Mary Furlong & Associates' Boomer/Senior Market Report
Exploring the 10 Trends Powering the Age Boom
May 2008 - Vol. 5, No. 2
In This Issue:
- LETTER FROM MARY
- NOTES FROM THE ONLINE COMMUNITY BUSINESS FORUM
- FEATURE ARTICLE
- SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
- NEW MARKET FINDINGS
- NEWSWIRE
The reason Sarasota is so wonderful is that it is all about the future. As a percentage of the population, there are more 65+ residents in this county than anywhere in the U.S. There is an energy and intelligence and appreciation for ideas, culture, art and social good that is quite unique. We introduced the concept of making Sarasota one of the first Silver Enterprise and Culture Zones; so it is easy for boomer entrepreneurs and beyond to start businesses and for companies to have innovative policies for mature workers. There also is a wonderful college in town -- the Ringling College of Art and Design -- where some of the sharpest students in the country can lend their expertise with digital media, interactive and video design and marketing and animation. It is on the AARP list as one of the 'best places to reinvent yourself" after age 50. I'm taking in the salsa dancing and music before going back to the real world of Washington, D.C., next week.
We wanted to get this newsletter out this week because the May 2 deadline for submissions to the 5th Silicon Valley Boomer Business Plan Competition is rapidly approaching. We are grateful to our wonderful list of judges that includes the top venture leaders from Silicon Valley -- Jay DeCoons, Senior Associate, Highland Capital Partners; Nancy U. Kamei, Senior Director, Intel Capital; Scott Moonly of Johnson & Johnson Development Corp. and Simmi Singh of Converge Partners, LLC.
We are also grateful to have the top leaders who run organizations to serve the needs of the 50+ audience: Emilio Pardo, Chief Brand Officer, AARP; Ladan Manteghi, President, AARP Global Network; and Carole Anderson, VP, American Society on Aging.
The corporate sponsors include: AARP, Microsoft, Silicon Valley Bank, Met Life Mature Market Institute and Posit Science. Several of our previous winners are contributing to the awards; we will be giving two $10,000 awards; one for health, wellness and eldercare and one in the general category. Do try to attend the event on June 17th. For more information go to www.scuboomerventure.com.
The What's Next Conference in Washington was a great success! We had over 350 attendees and over 25 corporate sponsors. Among the insights were that the younger (late stage) boomers are making more money than the early stage boomers. We can all posit thoughts as to why this is the case. According to the people that I know who are early stage -- it is often because one of the partners in a couple has changed from full-time to part-time employment. It is also true that as early stage boomers care for elderly parents, they need to spendmore time caregiving. There is a concern among many in the field of aging about the need to focus more attention on helping boomers navigate their financial lives. I looked at my own TIAA-CREF account after the last quarter and was dismayed at the loss in the stock market. I know I was not the only one. One of my colleagues at the ASA conference who works in a foundation noted the increasing credit card debt of the 65+ audience. It is not clear where we should put our retirement savings and how to maximize assets as we manage our future. What is becoming more clear is that we may need extra money to help family members. Expect to hear a lot about this topic in the future from authors, analysts and research groups.
Another trend (possibly related to the one above) is the growth in entrepreneurship. In fact, there was standing-room-only space in our workshops on the subject. Mid-career boomers have ideas ranging from medication management to easy-to-use controllers for the TV. I must have heard 25 pitches at What's Next. It is clear that one of the next trends will be new products and services for boomer entrepreneurs. I expect to see small business insurance, new health benefits and alliances of new groups. Remember Junior Achievement in high school? I am proposing Silver Enterprise Clubs to capture some of this market. Boomers are more active online when their children are gone -- it is one way we stay in touch. Now we are seeing boomers using the Internet to research business ideas and manage and grow their businesses. An aspiring boomer entrepreneur told me yesterday, "once these corporate chains are gone," I am ready to launch my new business. Boomers want to leverage their knowledge, skills and experience to build equity as they start their own companies.
Another highlight of What's Next were the sessions on mobile and social marketing. We featured companies such as Forum One Communications, HipCricket, Verizon Wireless, Qualcomm, LiveWorld and Microsoft to share a vision of the future. Mobile marketing (with a cell phone) is the fastest new media of all time. We are pleased to see that boomers are front and center in its use -- not just the bills. We introduced the concept of "texting for good" and were able to shed light on some nonprofits -- Gail Kohn, Capitol Hill Village, Myrna Blyth - Take Your Kids 2 Vote.org and John Y. Cole-- the Center for the Book at the Library of Congress We will be posting these on the MFA Web site; please explore these worthwhile causes.
We are all set to launch What's Next 2009 in Las Vegas. We have great hotel room rates for next year. Please share ideas for speakers, authors, analysts and new trends. We will keep you posted on other upcoming events. We will have a more detailed report and analysis of the What's Next Conference in our next issue.
Lastly, a new puppy update. Annie is now on her third leash and her fourth pair of shoes and we are soon starting puppy school. She is the first pet I worry about so much when I am on the road. I think it is empty-nest new pet syndrome. She has grown quite fast and is almost 2-1/2 feet tall. Everything you heard about boomers spending money on their pets is true -- especially in this new category of empty nest pets. They get to go out to breakfast, ride in the car, visit the assisted living villa and see mom, and enjoy all the toys. We are also pleased to announce that Pet Plan is doing very well; they have new investors and are making lots of progress. Natasha Ashton and Chris Ashton, co-CEO of Petplan were finalists in our first business plan competition five years ago.
Now, stop reading, go figure out an idea and submit it to the Silicon Valley Boomer Business Plan Competition. You will learn a lot by doing so. If you can't find an idea -- write and I will suggest a few categories.
All best,
Mary
PS: While here in Sarasota I gave an interview to the Herald-Tribune newspaper about how boomers present area businesses with a unique marketing opportunity. You can read that interview here.
A DISPATCH FROM THE CONFERENCE FRONT
Matthew Lees, Vice President and Consultant, Patricia Seybold Group, sent along his notes from the Online Community Business Forum held April 14-15 in Santa Fe, N.M. Some highlights:
- On attendees: "There was a mix of corporate/enterprise (mostly high tech), media and publishing, not-for-profit, online, vendors, consultants, and others (a few VCs and entrepreneurs). Most of the practitioners (were) at the director and manager levels, but even those with "director" titles weren't business sponsors or especially strategic (although most of the other consultants were strategic, with several being, dare I say it, visionary)."
- On the topic of business value/return on investment: "The media and publishing folks seem to be looking primarily for dollar-related value (ads/page views, subscription, etc.), while the high-tech folks seem to be seeking other aspects (peer-to-peer support, bug awareness, marketing messages)."
- On the topic of customer segmentation: "Hardly anyone thinks in these terms beyond basic demographics. Customers/readers/fans/ members seem to be considered as one monolithic group, perhaps broken down into age-based categories."
- On the topic of community beyond your own site: "One of the sessions was on this topic, but people also talked about it throughout the conference. Media and publishing companies seem more concerned about this than high-tech, product-oriented companies, but everyone is thinking about it, and rightly so."
Thanks, Matthew, for sharing your thoughts.
Featured this month is an excerpt from "No Ordinary Move: Relocating Your Aging Parents, A Guide for Boomers" by Barbara Perman, Ph.D. and Jim Ballard. The book can be ordered here.
"No Ordinary Move, Relocating Your Aging Parents" is a book that helps readers slow down and reconsider the situation of moving their aging parents out of households they can no longer manage not as a grim crisis but as a rare opportunity. It’s the story of Sandy, whose 50-yard dash of a life is further complicated by the realization that her parents can't remain in the home in which she and her brothers grew up. Her father’s resistance, her mother’s growth in self-assertion, and her brother's transformation from resentment to active participation in the move highlight the triumphs and breakdowns along the way to the final, healing move.
The heart-changing secrets to be learned from such an experience, balanced with the shortcuts and facilitative strategies that make it "no ordinary move," are provided by a senior move manager. The way she works with the family to manage the interplay of intergenerational values, together with excerpts from her website and journal, show readers how to make participation in their parents’ move a turning point, a chance to renew and reunite. The second part of the book features lists of hands-on tasks, arranged under the eight stages of a healthy move.
Excerpt
Sandy had been surprised to find her mother giving in easily to her proposal to accompany her parents to their home in Westbrook. Now, having sent her own husband and children on the long drive home, she was steering her father’s old Cadillac through familiar villages. Everett had fallen asleep in the back seat. The two women chatted for a while, after which a long silence ensued. Sandy broke it by saying gently, “I noticed you looking tired. Are you okay, Mom?”
“I’ve got your Dad on my mind,” said Lucille. “I’m all right, but I’m afraid you may not find the house up to snuff. It’s been hard to keep up with things, I’ve been so busy with your Dad.” Finally they turned into the familiar driveway. To Sandy the house she’d known as a girl looked somehow small and forlorn.
Walking in the door, she looked around critically, noting evidences of her mother’s warning: dishes in the sink, summer quilt still on the bed, dusty furniture. When she asked her mother what she could do to help, Lucille waved her off, helping Everett to bed. Sandy climbed the stairs to her old room. Looking out the window at leaves falling from the old backyard oak, she dialed her voicemail. “You have nine new messages,” the recorded voice announced. No wonder it’s been four months since I’ve been back here, she thought.
My life is a marathon.
After a long review of her calls, Sandy heard her mother bustling in the kitchen and knew she was done helping her father get settled for the night in the downstairs bedroom. She went to the kitchen, sat down and watched Lucille prepare tea.
“Hope you don’t mind store-bought cookies,” Lucille said apologetically. “You always liked my peanut butter squares.”
Sandy decided to cut to the chase. “What’s going on with Dad, really?” she ventured.
Her mother sat down heavily into her chair. “Your dad’s not himself these days, Sandy,” she murmured. “We’ve been to several doctors but they haven’t found anything clear-cut that’s wrong. Worrying about him and caring for him is taking it out of me. I just can’t manage the house any more.”
Sandy looked around the place with new eyes. “Why don’t you get some household help?”
“We’ve tried, but it’s hard to find someone reliable.”
“Well, how about moving?”
Lucille sighed and shook her head resignedly. “I’ve tried to bring it up, but your father won’t hear of it. He thinks of this place as his castle, and all the while we’re living in three downstairs rooms.”
About the Authors:
Barbara Z. Perman, Ph.D., is founder and President of Moving Mentor, Inc., a company that provides moving management consulting and organizing services. Dr.Perman has developed books and products that support the moving process from beginning to end. She holds a Masters degree from Oxford University and a Doctorate in Psychology from Edinburgh University in Scotland.
Jim Ballard is an established author of a number of books about managing change and transforming the people side of business. In addition to his own titles published by Random House, John Wiley and Beyond Words, Ballard has co-authored a number of books with best-selling author Ken Blanchard, published by Simon & Schuster, Mc-Graw-Hill, Jossey-Bass and Harper-Collins.
Note the Date!
Entries are due May 2 for 2008 Silicon Valley Boomer Business Plan Competition, which pays $10,000 to winners in two categories (health and general) and provides opportunities to finalists to meet venture capitalists -- so you'd better act quickly. The winners will be announced June 17, at the Silicon Valley Boomer Business Summit, where the finalists will compete for the top prize in each category. This is a fascinating onstage version of a reality TV show in which the finalists are flown to the conference, held on campus at Santa Clara University, and make a live presentation of their business plans to a panel of venture capitalists. The day of workshops, an exhibition and presentations ends with the announcement of the winners. Whether you want to put your idea to the test or look into covering the show, check out their website at www.scuboomerventure.com/competition/howtoenter.htm.
Last year, executive summaries for more than 60 plans were submitted to the Boomer competition from around the U.S. plus eight other countries. Past participants say the competition provides invaluable feedback, exposure and networking opportunities, in addition to the cash prizes.
The judges select the winners in a health category and one in the general category. Finalists also may be selected to present their business plans to the Screening Committee of the Band of Angels Silicon Valley’s oldest seed-funding organization.
Baby boomers will take the lead in the coming post-retirement career boom
The leading edge of the baby boom generation, those born between 1946 and 1964, has reached the traditional retirement age, but many in this influential group are not ready to embrace previous generations' retirement pursuits.
Rather than packing their bags for retirement lifestyles in a warmer climate, boomers are leaving their longstanding professions only to embark on new, exciting career paths.
According to George Boggs, chief executive officer of the American Association of Community Colleges, there will be expanding opportunities for older adults to work full- or part-time or to volunteer.
Community colleges feed baby boomers’ hunger for knowledge
Four in five boomers have told pollsters they intend to work past their traditional retirement age, and many want to find new jobs with a higher social purpose and more flexible hours.
Labor analysts, meanwhile, predict the U.S. economy will face shortages of 6 million workers by 2012 and 35 million workers by 2030. The hardest-hit fields will be education, health care and public service.
“The two trends present a historic opportunity for community colleges,” said Judy Goggin, a vice president for Civic Ventures, a think tank that’s helping people reinvent themselves in the second half of life.
Community colleges have typically been nimble at adapting their curriculum to new workforce demands, she said.
“The time’s right for developing programs for boomers trying to launch the next phase of their working lives and for employers faced with a brain drain over the next couple of decades,” Goggin said.
Cruise lines now offer healthier foods to draw boomers
Sailing away on a cruise ship with a midnight buffet no longer means waving goodbye to your diet.
Keeping with the times, cruise lines are promising spa-like cuisine alongside the buttery lobster and piles of crab legs. The hope is that lighter selections will lure health-conscious baby boomers and others who fear being trapped at sea with a 24-hour pizza bar.
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. last year introduced its "Vitality" program, which weaves healthier meals and exercise into the sailing experience. Carnival Corp. now has lighter dishes with nutritional stats on menus for hawk-eyed calorie counters. On Crystal Cruises Inc., fresh fruits and whole grains are playing a bigger role on the buffet line. In the past year, most major cruise lines have tossed trans fats overboard.
"We're hoping it will dispel the myth that a cruise experience is just about overeating. You can eat very healthfully, very creatively, and have a lot of wonderful choices," said Mimi Weisband, a spokeswoman for Crystal.
Addiction among seniors often goes untreated
Geriatric substance abuse has generated almost no attention until recent years, and few statistics accurately reveal the problem. In 2005, the latest date with data available, 29,254 addicts older than 60 were in treatment programs throughout the country. Those who lead area treatment programs report varied numbers of older adults, ranging from a handful in smaller community groups to dozens in many hospital-based sessions. But there are "a lot more of them who should be in treatment who are not," said Patrick Seche, clinical coordinator at Strong Recovery, a University of Rochester Medical Center program where about 15 of the 250-plus participants are older than 60. The nonprofit group Lifespan estimates 23,000 seniors in Monroe County have some type of chemical dependency.
Based on the number of aging baby boomers, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration projects 1.9 million people 60 and older will have drug and alcohol addictions by 2020.
"Until we get counselors trained, and we have the ability to reach people, the approaches we have been using with older adults are pretty traditional," said Robert Lebman, president and CEO of Huther Doyle, which runs an outpatient chemical dependency program in Rochester, N.Y. "They come into a place where you see a bunch of 25- to 30-year-olds, and it's probably a little overwhelming and a little threatening ... and I think not very much successful."
Study finds increases in nursing home, assisted living costs
A new study finds costs for nursing homes, assisted living facilities and some in-home care services have increased for a fifth consecutive year, and could rise further if a shortage of long-term care workers isn't resolved.
Behind in payments, U.S. homeowners tap savings nest eggs
CHICAGO: Trapped by rising mortgage payments and falling home values, a growing number of middle-class homeowners in the United States are tapping into their treasured retirement nest eggs to ward off foreclosure. "I think this means we'll see some baby boomers having to work well into their 70s to make ends meet," said Peter Morici, an economist at the University of Maryland.
Alzheimer's may affect 1 in 8 boomers
Alzheimer's disease will claim about one in eight baby boomers in their lifetime, or about 10 million Americans, a new report from the Chicago-based Alzheimer's Association suggests. Unless new treatments are developed, the time and out-of- pocket costs for family caregivers will increase as well, the group said.
New poll shows public worried about Medicare cuts' impact on boomers, seniors
Eight out of 10 Americans are concerned about access to care for seniors’ and baby boomers because of government cuts to physicians caring for Medicare patients, according to a new public poll released by the American Medical Association . On July 1, Medicare payments to physicians will be cut 10.6 percent, and over the next decade the cuts will grow to about 40 percent while medical practice costs increase 20 percent.
Boomer/Senior Market Report
Published by Mary Furlong & Associates3527 Mt. Diablo Blvd.
#128, Lafayette, CA 94549Telephone: 925-283-7698
http://www. maryfurlong. com