Reaching the end of my boomer ‘ain’t we cool’ rope. Rant on. Got one of those ’10 baby boomers inventions that rocked our world’ e-mails today from a party who will remain nameless, but wanted to be credited should I publish it. It felt familiar. Why, it was remarkably similar to a 2010 Reuters reprint of an article: Baby boomer inventions that changed the world which itself was an excerpt from a book by Patrick Kiger. No clue how many articles pre-date that one that noted the Jarvik heart, WWW, the Apple II, DNA, blah, blah, blah. The self-aggrandizement (and marketing promotional opportunity) of boomers and those who wish to make a buck off of them – it's enough to make one gag. And, as they say, I ARE one, and yeah, my business supposedly targets that demographic.
Perhaps we need a new set of work and life expectations. Doesn't it strike you as interesting that the so-called 'retirement' age (that is when you can receive full Social Security benefits) has been 65 for a long time? It has bumped up just recently -- but then so has average life expectancy. According to data compiled by the Social Security Administration: "A man reaching age 65 today can expect to live, on average, until age 83. A woman turning age 65 today can expect to live, on average, until age 85. And those are just averages. About one out of every four 65-year-olds today will live past age 90, and one out of 10 will live past age 95." The oldest age that SSA considers for initial full eligibility is 67 -- for those born in 1960 or later. Meanwhile, the average anticipated retirement age in the US is, what a surprise, age 67.
At the ninth annual What’s Next Boomer Business Summit, opening speaker Jody Holtzman fired up the 400+ entrepreneurs and executives in the audience with his assertion that, “In Washington, addressing the needs of 100 million people is called an unaffordable cost. For entrepreneurs, addressing the needs of 100 million people is called an opportunity.” Holtzman, senior vice president of AARP’s Thought Leadership Group, was referring to consumers aged 50+.
Sharp contrast separates business and service lenses of baby boomers. You might think you were in different planets – at last week’s Aging in America conference, on a Wednesday a discussion of "E-commerce, MobileVideo, Gaming and the Mobile Wallet" at the 2012 What’s Next Boomer Business Summit – a conference within a conference. The next day at ASA, you could consider "Successfully Integrating Boomers for a Sustainable Senior Center Model." When picturing the 50+ segment, is it the hop-skipping-and-jumping boomer, the entrepreneur boomer, the service-providing boomer, the shopper in the AARP lens of the Longevity Economy (What’s Next), or perhaps it’s the live-forever boomer, straining our budgets and reducing our expectations (ASA)?
Marketers, Brand Managers, and Entrepreneurs to Gain Deeper Understanding of Boomers' Adoption and Use of New Technologies at What's Next Boomer Business Summit
Technology is king at the What's Next Boomer Business Summit on March 28, 2012 at the Marriott Wardman Park in Washington, D.C. Distinguished speakers will discuss mobile technology, gaming, and e-commerce trends that are influencing Baby Boomers' purchasing decisions and meeting unmet needs in this key demographic, which represents approximately 78 million Americans.
