My sims don't die of old age and the goals are mostly to create an idealistic life. I used to play realistic in the past but I have played the game since it's release back and forth so I don't really have the patience for that any longer. That's why I often go "huh, I have mods for that" when I read some posts here on the forums.
I don't cheat money or relationships but I do use mods to create a world that I enjoy playing more, sims can be or do whatever they want and stay young (or old...) forever.
If I would describe my world it would probably be, kinda like real life but also a bit like a dream.