In short: the Buddha treated aging honestly and without fear. Everyone should often reflect, "I am liable to grow old, I am not exempt from old age" (AN 5.57). The body wears out like a king's chariot, "but the truth of the good never gets old" (Dhammapada 151). And an aging body can still have a healthy mind (SN 22.1).
Everything wears out, except the good
"Fancy chariots of kings wear out, and even this body gets old. But the truth of the good never gets old— so the good proclaim to the good."
Dhammapada 151 · From the Dhammapada's chapter on old age.
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The first remembrance
"I am liable to grow old, I am not exempt from old age."
AN 5.57 · The Buddha says this should be reviewed often by "a woman or a man, a layperson or a renunciate". All five: the Five Remembrances.
Reflecting on aging isn't meant to depress us. It loosens vanity about youth, and turns us toward what lasts: kindness, wisdom and good deeds. (The Buddha's own story: the three palaces.)
An old body, a healthy mind
An elderly man, often ill, asked the Buddha for advice. The answer:
"Though my body is ailing, my mind will be healthy."
SN 22.1 · More: sick body, healthy mind.
Don't wait
"When young they spurned the spiritual path and failed to earn any wealth. Now they brood like old cranes in a pond bereft of fish."
Dhammapada 155
The gentle warning: practice now, at whatever age you are. It's never too early, and never too late, to begin.
Try it
Three minutes a day is a good start at any age: open Practice. See also Buddhist teachings on death.
Questions people ask
What does Buddhism say about getting old?
That aging is natural and worth reflecting on often: 'I am liable to grow old, I am not exempt from old age' (AN 5.57). The body wears out, 'but the truth of the good never gets old' (Dhammapada 151).