A recent article from the Huffington Post, entitled, “People Nearing a Milestone Birthday may be more Likely to make a Life-Altering Decision, Research Finds” by Yagana Shah explores how some cope with getting older. Researchers from New York University’s Stern School of Business and the University of California, Los Angeles’ Anderson School of Management, came to these findings through health-related surveys and databases. They sought a “correlation between ages ending in ‘nine’ and certain behaviors” (Shah 1).

The “People are more apt to evaluate their lives as chronological decade ends and, as a result, more likely to make life-altering decisions.” They continued, “as we age, it’s good to understand this propensity so we’re more likely to make constructive rather than destructive choices. Our research suggests that people who are nearing the end of a decade may be more likely to make large purchases (e.g., buy life insurance, invest in retirement savings, pursue cosmetic surgery, etc.)” (Shah 1). However, there can be rash and potentially harmful decisions made as well:

“The analysis revealed that men at ages 29, 39, 49 and 59 were nearly one-fifth more likely to be registered on an online dating service for people seeking extramarital affairs. Suicide rates among people with an age ending in nine were also two-and-a-half percent higher than others”

On a more positive note, people whose ages end in nine are also more likely to be first-time marathoners. Essentially, people wonder whether they have lived life to the fullest.

If you are approaching a milestone birthday and want to run in our 5k Run/Walk save the date for June 21, 2015.