This stage begins around the age of sixty-five and ends with death. The conflict at this point is fighting between the integrity of the ego and despair when reflecting on their lives. Erikson said this step is the hardest to take. A detachment from society, a feeling of usefulness, retire, no longer have the duty to be parents and most find that their contribution is no longer necessary (Boeree, 2006). Ego integrity is accepting life and realizing that your life is coming to an end. This is not meant to be a term for depression. The purpose of this term is to come back to your acceptance of everything that happened and to be happy with your choices. Erikson points out that we will make mistakes throughout life and if you didn't make those mistakes, you wouldn't be who you are (Boeree 2006). The key to this step is to avoid the feeling of hopelessness. This can be done by staying active, staying close to your family, and participating in support groups with others in the same age group. Success at this stage will lead to a virtue of wisdom. Wisdom allows a person to look at their life closely and comprehensively (McLeod, 2008). For this step to be accomplished, all previous steps must be obtained. This step needs all other steps to succeed in order to prevent the individual from being