Age Power
How the 21st century will be ruled by the new old...
Ken Dychtwald, Ph.D

Book Review

Age Power: How the 21st century will be ruled by the new old

by Ken Dychtwald, Ph.D - Buy Now From Amazon

Reviewed by Marty Vanags

 

When my mother's family came to the United States from Latvia, she and her brother, father, mother and grandmother traveled across Europe during World War II and immediately thereafter. It was an adventure that took a couple years, and it was trip that by no means was a pleasant one. My mother's family was forced to pack up any belonging and item that was valuable to them they could carry and leave their home, never knowing when they would return, if at all. As it turns out, they did not return; instead, they came to the United States as immigrants and, eventually, naturalized citizens.

 

One interesting aspect of the trip that my mother often describes is her grandmother. When her grandmother left Latvia, she was in her sixties. She died in 1973 when she was 96. Here was a woman who lived a life torn by war and upheaval. Leaving her own country, actually, forced from her country, in her sixties is unimaginable to me. Who among you would be willing to do that at age 65 or any age? My mother and her brother were always making sure that their "old" grandmother was taken care of on their trip. She was always comfortable; she rode while everyone else walked when they traveled on foot. She got the best seats on the trains, all because she was "elderly" and demanded and deserved respect.

 

She was "elderly." Today, 65 might not be considered elderly. We all know someone who is 65 and is vibrant, working and perhaps outpacing people half their age. How many people do we know that are still working in their seventies, even in their eighties? My mother is 78 and works out at the health club more often than I do; I am ashamed and embarrassed to admit. She takes no medication for any illness or malady. Part of this is genetic (good for me), part is her willingness over the years to commit to a healthy regime of exercise, and part is the modern age of medicine and longevity. Part of the retelling of these stories my mother has told me includes her own observation of her grandmother's elderly status. My mother turned 65 thirteen years ago and is still going strong. A book I recently read, Age Power:  How the 21st Century will be Ruled by the New Old by Ken Dychtwald, Ph.D is all about my mother, myself and many others who will benefit from longevity that was not available to our ancestors, and, ultimately, how this longevity may become the biggest issue of our lifetime. Age Power provides an interesting view into the "era of longevity" and the issues that are inherent with it. We are in for a change, the author tells us, and the bigger question is whether as a country and society we are ready for it.

 

Dychtwald's expertise comes from over 25 years as a psychologist, gerontologist and entrepreneur in the field of aging. At least, that is what his website says (www.dychtwald.com). He has written a number of books about aging, baby boomers and their role in the future. Many of the books deal with the issues that economic development specialists and communities will have to deal with in the future. What are we going to do when the baby boomers retire and the following generations - the X, Y, and Millennials - are too few in numbers to replace the boomers in the workplace? Dychtwald and his wife operate a firm called Age Wave which provides companies and government groups guidance in the development of products and services for boomers and mature adults. In fact, a local business leader gave me his book to read after they had Dr. Dychtwald appear at a corporate event to discuss these issues in his book.

 

Dychtwald starts his book with a quick primer on the data and statistics that he says are making America into a "gerontracacy." What does this mean? He claims that in the not so distant future, more of us will live longer than our parents, the epicenter of political and economic power will shift from young to old, how we spend our golden years will require a change in mindset, and how we decide to behave as elders will become the most important challenge we face.  This is followed by many tables and information about how we have aged as a society and the upcoming aging of the baby boomer generation.  What is the most compelling part of this chapter is the description of the largest public interest group in the country, the American Association of Retired Persons, or what most of us generally refer to as AARP.

 

AARP has 32 million members, a staff of 1,700, a 32-scholar think-tank and a staff of 19 lobbyists. AARP is the second largest nonprofit organization after the Catholic Church. But, Dytchwald doesn't have much good to say about the AARP; in fact, he points to them as a major obstacle to solving some of our most pressing issues. He claims AARP's unreconciled dual role as a target marketer and altruistic social crusader has disturbing elements.  Even so, he uses the rise of the AARP as proof of the rising gerontracacy class in America.

 

So the boomers are getting old. So what? Everyone has heard of the problems with Social Security and Medicare. Many maintain that we will be unable to meet the obligation of generations behind us when it comes to Social Security and other entitlements. Why is this? Dytchwald points to five social train wrecks our aging population is headed towards if we do nothing. First is using the age 65 as the marker for old age entitlements.  It is meaningless, unfair and dangerous.  Life expectancy continues to rise while old-age entitlements don't change. Our economy will soon be crushed by elder care demands. His solutions include unhinging old-age from the 65 marker and index entitlements to rising longevity. He also says people should be able to choose to retire when they are ready and can afford to instead of holding people to uniform standards. In addition, he suggests we should find new meaning for those who wish to continue to work in their silver years and replace the linear life paradigm with a new cyclic one. In other words, old people should and can still learn!

 

Another train wreck Dychtwald describes is that without a dramatic shift in healthcare skills and priorities our society will face epidemics of chronic disease. So much work has gone into solving childhood diseases that we have forgotten our elderly are living longer. Diseases that affect the elderly are increasingly debilitating as, in particular, is Alzheimer's.  One of his solutions to this dilemma is the development of additional healthcare professionals that can specialize and deal with the diseases of the aging. Another solution offered includes economic incentives for healthy aging. This is no different than the discussion among HMOs and other health service providers to promote healthy living, even among the non-elderly-a practice many of us do not participate in.

 

Train Wreck #3 described as an economic sinkhole is the "care-giving crunch." The 1980s were all about child care. Future years are going to be about elder care. Dychtwald's solutions include financing long-term care through private insurance or reverse mortgages, establishing new eldercare-oriented employee benefits, expanding and integrating long-term care programs and services and developing health-related affirmative action programs for men.

 

The fourth area of vulnerability is what the author describes as the impending doom of millions of elderly who are headed towards poverty. This book was written in 1999 and, therefore, Dychtwald could probably not have predicted the current mortgage and financial crisis the United States is currently in. However, it merely magnifies the problem.  Boomers have accumulated large amounts of debt, pensions are less certain, and the U.S. savings rate is almost non-existent.  Solutions include increasing the personal savings rate, making pensions more portable and flexible to match boomers' mobile lifestyles, affluence-test and target entitlements to match the diverse needs of tomorrow elders, and privatizing Social Security.

 

The final train wreck discussed in the book is the idea that we must envision a new purpose of old age or we will create an elder wasteland. As a society we have prolonged life without helping the elderly prepare themselves for what they might do with their lives. According to the book, over 40 million retirees watch over 43 hours of television a week. What will be the social contribution of the new elderly?  How can they be more productive (if they want to be), and how can we create opportunities for intergenerational learning and leadership?  Several solutions offered include national discussions on these topics and working with elder groups to define their role in this new world.

 

When I first started reading this book the pace of the book made it feel as though we were embarking on a fairly serious tome on public policy. And while Dychtwald does offer many public policy issues as one works their way deeper into the book, it feels more like a self-help book. Chapter summaries end up being suggestions about what individuals can do personally to deal with the issues presented rather than indicating what might be a policy solution or issues our congressional bodies might want to undertake.  The discussion regarding AARP peaked my interest but not enough was discussed regarding how to battle the two-headed monster it represents. Should we even bother? What resources do we need?

 

Overall, this is a good book full of very interesting ideas. The ideas and solutions offered will look very familiar to most people who follow public policy and are interested in the future of our society. Each "train wreck" as Dychtwald calls it could be a book of its own, and the solutions swing from left-leaning social like medicine programs to "ownership society" ideas like privatizing Social Security. Even though, the book provides a great starting point for a discussion on how the baby boomers will deal with all the upcoming age-related issues their generation represents.

 

Economic development officials and workforce development experts have been telling us that we need to be prepared to deal with the upcoming loss of workers due to the boomers retiring and leaving the workforce. There are not enough workers in the following generations to replace them, they tell us. If boomers are going to live longer, will they stay in the job marketplace longer?  Hard to say, but if my experience working with the X, Y, and Millenials have anything to do with it, we still have to reconcile different work habits, ideas about work hours and different expectations about how we live life, and frankly, why we work.  The impact on our society is great, and we have only just begun to explore these issues as a country. The discussion will be ongoing, and I am looking forward to it.