They don’t call it “the big 5-0” for nothing.

Turning 50 used to mean cheating the grim reaper. Back in 1900, Americans could anticipate living 47 years. Now, it’s closer to 80.

And with folks living healthier and longer lives, 50 has emerged as the magic threshold of aging. Marketers of all sorts court the 50-plus, promising that getting older brings new events both sweet and bitter.

But 50 has deeper meaning – emotionally, physically, financially and beyond.

To call 50 “the new 30” or any such variation is garbage, said Dorree Lynn, a psychologist whose Web site, FiftyandFurthermore.com, offers insight and advice. Fifty is its own unique stage.

“In fact, we get something for getting older, and what we get is a kind of wisdom,” said Lynn, dually based in Washington, D.C., and Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. “We should grow into it in a far more positive way and say, ‘Look, we are sages.”‘

The age, especially among the ever-youthful baby boomers, has countless variations and outlooks. Maybe the kids are finally out of the house, freeing up time and money. Maybe it’s a high career point. Maybe it signals a time to try different hobbies or take new risks.

“There’s a recalibration taking place,” said J. Kevin Eckert, dean of the Erickson School at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, which studies aging. “There are lots of things that 50 means to people, both practically and symbolically.”

One thing is almost certain: Hitting 50 means hearing from AARP. Getting that introductory literature is a rite of passage in itself.

Over the years, the Washington-based membership group for those 50 and older has aimed for a more youthful image. It pushed its membership age down from 55 and plucked the word “retired” from its name, now using just the letters that once stood for the American Association of Retired Persons.

“As much as people joke about dreading that AARP letter, it’s also an opportunity, because we see a lot of boomers – who are turning 50 every eight seconds – we see a lot of them joining us,” said Shereen Remez, AARP’s group executive officer for member value.

Remez said AARP’s success with boomers, a third of its 38 million members, involves the group’s understanding that 50-plus is a “time to dream and then follow those dreams.”

Culturally, those now turning 50 stand near the center of the baby boom.

“I’m too young to be a hippy and too old to be a yuppie. It’s this very unique slot of being raised in the ”” said Marc Canter, 50, a software pioneer who lives in Walnut Creek, Calif. “I remember what TV was like when it was black and white still. My kids can’t imagine it.”

For Canter and his peers, 50 has inspired much reflection.

“It was an adjustment,” said Rhonda Carpenter, 50, an early retiree of Highland Heights, Ky. “I really felt, for the first time, that I was aging … the face in the mirror looking back at me and telling me time was not stopping.”

For her, priorities became clearer.

“It made me think about simplifying my life more, having less things – and making sure those things I keep are important to my well-being,” said Carpenter, who is feeding her love of watercolor painting.

There’s something about reaching that half-century mark, the realization that life is most likely more than halfway done.

“I look back and see where I’ve come, challenges faced, opportunities missed or taken, the various surprising twists in my life journey, and I wonder what new surprises await,” said Mike Davis, 50, from Amesbury, Mass., who supervises United Methodist pastors in Massachusetts, Maine and New Hampshire.

Still, media messages that herald the wonders of reaching 50 can be misleading.

“I think my expectations were based on myth and Oprah. And reality was based on being suddenly sick with something they are still determining to be either multiple sclerosis or fibromyalgia,” said Karla Sprandel, 50, of Sacramento, Calif., who cares for older adults in their homes.

“Oprah promised endless celebratory moments and the marking of the best years of life,” Sprandel said, “and my experience was so much more weak, so much more feeble and a whole … lot less prosperous.”

Health becomes a dominant concern in the 50s. Women are typically experiencing menopause. In men, prostate problems are more common after age 50. Chronic conditions become more prevalent for both sexes.

“People start to realize (they’re aging) when, for some reason, the pills are given to them,” said Kathy Segrist, associate director of the Fisher Institute for Wellness and Gerontology at Ball State University in Muncie, Ind. “Something like, “You know, my parents have taken pills, and I never thought I’d be taking pills now at 52 or 55.”‘

Marion Porter, 52, of Bowie, Md., knows that feeling.

“Right around the time that I turned 50, I ended up having to take medication for the rest of my life for cholesterol,” said Porter, a government contractor. “There are those kinds of things. Your eyesight. Your reflexes. … These little wake-up calls that things aren’t working quite like they used to.”

Porter and his wife, Lynne B. Porter, 54, thought a lot about turning 50, particularly about what else they hope to accomplish.

For Lynne Porter, a government worker, being an empty-nester when she hit 50 meant freedom. She turned her hobby of jewelry-making into a part-time business with two partners.

“I’ve spent the past 25 years giving to my family and my children, and I’m confident that they are on their way,” she said. “And it’s now time for me to look inward and focus on me.”

This introspection includes envisioning retirement.

“People are not reaching the primes of their careers or their highest income-earning potential until their 50s,” said James W. Reilly, a financial adviser at RegentAtlantic Capital LLC in Chatham, N.J. “We see a lot of clients come in their 50s.”

And while financial planning should start decades earlier, Reilly said, “People frequently won’t come to an adviser until they’ve acquired a certain amount of assets.”