Elder

An elder is the last Life stage in The Sims 2 and The Sims 3.

The Sims
In The Sims, elder does not exist as a separate life stage, as Sims 1 Sims do not age. There are head and body skins which can give a Sim the appearance of being elderly, but it will be no more than an appearance. This means that sims that appear elderly in the game, such as Gunther and Cornelia Goth, can still have children and cannot retire, or die of old age.

The Sims 2
Elder is the final life stage in the Sims 2. Sims will have grey hair and a hunched back in this period. After this state, the Sims dies of old age. It's the only age that doesn't have a fixed duration - The days remaining theoretically depends on the aspiration bar when that Sim age, the higher it is, the longer he or she will live (generally around 70 days, Perma-platinum may increase it to around 80 days). Elders do not have many special interactions, but a notable feature is that if two elders are married as Adults, they can throw a golden anniversary party. Elders can retire and live off a pension if desired (since it's usually a big want, it's highly recommended that they do). If an elder lives a good life (when there aspiration bar turns platinum), their grave will turn golden.

Examples of Elders in The Sims 2

The Sims 3
Examples of Elders in The Sims 3

Elder is featured in The Sim 3.

In the Sims 3, Elder is the last life stage before Death. Sims have Grey Hair but can dye it if they want to. They can't have any children. How long this life stage lasts depends on how long you set your Sim's life. (You can set it at 25 days, 95 days, or over.) After this life stage ends, Sims die of old age. Elders have 5 traits. The next life stage is Death.

Elders differ from the Adults and other life stages in that instead of standing up straight they are hunched over and they aren't as fast at doing tasks. Also instead of having a bar in Simology that indicates how many days left until they age, the bar states how many days the Sim has lived.

Things that Elders can do that lower life stages can't: Retirement lets you enjoy your time without paying attention to workdays. This option, however, brings financial disadvantages. This player had his sim at level 10 political career and (after many raises) his sim earned about 582 $ per hour, working three days a week as an elder. With his working hours from 09.00 to 13.30, he would bring home 2619 $ every workday, which is a lot more than lousy 280 $ (DAILY, this is the only advantage) he was getting after retirement. Three days a week isn't that much after all, so retirement may not be worth it.
 * Retire
 * Die of Old Age