There is a danger that definitions that emphasise physical health, people’s capacity to plan and set goals, and to be active within their communities, may exclude from any hope of being well those people for whom old age is accompanied by illness, a reduction in their physical horizons because of mobility problems and who, because of advanced old age, are focused on being well in the present rather than planning for the future. We suggest it is useful to talk about being ‘well enough’, rather than setting a standard against which to measure older people’s well-being.