MATURE MARKET HEADLINES POSTED 02/13/98
American Boomers to Inherit $10 Trillion
Contrary to prevailing stereotypes of broken down and broke old geezers, today's senior Americans constitute the richest, most politically powerful segment of the U.S. population. In fact, these senior adults will leave their children and grandchildren an astonishing inheritance of $10 trillion in cash and assets. In his new book "Funny, I Don't Feel Old" (ICS Press, 1997), author Carter Henderson breaks through the stereotypes of our age-conscious society to reveal a market segment that already has a discretionary income equal to all other age groups combined.
"Households headed by people age 50 and older have close to $1 trillion in annual income, control half the nation's discretionary income, own three-quarters of all financial assets, and have a net worth totaling a staggering $6 trillion-plus," says 72 year old Henderson. According to the author, the 50-plus population represents a viable market.
- median wealth of senior households is $90,000, compared to $40,000 for all Americans.
- 40% of the nation's stocks and mutual funds are controlled by the 65-plus population.
- 25% of the 65-plus population is self-employed, versus 10% of all workers.
- 85-plus consumers are the fastest growing consumer group in America.
The author offers numerous illustrations of this new wave of "OPALS" (Older People with Active Lifestyles) including 94 year old U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond (SC), 82 year old barefoot water skier George "Banana" Blair, and 77 year old astronaut John Glenn. "Funny, I Don't Feel Old" is in bookstores now.
AgeVenture News Service, www.demko.com
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Embarrassment Is Major Medical Problem
A recent survey on patient-physician communication issues, conducted by Louis Harris for Pharmacia & Upjohn, found that many patients suffer needlessly due to embarrassment about health problems. Twenty-five percent of patients surveyed admitted that there have been times when they wanted to talk to a doctor about a health problem but were reluctant to do so because of embarrassment.
In fact, embarrassment far out-paced other doctor-avoidance factors such as thinking one's symptoms are unimportant (11%), fear of bad news (8%), not wanting to waste the doctor's time (8%), and fear of treatment (7%). Loss of bladder control is one of those conditions that often causes embarrassment. Fifty-two percent of patients would feel embarrassed if their doctor asked them about bladder control. As a result, loss of bladder control is one of the most under-treated medical conditions.
An estimated 17 million Americans and nearly 40 million people worldwide are believed to experience one or both of the two types of bladder control problems. The first type is overactive bladder such as urinating eight times or more in a 24 hour period, or an overwhelming desire to empty the bladder, or the inability to hold urine in the bladder. The second type of bladder control problem is stress incontinence which causes a loss of urine when sneezing, coughing, laughing, or exercising.
The sad part about this unnecessary "suffering in silence" is that there are a number of highly effective treatments available including prescription medication, bladder exercise, and surgery. Doctors believe that conquering the patient's embarrassment will help them lead more active, enjoyable lives.
AgeVenture News Service, www.demko.com
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Vitamins Help See You Thru Vision Problems
Wow ! More good news about the age-preventive benefits of vitamins. Here's the latest. Women who took vitamin C for more than 10 years had a markedly reduced risk of developing cataracts, according to a study by Boston's Jean Mayer USDA Nutrition Research Center on Aging (NRCA). Paul F. Jacques, Director of the epidemiology program at NRCA, reported in the February issue of New Choices magazine that "The limitation of the study, however, is that we don't know how much vitamin C it takes to achieve this reduction in risk.
It's hard to put an actual number on it, but a recent study indicates that 200 milligrams per day of vitamin C would confer this benefit." And, there's more good news. It appears that age-related macular degeneration may also be delayed by vitamins C and E, in an indirect manner. For example, the NRCA believes that "Cardiovascular disease may indirectly promote the breakdown of the macula (the part of the retina with the sharpest sight) by interfering with its ability to receive oxygen and nutrients from the blood."
Since vitamin C and E help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, the vitamins indirectly protect the eye from macular degeneration.
As a gerontologist, the only thing that amazes me more than the age-preventive qualities of vitamins is the medical community's apparent lack of enthusiasm for incorporating more dietary treatments into the day-to-day practice of medicine.
I guess there's no money in prescribing a healthy diet. But there's tons of cash to be made in prescribing drugs. Anyway, look for continued growth in the area of nutrition and dietary supplements as more and more humans around the globe begin to cope with the ailments of aging. At any rate, the mounting research on vitamin C just might create a new addition to that old adage "An apple a day keeps the doctor away". In the case of vitamin C, "An orange a day keeps the vision okay".
AgeVenture News Service, www.demko.com
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Millennium Manifests Gen-X Moral Majority
The first glimpse into the hearts and minds of tomorrow's leaders paints a hopeful picture of the generation who will transition into adulthood during the early part of the 21st century. These college freshman, called "Generation 2001" because they constitute the first graduating class of the new millennium, were the target of a national opinion survey.
The survey data, generated by Louis Harris & Associates for Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, suggest that "parents", "family", "religion", and "generosity" are central to America's next generation. When it comes to people they most respect and admire, moms and dads come out on top. Honesty and integrity are the attributes cited most often as the ones that make a difference to Generation 2001.
These students, says Deanna L. Tillisch, director of the Generation 2001 for Northwestern Mutual, "appear to be alive with idealism, optimism and a vision of a better world". Hmmm. They sure sound like children of baby boomers, don't they? Tillisch says that the students "realize that it's probably going to take two incomes and long hours on-the-job to realize their dreams of marriage, family, and lifestyle. Here's a brief run-down on this almost too-good-to-be-true generation.
- 89% believe in God, and nearly 70% attend religious services.
- 75% believe in life after death, and most say religion's a big part of life.
- 90% agree that helping others is more important than helping oneself.
- Many say if they won the lottery they'd help family pay debts.
- 73% report having volunteered services to schools, charities, and church.
- they identified America's education system as the nation's top priority.
- 96% plan to marry at an average age of 26 years.
- 91% hope to have children, with an average of three children desired.
Further results of the survey, "Generation 2001" can be found at
www.northwesternmutual.com
The Milwaukee-based Northwestern Mutual Life is the nation's fifth largest life insurance firm with assets of $70 billion.
AgeVenture News Service, www.demko.com
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Crafty Americans Push Sales to $10 Billion
A new study conducted by Fitch Inc for the Hobby Industry Association (HIA) revealed that for the third consecutive year, the craft industry topped $10 billion in retail sales. The study surveyed three market groups: retailers, manufacturers, and consumers to determine the overall size of the craft industry.
The biggest trend in crafting is scrap-booking, a trend fueled by family togetherness. Preserving memories of every step of family life has quickly grown into one of the biggest overall craft activities, topping $200 million in retail sales in its first year as an official craft category. AgeVenture News Service has a hunch that this trend is, in no small way, fueled by increasing numbers of aging boomers and retirees who are waxing nostalgic about their good old days.
To celebrate the popularity of crafting, the entire industry is cooperating in a nationwide celebration of March as National Craft Month. Locally, thousands of craft retailers across the country are supporting the National Craft Month with a series of workshops, classes, and demonstrations focusing of family crafting activities. Further information about crafting, crafting trends, and national craft month can be found on the Internet at: www.i-craft.com
AgeVenture News Service, www.demko.com
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Won Flu Over The Elder Nest?
Have we lost or won the flu war that's hovering over the elder community these days? Well, the jury's still out. But it doesn't look good. Deaths attributed to influenza and pneumonia have exceeded the epidemic threshold, according to the Institute for Advanced Studies in Immunology and Aging (IASIA) in a recent report issued by the IASIA Director, William Ershler, M.D. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) also confirmed that the high percentage of pneumonia is one of the more serious complications of influenza for elders.
According to the CDC, the percentage of deaths attributed to the flu and pneumonia tallied 8.6, which exceeds the 7.3 percentage which is a benchmark for epidemics. "The sad part is that so much more could be done to help prevent these diseases," says Ershler, citing an article in the current issue of "Innovations in Aging", published by the National Council on the Aging. The article, titled "We're Missing Opportunities to Vaccinate Older Adults", explores the puzzling gaps in pneumococcal vaccination.
CDC recommends the vaccine for everyone over 65. However, only 1 in 3 elders are immunized against the disease. Until health care systems can find a better way to get the word out, the flu will continue to devastate the elder community. The IASIA is headquartered in the nation's capitol. For more information, visit their website at: www.iasia.org
AgeVenture News Service, www.demko.com
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AgeVenture News Service, 21946 Pine Trace, Boca Raton, FL 33428 USA
Dr. David Demko, Editor
E-mail: demko@demko.com
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