I had 40+ years of a, historically speaking, luxurious life.