Ken Dychtwald, arguably the nation’s foremost leader on aging, spoke recently at the Solutions For Family Caregivers Expo in Novi, Michigan.

“Riding the Age Wave: Charting a Course to Choice and Independence” went from choice bits of history, to statistics both thought provoking and downright scary, to marketing implications for older audiences, to our current broken health system. Throughout, Dychtwald held the house with drama and wit.

Some of his observations:

* “Two-thirds of all the people who have ever lived past age 65 are alive today… We’re becoming a world of the old, something that has never happened before.”

* From 2000-2020, the population of people 55-64 will increase by 73%. The population of people 65+ will increase by 54%.

* In the 1880s in Europe 65 was selected as the age to begin receiving pension benefits; at the time life expectancy was 45.

* Retirement was constructed in the U.S. in the 1930s in response to record-level unemployment.

* Quoting astronaut John Glenn, who was derided for going back up in space at 77: “Just because I’m 77 doesn’t mean I don’t have dreams.”

* “[People today] actually have the benefit of watching our moms and dads grow old,” said Dychtwald. This can help us when it comes to making our own decisions. We can say, “I like what she’s doing” or “I definitely don’t want to end up like that.”

* Friendship networks constitute older people’s new basis for support, versus the traditional husband and wife scenario. This is especially true for women, who live on average seven years longer than men.

For every $1 we spend treating conditions, only one cent is spent on research. Dychtwald urges allocating resources toward finding cures for diseases such as Alzheimer’s.

Dychtwald talked about how having more time in a lifetime affects the way we think about aging. Do you take the longevity bonus at the end? Or, as he observes more and more, do you distribute it, maybe going back to school midway through life, taking up new hobbies at 50, switching careers in your 40s – or switching careers multiple times, at 35, 50, and 70? With the longevity bonus, are we continually reinventing ourselves? This cyclic life plan, he says, is a new paradigm.
 
And because of the far-reaching effects an older society and aging will have on every one of us, why don’t we learn about aging in high school or college? he asked.
 
Over the past several decades of studying aging, Dychtwald has come to believe that the highest correlation to happiness in one’s older years is threefold: 1) Have a vision and plan for the rest of your life. That doesn’t mean the plan won’t change over time, or that you can’t be flexible; 2) Make room for loved ones. It’s the people in one’s life that makes for happiness. A beloved spouse, siblings, close friends, grandkids. They’re what matter to most people; and 3) Have a purpose. People who have a purpose at any age are happier.
 
To that point, Dychtwald believes that society hasn’t given elders a role. We think we’re doing them a favor by leaving them alone in retirement, but we’re not. Twenty-five to 35 years of retirement can be too much for some, he pointed out. With almost 50 million retirees in the U.S., he envisions an elder core with volunteer activities that utilize their many and varied talents. Dychtwald asked, “What are the roles we can create to bring the generations back together?”
 
Healthcare was the most depressing aspect of Dychtwald’s talk. He made the (very convincing) argument that our healthcare system was designed for acute care, not for long-term or chronic care. “Chronic conditions are the pandemic of the future,” Dychtwald said. Less than 10 medical schools in the country offer specialties in geriatrics. His point: We need medical excellence geared toward geriatrics. And we need to find solutions for the financial aspects of caring for an aging population.
 
While he gave many facts during the hour, the crux of Dychtwald’s speech was to raise hard questions, some obvious only in hindsight. He seemed to be saying, “Hey! Wake up! These issues have earth-changing implications in very short order, and we better get ready to address them.”  
 
Yes, we’d all better get out our surf boards and learn how to ride the age wave, because it’s certainly not going anywhere. And hold on – we’re in for a bumpy ride.

View more photos from the event at this link.