This paper presents a generalised model of overlapping generations with economic ageing of households. Economic age is defined as a set of personal attributes such as earnings potential and tastes that are characteristic of a person’s position in the life-cycle. We separate the concepts of economic age and time since birth by assuming only a small number of different states of age. Agents sharing the same economic characteristics are aggregated analytically to a small number of age groups. The model thus allows for a very parsimonious approximation of life-cycle differences in earnings, wealth and consumption. As an illustration, we apply the model quantitatively to study the impact of demographic change.