Mature Market Experts

Mature Market Experts Stat of the Day: Baby Boomers Boom into Volunteerism

Tom Mann — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 12:58:30 +0000

Mature Market Experts: More news and stats you can use on boomers, seniors and the mature market – Baby Boomers Boom into Volunteerism - Volunteerism is on the rise in the US. Some site the realization of increased need in this difficult economy as their motivator. Others are unemployed and willing and able to contribute their time, perhaps instead of the money they might have given in the past. The president’s emphasis on community service is also credited with the drastic increase in volunteers. Numerous people have signed up through the website www.serve.gov. Many of these volunteers are boomers, and nonprofits are benefiting from their business and professional skills, as well as more traditional physical labor. They in turn, site satisfaction as a major reward for their altruistic efforts. To read more click here.

Baby Boomers and Volunteering

Nearly a third of all boomers – comprising some 25.8 million people – volunteered for a formal organization in 2005. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
At 33.2%, the volunteer rate for baby boomers is the highest of any generational age group, and more than four percentage points above the national average of 28.8%. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
A typical boomer volunteer serves 51 hours a year, or approximately one hour a week. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
The percentage of retired baby boomers who volunteered increased steadily, from approximately 25% in 2002 to approximately 30% in 2004. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Volunteering tends to peak at mid-life, around the current age of baby boomers, and then decline slightly; declining further among the oldest old (typically 75+).
The biggest single inducement for baby boomers to volunteer is being asked by someone with whom one has an established relationship.
Baby boomers are less likely than older age groups to volunteer out of a sense of duty or obligation and more likely to volunteer as part of a social interaction.
Baby boomers are more likely to volunteer as a result of social, self development, self-esteem, or leisure-focused motivations. Episodic, familiar, community-based opportunities are also preferred.
Four out of five boomers see work as playing a role in their retirement years, with only 20% anticipating retiring and not working at all (AARP):
Of U.S. workers over 45, 69% plan to work in some capacity during retirement, with only 28% expecting not to work at all.
More than 75% of workers 45+ feel that work is important to their self-esteem.

(Research taken from the 2004 “Reinventing Aging – Baby Boomers and Civic Engagement” report, Harvard School of Public Health & MetLife Foundation Initiative on Retirement and Civic Engagement, unless otherwise cited.) Source: Get Involved

If you own or operate a retirement community or health club, you owe it to your residents/patrons and yourself to serve as a spark for their spirit of volunteerism. By enabling them, you not only engage their body, mind and spirit … you also open an incredibly valuable public relations source for the community. Many retirees are searching for new meaning in their lives. After all, society tends to devalue you once you retire. What’s the first question someone asks you at a party? “So, who do you work for?” Well, these stories don’t appear in the paper by accident, they are often guided by talented PR people. And the effect? Seniors look at a story like this and go, “I want to be involved!” Very often their next thought is, “Man, I want to live at a place where people are doing cool stuff!”

Think about it this way, have you ever placed an inspirational story about one of your residents/health club members? PR is even more powerful than advertising. It comes across as an unsolicited recommendation. I guarantee you, the stories that you don’t yet know about your residents/members will amaze you. And even more importantly, getting to know your residents/members this deeply, so that you can discover these stories, will be even more important than the PR itself. Your members will feel a real connection with you. They know that they belong and are cared for. Plus, most people love being stars!

Hint: These stories are EASY to create, if you know how to create real relationships with the people you work with and the surrounding community. If you’d like some more “relational marketing” ideas, check out this PowerPoint presentation.

Mature Market Experts Gem of The Day - The Future Face of Aging in Place

Patrick Roden — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 12:50:18 +0000

(photo cdn.physorg.com)

Care: (v. caring) 1) Be interested in or concerned about something 2) feel affection 3) tend to somebody or something
–Encarta Dictionary (2002)

Dave Bowman: Hello, HAL do you read me, HAL?
HAL: Affirmative, Dave, I read you.
Dave Bowman: Open the pod bay doors, HAL.
HAL: I’m sorry Dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that.
Dave Bowman: What’s the problem?
HAL: I think you know what the problem is just as well as I do.
Dave Bowman: What are you talking about, HAL?
HAL: This mission is too important for me to allow you to jeopardize it.
Dave Bowman: I don’t know what you’re talking about, HAL?
HAL: I know you and Frank were planning to disconnect me, and I’m afraid that’s something I cannot allow to happen.
Dave Bowman: Where the hell’d you get that idea, HAL?
HAL: Dave, although you took thorough precautions in the pod against my hearing you, I could see your lips move.

HAL: Just what do you think you’re doing, Dave?
(HAL won’t let Dave into the ship)
Dave Bowman: All right, HAL; I’ll go in through the emergency airlock.
HAL: Without your space helmet, Dave, you’re going to find that rather difficult.
Dave Bowman: HAL, I won’t argue with you anymore! Open the doors!
HAL: Dave, this conversation can serve no purpose anymore. Goodbye.

(On Dave’s return to the ship, after HAL has killed the rest of the crew)
HAL: Look Dave, I can see you’re really upset about this. I honestly think you ought to sit down calmly, take a stress pill, and think things over.

HAL: I know I’ve made some very poor decisions recently, but I can give you my complete assurance that my work will be back to normal. I’ve still got the greatest enthusiasm and confidence in the mission. And I want to help you.

(HAL’s shutdown)
HAL: I’m afraid. I’m afraid, Dave. Dave, my mind is going. I can feel it. I can feel it. My mind is going. There is no question about it. I can feel it. I can feel it. I can feel it. I’m a… afraid. Good afternoon, gentlemen. I am a HAL 9000 computer. I became operational at the H.A.L. plant in Urbana, Illinois on the 12th of January 1992. My instructor was Mr. Langley, and he taught me to sing a song. If you’d like to hear it I can sing it for you.

Dave Bowman: Yes, I’d like to hear it, HAL. Sing it for me.
HAL: It’s called “Daisy.”
(Sings while slowing down)
HAL: Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do. I’m half crazy all for the love of you. It won’t be a stylish marriage, I can’t afford a carriage. But you’ll look sweet upon the seat of a bicycle built for two…

2001: A Space Odyssey
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Writers: Stanley Kubrick & Arthur C. Clarke

Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke gave us a thought provoking glimpse into man’s relationship with the machine and a future dependent on artificial intelligence. In the movie the spaceship Discovery One, bound for Jupiter, is controlled by an on-board computer, the HAL 9000; who has human-like intelligence. When HAL begins to sabotage the mission astronaut Dave Bowman has to disconnect HAL’s logic memory center. In doing so he successfully shuts the renegade computer down—thus saving his life (humanity) from the machine.

I can relate to astronaut Bowman each time my computer “malfunctions” and the struggle takes on man vs. machine dimensions. There are times when just once I’d loved to cause my computer to say: “I’m afraid. I’m afraid, Patrick…Yes computer you need to be very afraid… (I’m going to name my next computer “Daisy”).

Modernization Theory: Support Ratios

Insightful as Kubrick and Clarke were in their science fiction world of “2001” they couldn’t anticipate a gerontocracy where persons aged 60 and over will double between 2000 and 2050 (from 10 to 21 percent)—which is the reality of the 21st Century. Nor could they envision the support role machines would play in an aging global society.

Take for example Asia and the Pacific, which is the fastest aging region in the world. Among the world’s older population, 52 percent lived there in 2002, and this is projected to increase to 59 percent in 2025.

Asia’s aging population explosion is actually a “health explosion” caused by advances in medical technology, improved access to quality reproductive health services, improved hygiene and nutrition standards, wider vaccination coverage as well as increased access to safe water. These factors have resulted in the number of elderly increasing at a rate twice as high as the growth rate of the total population.

Further, according to the Hoover Institute, age patterns in Asia/Eurasia vary enormously today. In such places as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Laos, and Cambodia, the “median person” in the year 2000 was a teenager: Over half the population in those countries was probably under 20 years of age. By contrast, Japan’s median age in 2000 was over 41 years. Similarly, in 2000 the proportion of total population 65 years of age and older ranged from under 3 percent in Afghanistan to over 17 percent in Japan. Over the coming generation, however, every single population center in Asia/Eurasia is anticipated to age appreciably — some of them at a pace or to an extreme never before witnessed in any ordinary human society. But for now, Japan is the “grayest” country on earth.

At the same time Asian family life structure has changed due to industrialization and urbanization (modernization). Changing perceptions about social status of elders and the transient nature of modern life has lead to a decline of inter-generational families living under the same roof. The family size has also decreased due to lower fertility, and marriages are being delayed while divorce rates are increasing. Many younger women are also now in the labor force and away from the home; therefore not available for domestic duties.

This leads to a rising number of older persons on the one hand and the declining number of the younger on the other hand; meaning there will be a shortage of caregivers for the older population. Future Japan will have very nearly as many octogenarians, nonagenarians, and centenarians as children under 15 — and will have barely two persons of traditional “working age” (as the 15–64) cohort for every person of national “retirement age” (65 and over).

NurseBot to the Rescue (Hot-lips Houlihan she’s not)

Auguste Comte, the nineteenth-century French mathematician-sociologist, is credited with the dictum “Demography is destiny,” and with support ratios of 2:1 in Japan, the destiny of care-giving lies in technology. In the movie The Graduate (1967), Mr. McGuire offers one word of investment advice to Benjamin (Dustin Hoffman): “Plastics.” Today, that word would be “robotics.”

According to allbusiness.com, with more than a fifth of population already over 65, developing robots has become a national obsession with the Japanese. Moreover, 370,000 robots, about 40% of the robots in the world were already at work in Japanese factories by 2005. Japan’s trade ministry issued a national technology roadmap calling for a million industrial robots to be on the job throughout the country by 2025. Each robot would take the place of 10 employees, so that number would replace 15% of the workforce.

An article on japantoday.com, notes business and government are teaming up to create a new robot market designed to provide day-care and nursing services within the next few years. In Japan alone the robot market is expected to be 6.2 trillion yen in 2025; of which 4.2 trillion will be linked to elder care.

Kodokushi

“Metallic-care” seems to come at a cost however in The Land of the Rising Sun.
Based on results from surveys conducted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), respondents were asked about daily contact with other people—Japan was found to be one of the most “lonely” countries (males living alone have grown from around 190,000 in 1980 to 1.05 million in 2005; females have grown from approximately 690,000 to 2.81 million).

Concerns about socialization and aging in place were written about recently by Emi Kiyota. A growing issue is a phenomenon known as “kodokushi,” which means a solitary death where one dies completely alone without being taken care of by others—often to be found several days or even months later.

Kiyota notes that most Japanese elders are Buddhists who don’t congregate weekly like other religions, and therefore may need other “meaningful social opportunities” on a regular basis. Which brings up the point of barriers to Cohousing and aging-in-community which is a challenge for Japanese elders who require a deep level of trust that comes traditionally from blood relatives. Kiyota suggests that creating “safe and comfortable” environments where trusting friendships can be established will be a part of the solution that has yet to be realized by senior services in Japan.

In the meantime production of human-like robots complete with facial expressions are being developed to help support elder care needs; not just in Japan but around the world. Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have created uBOT-5 which promises to help American baby boomers with aging in place.

Algorithms of Emotion: Human-Machine Interface
So, the future face of aging in place may be blushing and hard to distinguish as human or robot; but for now will never completely replace the emotional authenticity of a caring human. I love the machines in my life for the instrumental duties they perform, but I can’t imagine holding them close in a time of need. Maybe this notion will someday soon be nostalgic and old fashioned…I sure hope not.

See: New technologies for aging in place
View: 2001: A Space Odyssey explained
Aging is everybody’s business: Eric Dishman
GE & Intel form healthcare alliance

Mature Market Experts Event of The Day: Marketing to Boomers - How to Build Your Business with the Mature Consumer

Tom Mann — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 12:50:44 +0000

Mature Market Experts: more news and stats you can use on boomers, seniors and the mature market - Marketing to Boomers Event - How to Build Your Business with the Mature Consumer - More than 15 experts on the Boomer market, including moi (Tom Mann of TR Mann Consulting), will share strategies for marketing to Boomers in a workshop at the East Side Marriott in Manhattan on May 14. The organizer of the workshop is Dr. Leslie M. Harris, a noted Boomer expert and the author of After Fifty: How the Baby Boom Will Redefine the Mature Market and After Sixty: Marketing to Baby Boomers Reaching Their Big Transition Years. The workshop is titled “Marketing to Boomer Men and Boomer Women: How to Build Your Business with the Mature Consumer.”

After conducting successful workshops in the Chicago and Washington, DC areas, Harris decided to organize a third workshop in New York to help marketers tap into the $7 trillion in personal wealth that is held collectively by people over the age of 50.

“Marketers continue to undervalue Boomer and beyond consumers and therefore allow these consumers to make their buying decisions with few marketing or advertising programs to gain their loyalty or favorable brand attitudes. This is a long-held and failing attitude toward these consumers,” Dr. Harris tells Selling to Seniors. “The Boomer and beyond generations are the most written-about age segment. The objective of this workshop is to try to point out that Boomers are big business. The presentations will clearly identify the importance of the 50-plus marketplace.”

Confirmed speakers for the workshop are as follows:

• Jerry Shereshewsky, CEO, Grandparents.com – luncheon speaker
• Kevin Lavery, managing director of Millennium Direct, UK, and president of the International Mature Marketing Network (IMMN) — keynote address
• Adriene Berg, CEO, Generation Bold, a business development and marketing consultancy
• Pat Burns, author of the best-selling book Grandparents Rock
• Helen Foster, Foster Strategy, Former Partner, JWT Mature Market Group
• Todd Harff, president, Creating Results, and a founding member of IMMN
• Steve Howard, author of 50 Low-Cost Ways to Acquire New Customers and Boomer Selling
• Paul E. Johnson, former account manager at TNS, who will report on his recently published article “Grandparenting: A New Image”
• Dr. Elaine Lyons and Ken Lyons, Perceptive Market Research, who will report on a national omnibus study of “Boomers and Beyond” that they recently conducted
• Jerry Maffia, a 30-year veteran of marketing research and promotion
• Kurt Medina, president of Medina Associates consultancy and co-author of the best-selling book 77 Truths About Marketing to the 50+ Consumer
• Tom Mann, managing partner, TR Mann Consulting, and founder of the Mature Market Experts (a LinkedIn networking group and blog for anyone who serves or sells to boomers, seniors, or the mature market)

Special Panel Presentation

Also, a panel presentation titled “Marketing to Boomer Women: How to Successfully Reach Them Using Social Media” will be moderated by Martin Diano, CEO of Boomer Authority and publisher of the Baby Boomer (Knowledge Center). The four panelists will be:

• Nancy Padberg, CEO, Navigate Boomer Media • Marva Goldsmith, CEO, www.branding50.com
• Sandra Levitan, CEO and publisher, www.KalonWomen.com
• Dotsie Bregel, founder, National Association of Baby Boomer Women

Tom Mann

I love Manhattan, so I’m really looking forward to speaking at this workshop. I’m constantly amazed at all the wonderful people and meaningful business contacts I make when I attend these events. Usually, the most valuable contacts come from companies and people that hadn’t been on my radar prior to the event … but something magical happens when you get a bunch of people together, focused on a few important topics. By the way, I’ll be presenting on “Changing how we age: innovative trends in health care and commercial products.” In fact, if you have any ideas or products you think I should consider including in my presentation, let me know. I hope to see you there!

Early-Bird Deadline: March 1

Those who register for the workshop by March 1, the early-bird registration deadline, can attend the workshop for $175 per person or $275 for two attendees. In addition to breakfast and lunch, each attendee will receive a copy of Medina’s book 77 Truths About Marketing to the 50+ Consumer and a copy of one of Harris’s books – either After Fifty or After Sixty; both are described at http://www.beyondboomers.com/.

Additional Sponsorship Opportunities

A Sponsorship at the workshop of $500 gives you:
- Two (2) complimentary registrations to the workshop.
- Company logo and acknowledgment on Workshop Entrance Signage.
- Company logo on any Educational Workshop web page, highlighting sponsorship.
- Verbal acknowledgment during workshop made by the workshop organizers and speakers.

Don’t miss the opportunity to be a sponsor at this workshop. It’s a great way to engage your peers, reach potential buyers, and show your commitment to the largest and wealthiest age cohort bar none. In addition to face-to-face interaction with the most highly qualified and knowledgeable people in the Boomer Market today, sponsorship helps you gain market leverage to an audience ready to embrace this market’s incredible revenue potential. If your company sells markets or promotes products or services directly to boomers and beyond, then your company should have a presence at this workshop! Trust me, this market … particularly older women, control the world’s wealth (to see some incredible statistics, check out this PowerPoint)! Please contact, Paul Johnson at pejconsulting@hotmail.com for additional sponsorship information.

Info: For more information about the presentations or speakers, or to register, visit the website or contact workshop organizer Dr. Harris at mmrharris@aol.com; he will contact you with instructions about how to make your credit card payment.

PS Here’s an earlier presentation I gave to T. Rowe Price that might be of interest to you on Inspiring the 65+ Market to Act.

Mature Market Experts Gem of the Day: Incline Elevators Lift Retirement Real Estate

Tom Mann — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 13:12:27 +0000

Mature Market Experts: More news and stats you can use on boomers, seniors and the mature market – Incline Elevators Lift Retirement Real Estate. Many seniors dream of a lakeside home to retire to. Their search may lead them to the perfect house - except it is located on a steep hill. Incline elevators (which look like a small private tram) can overcome these barriers for the elderly, scaling 45 degree angles, and delivering them, and the grandkids to the lake below. While they can be costly (averaging $50,000.), home buyers may be able to find homes at reduced prices because of the difficult retain. To read more click here.

Mature Market Experts Gem of the Day: How to Get a Multigenerational Workforce to Work

Tom Mann — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 13:53:12 +0000

Mature Market Experts: More news and stats you can use on boomers, seniors and the mature market – How to Get a Multigenerational Workforce to Work. Can twentysomething’s communicate with their baby boomer coworkers if they can not even agree on what technology the message will be sent on? Can they overcome their different expectations? Robin Throckmorton and Linda Gravett, co- authors of Bridging the Generation Gap: How to Get Radio Babies, Boomers, Gen Xers and Gen Yers to Work Together and Achieve More, believe the main sources of tension between the generations are work ethic and communication. Their research reveals that each generation craves one thing: respect. To learn more click here.

Mature Market Experts Gem of the Day: Difficult Economic Times Hit the Elderly in Rural Areas Especially Hard

Tom Mann — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 14:00:40 +0000

Mature Market Experts: More news and stats you can use on boomers, seniors and the mature market – Difficult Economic Times Hit the Elderly in Rural Areas Especially Hard. After years of seeing the young in their communities leave for education and city jobs, seniors in aging rural communities are isolated and feeling the brunt of social service cutbacks. Many reside miles from any town and are surviving on their own, reluctant to leave the land they have known all their lives. But that agrarian life has toughened them and most plan to continue to get by as best they can. To read more click here.

Mature Market Experts Gem of the Day: Boomers 55+ Housing Wish List

Tom Mann — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 13:49:31 +0000

Mature Market Experts: More news and stats you can use on boomers, seniors and the mature market - Boomers 55+ Housing Wish List. Just what are baby boomers looking for in the real estate market? And what are they actually willing to pay for? According to a recent survey prepared by NAHB (National Association of Home Builders) and the MetLife Mature Market Institute, “55+ Housing: Builders, Buyers and Beyond,” here are the key findings :

Where Are They Now? Roughly 9% of the respondents live in an active adult age-restricted community, 7% live in a community that is not age-restricted but where most buyers are 55 or older, and 28% live in an independent living community. However, many would consider other options.
Stay or Go? About two-thirds of respondents (63%) plan to age in their current homes, while 12% plan to buy another home. About one-quarter (26%) are not sure.
Suburban Life Preferred: The majority of respondents prefer a home in a suburb, with 32% wanting to live in close-in suburbs and 31% in outlying suburbs. In comparison, 28% prefer a rural community, while only 9% want to live in a central city.
One-Level Living: Respondents overwhelmingly prefer a single-story home (79%) over a two-story home (15%) or a split-level home (7%).
“Same-Sizing” the New Home: The median size of the respondents’ present home is 1,886 square feet, compared to the median 1,903 square feet they want in a new home. More than half of respondents (51%) prefer three bedrooms, while 18% want four or more bedrooms. About three-quarters prefer the master bedroom on the first floor.
Downsize on the Price: The median price respondents expect to pay for their next home is $189,426, which is less than the median price of $198,119 paid by those respondents who bought a home within the last three years. This compares to their current home, which has an average market value of $267,401.
Top Five Inside Features: The five features rated most important were: washer and dryer in the home/unit, storage space, windows that open easily, master bedroom on the first floor in a two-story home, and easily usable climate control (thermostat).
Green Is Good, but Not Key: About one-quarter of 55+ respondents do not care about the impact building a home has on the environment. While another 23% said they are concerned about the environment, it does not drive their decision to purchase. Only 12% said they would pay more for an environmentally friendly home. Respondents are willing to pay an average amount of $6,732 (median $4,000) if it would save $1,000 annually in utility costs.
Top Five Green Features: Respondents cited energy-efficient appliances (79%), followed by solar heating (63%), water filtering systems (58%), allergen-free/chemical-free building materials (42%), and open space (37%).
What’s Close By? Most respondents listed proximity to a shopping center as influencing their choice of a new community (57% noted it as Somewhat to Very Important), followed by proximity to a hospital/doctor’s office (55% rated it as Somewhat to Very Important).
Online Is a Must: Technology features are important to 55+ consumers, with 83% of respondents rating high-speed Internet access as Somewhat to Very Important. Also earning high ratings were home security systems and structured wiring (a system of low-voltage wires designed to carry electronic signals throughout a home).
How Buyers Are Paying for Home: Nearly half of the 55+ respondents (41%) prefer a 30-year fixed loan when purchasing a new home, followed by a 15-year fixed loan (38%). A small number (5%) preferred a reverse mortgage, some type of adjustable rate loan (5%), or an interest-only loan (3%).
Less Maintenance, More Family Are Top Motivators: Builders were asked to indicate their 55+ customers’ motivations for relocating. Sixty-three percent of builders reported a desire for a maintenance-free lifestyle from their customers, 46% a desire to move closer to children/family, and 32% a desire for lower living costs.

If you are in the senior housing industry (whether you are building, selling or renting active 55+ retirement communities or continuing care retirement communities), this report is a must read.

About:

The MetLife Mature Market Institute®

Established in 1997, the Mature Market Institute (MMI) is MetLife’s research organization and a recognized thought leader on the multi-dimensional and multi-generational issues of aging and longevity. MMI’s groundbreaking research, gerontology expertise, national partnerships, and educational materials work to expand the knowledge and choices for those in, approaching, or caring for those in the mature market.

MMI supports MetLife’s long-standing commitment to identifying emerging issues and innovative solutions for the challenges of life. MetLife, a subsidiary of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET), is a leading provider of insurance, employee benefits, and financial services with operations throughout the United States and the Latin American, European, and Asia Pacific Regions. For more information about the MetLife Mature Market Institute, please visit: www.MatureMarketInstitute.com.

Contact:
MetLife Mature Market Institute
57 Greens Farms Road
Westport, CT 06880
(203) 221-6580 • Fax (203) 454-5339
MatureMarketInstitute@MetLife.com

National Association of Home Builders

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) is a Washington, D.C.-based trade association representing more than 200,000 members involved in home building, remodeling, multi-family construction, property management, subcontracting, design, housing finance, building product manufacturing, and other aspects of residential and light commercial construction. Known as “the voice of the housing industry,” NAHB is affiliated with more than 800 state and local home builders associations around the country. NAHB’s builder members will construct about 80 percent of the new housing units projected for 2009.

Contact:
National Association of Home Builders
1201 15th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20005
(202) 266-8200, x0 • Fax (202) 266-8400
www.nahb.org

Mature Market Experts Stat of the Day: American Baby Boomers’ Retirement Horizons Shifting With Home Values

Tom Mann — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 13:57:15 +0000

Mature Market Experts: More news and stats you can use on boomers, seniors and the mature market – American Baby Boomers’ Retirement Horizons Shifting With Home Values - According to an October newsletter from the Employee Benefit Research Institute, American baby boomers just reaching retirement age are far more likely to be in debt (and have much higher levels of debt) than past generations of seniors. For those in the retirement community industry, this poses a serious threat (as does new technology that will allow seniors to age in place). Time to start thinking of /creating a new model that doesn’t rely on the transfer of home equity to cover the entire entrance deposit or complete purchase price of their new home. In fact, the recent recession and decline in housing values is proof that the time is now for this new model. Retirement community industry experts are starting to see some innovations, such as introducing seniors to life settlements to supplement the home sale price. While tools like life settlements are EXTREMELY helpful, my suspicion is that it’s going to take more than this.

On the good news front, TR Mann Consulting’s retirement community clients saw an uptick in sales at the end of 2009, hopefully foreshadowing a Happy 2010 for all of us that sell retirement communities! Much of this recent success is due to a newfound willingness by potential retirement community residents to set and accept a realistic price on the sale of their houses. How have sales trended in your neck of the woods? I’d love to hear from others responsible for advertising or marketing active adult retirement communities, continuing care retirement communities, assisted living, and skilled care.

Mature Market Experts Stat of the Day: New Industry Helps Seniors Downsize and Relocate

Tom Mann — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 12:53:43 +0000

Mature Market Experts: More news and stats you can use on boomers, seniors and the mature market – New Industry Helps Seniors Downsize and Relocate. Getting people past the fear of downsizing has long been a hurdle that those of us who sell retirement communities, assisted living, or nursing care have long had to deal with. There are over 78 million baby boomers, plus their seniors, who may need to move to more suitable housing in the future. With that comes an awful lot of hand-wringing and resistance, in addition to the physical challenges moving presents to an elderly population. Enter “move management” consultants, who do everything necessary; decorate the new residence to look like the old familiar one, reassure the client, and coordinate the actual movers. Here’s an excellent article by Thomas Heath of the Washington Post that captures some of the challenges of downsizing, click here.

PS The TR Mann Consulting team … and the loose band of compatriots at Mature Market Experts would like to wish you a Happy New Year!

Mature Market Experts Gem of the Day: Bike Market Adapts for Boomers

Tom Mann — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 12:18:05 +0000

Sun's Streamway3

Mature Market Experts: More news and stats you can use on boomers, seniors and the mature market – Bike Market Adapts for Boomers. As baby boomers age they are searching for ways to stay healthy with excercise, save gas money and go green. Many are looking to purchase a new bike, but one that accommodates the needs of aging bodies. This new category has acquired the labels of “Lifestyle” or “Comfort.” I particularly like the stable Rayos Electric Tricycle for the mature market. To read about all the wonderful new adaptions available click here.