What Retirees Want

Introduction

THE AGING OF THE MASSIVE Baby Boom generation is creating an unprecedented wave of retirees worldwide, and increasing longevity means that they will spend more years in retirement than we've ever seen. These older men and women are a rapidly increasing portion of the global population, and in terms of wealth and spending, they already have disproportionate economic clout. Yet many businesses and other organizations that can and should be meeting the needs of retirees continue to ignore, misread, even alienate them. These organizations mistakenly view retirement as a time of loss and decline when, for most, it's really about new freedom and purpose. It's the emerging Third Age of Life.

Let us introduce ourselves. Ken has been involved in the study of aging, health, and longevity since 1974, when he co-founded the country's first preventative health research project, the SAGE Project, and then set up similar initiatives around the world. In the early 1980s, while advising the Office of Technology Assessment – the think tank of the U.S. Congress – he became captivated by the extraordinary ways that increasing longevity, declining fertility, and the aging of the Boomer generation were creating an “age wave.” He founded his company of the same name in 1986 and has advised more than half of the Fortune 500 while giving presentations to more than two million people worldwide. He is the author of 16 previous books, including his seminal book, Age Wave, which was published ...