A major demographic shift is under way the world over—more and more people are living longer lives and have a better health span too. Golden, an expert on the subject and a teacher at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, talks about the expansive scope of the longevity market and why businesses should market to 'stage' instead of age, an argument she explores in her book Stage (Not Age): How to Understand and Serve People Over 60—the Fastest Growing, Most Dynamic Market in the World
Susan Wilner Golden of Stanford Graduate School of Business
Q. The narrative around ‘old age’ is deeply entrenched in our collective psyche. How best can we reinvent it?
Traditionally, we have come to think of our lives in three stages: Education, work, and retirement. Instead, with longer lives, we now need to have a narrative around living multistage lives, with many of those stages neither sequential. A 40-year-old and an 80-year-old could be experiencing the very same stages of life, filled with vibrancy and purpose, and good health. They may be working, caregiving for a loved one, and engaged in new learning opportunities.
Q. What are some of the best terms to replace ‘old’ or elderly’?
We need to retire words like “retirees”, “seniors”, and “elderly”. A more acceptable term that is gaining favour is “older adults” and “older people”. However, even that does not fully capture the vigour and vitality many will experience. I have suggested “Furtherhood”, and welcome others to create more. I think about going further in life, and contributing in new ways. By reframing ageing, we diffuse stereotypes and ageism. We also need new terms to capture the many new stages of life older adults will experience. I view these new stages as the Renaissance years, filled with resetting life priorities, repurposing, relaunching, and describe up to eighteen stages people may experience.