You know, it has taken me a long time, I mean a looong time, decades of my life, to realize that just because a person gets older, it doesn't mean they get any wiser or smarter. I mean this picture of the snow haired elderly, these presumable sages of wisdom do not exist. I have concluded that if a person is stupid about money or other life matters and made bad decisions when they were say--oh, 30--years old, then when they're 60 or 70 or 80 etc.they will still be stupid about life matters.

When is a person's personality set in stone? I'm talking about the basic core personality. A person's taste in wine or food may change, but the neurons that form the intrinsic person I believe are set at about 20 years old, maybe younger.

I hear stories all the time where life experiences don't confer learning, common sense or change behavior. I thought experience was how human beings learned things but that's not so. As a matter of fact, age just entrenches personality traits that become more pronounced with age. So young folks, grandma and grandpa may have an opinion, but whether they're any smarter than you is debatable.
susil