What Retirees Want

"Dychtwald and Morison offer a brilliant and convincing perspective: an essential re-think of what 'aging' and 'retirement' mean today and an invitation to help mobilize the best in the tidal wave of Boomer Third Agers."--Daniel Goleman, PhD, Author, Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQThroughout 99 percent of human history, life expectancy at birth was less than 18 years. Few people had a chance to age. Today, thanks to extraordinary medical, demographic, and economic shifts, most of us expect to live long lives. Consequently, the world is witnessing a powerful new version of retirement, driven by the power and needs of the Baby Boomer generation. Consumers over age 50 account for more than half of all spending and control more than 70% of our total net worth - yet are largely ignored by youth-focused marketers. How will work, family, and retirement be transformed to accommodate two billion people over the age of 60 worldwide? In the coming years, we'll see explosive business growth fueled by this unprecedented longevity revolution.What Retirees Want presents the culmination of 30 years of research by world-famous "Age Wave" expert Ken Dychtwald, Ph.D., and author and consultant Robert Morison. It explains how the aging of the Baby Boomers will forever change our lives, businesses, government programs, and the consumer marketplace. This exciting new stage of life, the "Third Age," poses daunting questions:* What will "old" look like in the years ahead? With continued advances in longevity, all of the traditional life-stage markers and boundaries will need to be adjusted.* What new products and services will boom as a result of this coming longevity revolution?* What unconscious ageist marketing practices are hurting people - and business growth?* Will the majority of elder boomers outlive their pensions and retirement savings and how can this financial disaster be prevented?* What incredible new technologies of medicine, life extension, and human enhancement await us in the near future?* What purposeful new roles can we create for elder boomers so that the aging nations of the Americas, Europe, and Asia capitalize on the upsides of aging?* Which pioneering organizations and companies worldwide have created marketing strategies and programs that resonate with the quirky and demanding Boomer generation?In this entertaining, thought-provoking, and wide-ranging book, Dychtwald and Morison explain how individuals, businesses, non-profits, and governments can best prepare for a new era - where the needs and demands of the "Third Age" will set the lifestyle, health, social, marketplace, and political priorities of generations to come.

Introduction 01Chapter 1 The Age Wave is Rising: How the Boomers are Transforming Retirement 05Chapter 2 Ageism Sucks: It's Bad for People and Bad for Business 27Chapter 3 Reframing Aging: There's a New Story to Tell 43Chapter 4 Putting Wisdom to Work: The New Role, Timing, and Purpose of Post-Retirement Employment 61Chapter 5 The Time Affluence Explosion: Fifty Trillion Hours of Leisure to Fill 85Chapter 6 Searching for the Fountain of Health: Can We Match Healthspan to Lifespan? 111Chapter 7 Retirement isn't a Solo Project: The Entangled Endearments of Family Relationships 143Chapter 8 Home and Community: Stay, Go, Remodel, or Find Roommates? 171Chapter 9 Funding Longevity: Retirement is the Biggest Purchase of a Lifetime - That Many Can't Afford 199Chapter 10 The Giving Revolution: Living with Purpose and Leaving a Legacy 227Chapter 11 Retiring Retirement: The Rise of Life's Third Age 255Acknowledgments 263About the Authors 265Notes 269Index 283