Today, more than one third of all Americans are over 50. Every day 10,000 Americans are turning 65 and by 2030, one in five of us will be 65 or over
While this article focuses on numbers from America, the insights are broadly applicable. As our population pyramids invert and greater percentages of our populations blow past traditional retirement age, it is having a fundamental effect across societies and economies.
Firstly, many older people don’t have the inclination or the financial security to retire. Many older people are staying in their jobs longer or starting second careers. According to the Kauffman Foundation, in 1996 just 15% of entrepreneurs were people aged 55 to 64 years old. By 2016 that was 25%.
While many older people don’t have the means to retire, those that do have amassed huge amounts of wealth. According to the Global Coalition on Ageing, older Americans have $15 trillion in spending power which is up almost 10% from 2010. And as this older generation pass on, their legacy will be the largest transfer of wealth in history – estimated to be $60 to $70 trillion in assets.
A generation of Baby Boomers working longer, holding onto positions of power, amassing more wealth, and living longer lives is fundamentally changing societies around the world.
No more is the challenge of Americans ageing clearer than their political leadership. Whatever side of the political divide you fall, one thing most people below retirement age can agree on is the need for term limits or a retirement age. Both American political parties are led by octogenarians that appear to be showing their age (President Joe Biden is 80 years old, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is 81 years old. Trump, for that matter, is 77 years old). Just take the year of birth of the last 5 American presidents: 1946, 1946, 1961, 1946, 1942. A generation of American leaders have been stuck behind successive Baby Boomer Presidents. And as more and more of us live lives into our 90’s and even 100’s, that may not be changing anytime soon. We might need to recalibrate our thinking on when people retire and when one generation hands the reigns over to the next.
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