The easy way to stay out of trouble is to be unfailingly polite to all women, regardless of age. Treat them like you would treat your daughter, mom, or wife, especially in public. Don’t flirt.
I say this as someone who is now old enough to be called an old guy. It’s not a societal thing you can fix.
The reality is this, some older guys can pull off compliments/mild flirting and it’s nice. Very easy to smile back and enjoy the brief interaction. Other guys make your skin crawl when they do the same thing.
It’s not money or looks that makes the difference. I can’t quite put my finger on it.
I’m a waitress so it happens enough that I’ve wondered about why some older guys come across as sweet and others as creepy.
Unfortunately, there are many younger women who have been brought up to hate men in general if they're leftists, and I've found that while I have always followed your suggestion (that's how I was taught by my mother when I was a child,) some of those "womyn" get angry when you are polite to them.
In general, you can tell within just a few seconds if you're dealing with one of those harpies, and it's best to just ignore them, never speaking to them without reason (and with witnesses,) and just keeping the heck away from them.
I've had to deal with too many of them in the workplace far too often.
Mark
#20 Does not always work to be nice. Some do not like it.
I said to a women “Maam”.
Boy was she upset, she said calling her maam was saying she was old.