Dating for Baby Boomers
Welcome!
"Some of the rules have changed since the days when you were first single, and being the only person over 40 at an event is not ego-boosting," says JoAnn Magdoff, Ph.D., a psychotherapist in private practice in New York City. "It can be hard to stay motivated to stay out there."
"As a person in the 50+ bracket, your situation is very different from when you were in your 20s," says Dr. Magdoff. How so? A lot of the pressures of younger dating, "Is this the person I'll marry and start a family with?" have passed. "You can be much more inventive, much more flexible in what you want or expect from dating."
"We're talking about independent people who can connect in whatever way they want to for their own desires and their own particular reasons," says Dr. Magdoff. "Enjoy the freedom that comes with your age-it can be great and liberating."
"Many over 50 are no longer looking for that one person, that 'soul mate'," says Dr. Philip Belove, a marriage and family therapist based in Bellows Falls, Vermont, who specializes in midlife relationships issues. "If you have a life that you like and things you want to do and interests to pursue, maybe you don't want to sacrifice some of those priorities in order to be someone else's soul mate."
What's A Baby Boomer?
If you were born between 1946 and 1964, you are a BABY BOOMER. Baby Boomers are the generation of Americans who were born in a "baby boom" following World War II between 1944 and 1964.
The oldest wave of the Baby Boomers is currently considering retirement options and looking at ways to make the coming years more meaningful.
No Fear !
For many people over 50, online dating has become an increasingly attractive method for meeting people.
Dating again, and trying online dating for the first time, may seem intimidating at first. It's reassuring to know that you're not in this alone. Over 37 million Americans visit online dating sites every month. Almost half of online-personals users are 35 to 50. The fastest-growing group of cyber romantics is over 55. This is now a mainstream way of wooing.