The new longevity is one of the most remarkable achievements of the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. It also radically shifts the demographic profile of this country and nearly every other country on the planet. The tectonic demographic shift must be met with a similarly immense mindset shift. Our long-held presumptions, heuristics, and approaches to understanding what it means to be old and to serve this cohort no longer apply. Sixty-five as an age marker that signifies the entry into old age no longer works. There will be much more diversity in what people do in this time, and what they need, what they want, and how they age.

This book will help you – the companies, innovators, marketers, entrepreneurs, investors, and older adults - reimagine the opportunities and implications presented by the new longevity. It aims to help you understand and serve people over sixty, the fastest growing most dynamic market in the world. I’ve organized the book into two parts. Part 1 focuses on understanding longevity and shifting your mindset to thinking about older adults by the stage of life they’re in, and not by the number that tells you how old they are. Part 2 dives into the opportunities in this market and the roadblocks you should anticipate and overcome. The book concludes in Chapter 8 with a call to arms on being an active participant in changing the conversation about older adults, addressing ageism, fostering intergenerational communities and opportunities for innovation, supporting policies that will effect change, and investing in dignity.

Each new company, new business strategy, and new solution that will address the needs of older adults can have a major impact on your customers, employees, and community. When you can address their needs, you will also be improving society as a whole.

Every business leader needs to develop a longevity strategy for the opportunities presented bythe living a 100-year life. Changing your mindset will be crucial. There will be novel business opportunities across the lifespan of individuals who can anticipate living to one hundred. Every consumer facing industry will be impacted. Businesses can also facilitate career transitions as the nature and length of work changes dramatically. We should expect that a sixty-year education cycle will become the norm instead of the current twenty-year cycle. Sixty year “careerspans” will also become common, with opportunities for career breaks, rejuvenation, and learning. People will also need longer “wealthspans” to support longer.

How you consider your own career and life plans in a world of increasing healthspan requires rethinking old norms. You may want to rethink which types of work and career you want to pursue and fully expect to have as many as six to ten different jobs, without judgement. Recognize that the most important thing about everyone living longer is not the number of years but the stages you will go through. The book examines and names these new stages. This chapter also explains the distinction between lifespan (an age concept) and healthspan (a stage concept), and why it is important to aim for extending healthspan.

The new longevity requires a new mindset that eliminates ageism both in the workplace culture and in the development and marketing of new products and services to address the longevity market. With longer lifespans and healthspans, so called “old people” can’t be lumped together as one demographic. The vocabulary we use to describe older adults was based on age and is no longer accurate or relevant.

This chapter outlines new frameworks for understanding the diverse lives of older people. The classic three-stage life - learn, earn and retire – is being replaced by a multistage life course. And these stages may repeat at different times in our longer lives, which can be understood by a new paradigm: The Five Quarters (5Q) Life Framework. Q1-The Starting Years; Q2-The Growing Years; Q3- The Renaissance Years; Q4- The Legacy Years; and Q5- The Extra Years. You will need to think in fresh ways about continuous learners in their eighties and nineties. Read further to learn how to use the 5Q Framework and understand new terms such as “Furtherhood”.

Marketing to the many different types of longevity customers will succeed best when stages are understood. One-hundred year lives may encompass as many as eighteen different stages, and most of these stages will occur independent of strict age guidelines and brackets. Adopt the attitude that you are aiming for a multigenerational customer base. Companies will now need to consider developing products and services that simultaneously appeal to both younger and older consumers, as well as over many life stages. It will be essential to develop a longevity strategy for your customers and employees that includes a stage approach, not just age, to understand and segment their needs. Each strategy will need these components: Domain; Demographic Segmentation; and Stage Segmentation.