Humans hit their functional peak at age 60

[Mick]

My mother used to work 60 hours a week through her 60s (she ran interiors west of the Rockies at MCI). My grandfather went into the office three days a week from age 70 to age 80. My other grandfather built race cars (Formula Vee and Formula Super-Vee) into his 70s, I used to watch them race at Laguna Seca.

I had a very young marketing team in Detroit, and I hired a 62-year old. She was a smash hit, no-nonsense and worked very hard. Great personality.

People Hit Their Functional Peak Around 60, Research Suggests

Gist of this article is that when you combine multiple dimensions (raw intelligence, personality, decision-making, emotional intelligence), overall functioning peaks at 60 and is strong through the mid-sixties. Factor in crystallized intelligence (experience, accumulated knowledge) and financial literacy, along with moral reasoning (conscientiousness and emotional stability), clear declines don’t appear until 65 to 70.

Here’s the actual abstract:

Humans peak in midlife: A combined cognitive and personality trait perspective – ScienceDirect

The scientists used four cognitive abilities (fluid intelligence, crystallized intelligence, memory and processing speed), five personality traits (conscientiousness, emotional stability, openness, extraversion and agreeableness), and seven additional dimensions (emotional intelligence, financial  literacy, moral reasoning, resistence to sunk cost bias, cognitive empathy, cognitive flexibility and need for cognition).

Data set was 5,098 adults aged 19 to 88, personality data from 10,163, financial literacy data was over 15,000, emotional data from 456 adults.

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