Items related to 50+: Igniting a Revolution to Reinvent America
Synopsis
Calls for members of the baby boom generation to use their influence and numbers to transform the lives of all Americans for the better by changing the retirement years into ones filled with productivity, growth, and influence on every aspect of life.
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About the Author
Bill Novelli is the CEO of AARP. Prior to joining AARP, Novelli held executive positions at CARE and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and founded Porter Novelli, one of the world’s largest public relations agencies.
Randall (Boe) Workman is the director of CEO Communications at AARP. He is the author of Voice of an Aging Nation: Selected Speeches of Horace B. Deets. He received his Ph.D. from Indiana University.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Chapter One
A New Vista in the Land of Opportunity
We are all faced with a series of great opportunities—brilliantly
disguised as insoluble problems.
—John W. Gardner
A while ago, I spoke about health and aging to an audience in Lexington, Kentucky. When I finished my remarks, a woman raised her hand to ask this question: “Do you know that women live longer than men?” I said that I did, to which she replied, “Well, what are you going to do about it?” Even if I could do something about it (which I can’t), the fact is, both men and women are living longer. For the first time in history, long life isn’t a rarity. Two-thirds of all the people who ever reached the age of 65 are alive today. What’s more, 65 isn’t even old anymore—most of us can count on another eighteen years or so after that, and more than half of us will live past 90. The fastest-growing segment of the population is those 85 and older.
All of this is good news for America’s 78 million baby boomers, the oldest of whom just turned 60 this year and the youngest 42. As the boomers age—one reaches the age of 50 every 7.5 seconds, which adds up to 4 million every single year—the cascade of those over 65 will double over the next thirty years to 70 million. The first boomers turn 65 just five years from now, in 2011. This age shift is having an enormous impact—from family life, work, and recreation to the economy, health care, housing, education, transportation, and technology. But we’re beginning to realize—with a jolt—that society has not kept up the demographic shift, and we’re certainly not ready for the onslaught ahead.
· boomers have not prepared adequately for their long futures;
· companies are rapidly shifting financial risks and responsibilities to workers and retirees without adequate preparation and safeguards;
· government programs are not working as well as they should, and many need to be modernized, better financed, and more engaging to the public;
· we have a health-care system that is designed to pay bills but doesn’t promote health and wellness; and
· we have a growing older population that by and large is vital and active and possesses great intellectual wealth. But we have not structured a social model to optimize their continued involvement.
Many, in fact, fear this future. Who can blame them, given the alarmist tone of much of the discussion? We hear that Social Security is on the brink of collapse—that by 2020 each retiree will be supported by the payroll taxes of only two workers, far too little to keep the system solvent. Chicken Littles squawk that an army of “greedy geezers” will vote down school taxes but give themselves so many benefits as to bankrupt the country. Others imagine a nation of nursing homes filled with helpless, hopeless old folks.
In just one recent day’s worth of articles from around the country I found these stories:
· “Boomers to Overload Health System: Rising Costs of New Treatments, Fewer Resources Seen as ‘Disastrous’”
· “Think Social Security Is Secure? Think Again”
· “How Bedrock Promises of Security Have Fractured Across America”
· “Companies Are Discarding Traditional Pensions”
· “Medi-Cal* Cut Threatens Poor, Disabled; More than 3 Million Patients Could Be Affected by a 5% State Reduction in Payments to Doctors, Who Say They May Phase Out Services”
And to add insult to injury:
· “Baby Boomers’ Ears Paying for All Those Loud Rock Concerts”
No question, these are challenging times. And although these pessimistic prognosticators go too far, it’s certainly true that there is plenty of reason for concern. David Walker, the comptroller general, has said the United States faces a long-term budget deficit “that will only increase as the baby boomers retire,” leading to a “financial imbalance [that] will test the nation’s spending and tax policies.” He describes it as “a retirement tsunami . . . that will never recede.”
Clearly, our society needs to make some changes and we need to begin now. But I see that as a positive development, not a negative one, with boomers leading the way to a brighter future for all of us. At every step of their remarkable journey, they have transformed American life and culture.
The transformation began with the first wave of babies just after World War II. As hospital nurseries started filling up, schools were built, pediatricians were trained, and consumers bought the products and services they needed to cope with the deluge. In short, Americans rolled up their sleeves and did what they had to do.
When the baby boomers were still just that, babies, our leaders made a conscious decision to invest in research to develop vaccines and cures for childhood diseases. Consequently, afflictions such as diphtheria, whooping cough, smallpox, and polio—which once killed and maimed thousands of children every year—were all but eradicated. Vaccinations for chicken pox, measles, and mumps became standard practice in this country. And as the babies grew, we built whole new suburbs to house them, fast-food restaurants to feed them (a mistake, perhaps), and schools and universities to educate them. As a result of all this change, the United States became a better, more productive society.
Now even the youngest boomers have passed 40 and are moving into middle age. When they were kids, 50 was considered old. But perceptions have changed. It’s a sure sign of progress when, instead of “old folks’ homes,” specially tailored recreation facilities and new communities are springing up across the country. And just as when the boomers were young, the research and medical community is focused on attacking their health problems, this time the ones associated with aging. This effort alone may make a huge difference. Disability among older people is already decreasing, and if successful treatments for Alzheimer’s disease, arthritis, incontinence, and osteoporosis are discovered, the nursing-home population—which is already declining—could be cut even more, possibly in half. The millions of Americans freed from these debilitating diseases would enjoy a much-improved quality of life, to the great relief of their families and friends.
Nearly everyone agrees about the impact of the boomers and our increased longevity. What’s lacking is a consensus on how we should adapt to the new realities. The collective “we”—individuals, institutions, communities, businesses, and government—don’t share a common vision of the life we want or the changes we will have to make to achieve it. Many boomers are already experiencing the future by caring for aging parents. And, as they do, they’re beginning to weigh in on what works and what doesn’t. By and large, they’re seeing a whole lot that needs to be changed.
So what some see as insoluble problems are, to my mind, great opportunities—opportunities, as this book spells out, to make us healthier and transform our health-care system, to rethink our retirement expectations, to extend our productive, creative lives, to build more livable communities, to change the culture so the country can actively profit from a still vital population, and to leave lasting legacies that improve the lives of others and strengthen the country for future generations.
Opportunities for Change
This increase in the life span and in the number of our senior citizens
presents this Nation with increased opportunities. . . . It is not enough
for a great nation merely to have added new years to life—our object
must also be to add new life to those years.
—President John F. Kennedy, special message to the Congress on the needs of the nation’s senior citizens, February 21, 1963
Many boomers approaching their landmark sixty-fifth birthdays dream of active, productive, and well-financed years ahead. Yet we know from the experiences of older people today that shortsighted public policies and private-sector practices coupled with imprudent personal behaviors threaten to smother these ambitions.
For example, our health-care delivery is based primarily on providing acute care, while more and more people are living with chronic conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease. Over 45 million people are uninsured. Our society is aging, but our new doctors are not studying geriatric medicine. While the cost of health care goes up, the quality of care is going down. At the same time, people are being asked to take more personal responsibility for their own health-care costs. Yet the expense of health care makes it less affordable for many. Out-of-pocket spending on prescription drugs and long-term care represents the greatest health-related financial risk for older Americans.
Even...
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherThorndike Pr
- Publication date2007
- ISBN 10 0786293527
- ISBN 13 9780786293520
- BindingHardcover
- LanguageEnglish
- Number of pages433
- Rating
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