Ken Dychtwald

Marketing campaigns are too often out of sync with the reality of today’s older, more seasoned buyer. Did you know that:

• Men and women over 50 now make up 33% of the total U.S. population and 44% of the adult population but control more than 70% of total wealth.
• Due to the combination of rising longevity, declining fertility, and the aging of the Baby Boom generation, this group is now bigger than the entire population of most countries.
• As a new generation of active and curious consumers, they now dominate the marketplace and are responsible for:
  o 50% of new car and truck purchases
  o 51% of personal care products
  o 51 % of grocery food items
  o 59% of books and reading purchases
  o 65% of health care
  o 65% of home maintenance and repairs
  o 72% of prescription and OTC drugs
  o 80% of retirement accounts

A recent AARP study showed that 62% of 50+ consumers wish that ads had more realistic images of people their age. And nearly half were annoyed that ads of people their age reinforced outdated stereotypes.

Dr. Ken Dychtwald, who is recognized as North America’s leading visionary and original thinker on longevity and aging for nearly 50 years, will explain how your business can best target this massive, misunderstood, misrepresented, and wildly untapped new market. He’ll illustrate the attributes that resonate with this potent consumer as well as what does not. He’ll provide an inspirational preview of the products, services, marketing, and advertising that will succeed at meeting the needs and aspirations of this new age of aging consumer while eliminating the ageism that has impeded shareholder value for too long.

These dynamic forces are shaping your business; are you prepared?

• Men and women over 50 now make up 33% of the total U.S. population and 44% of the adult population but control more than 70% of total wealth. 
• Due to the combination of rising longevity, declining fertility, and the aging of the Baby Boom generation, this group is now bigger than the entire market of most countries.
• As active and curious consumers, they are responsible for:
  • 45% of new car and truck purchasing
  • 53% of all food and grocery purchasing
  • 55% of all travel and leisure consumption
  • 68% of OTC drugs
  • 77% of all Rx drug consumption; and 
  • 80% of all retirement accounts. 

Dr. Ken Dychtwald, who has been North America’s leading visionary and original thinker about the “age wave” for more than 45 years, will explain how your business can best target this massive, misunderstood, misrepresented, and wildly untapped new market. He’ll illustrate why 20th century notions of “lifetime brand loyalty,” “retirement,” and “seniors” have become obsolete and how with impending breakthroughs in precision medicine, living to 100+ will soon become commonplace. And he’ll provide a mind-stretching preview of the products, services, marketing, and advertising that will succeed at meeting the needs and aspirations of this new “Third Age” while eliminating the ageism that has impeded shareholder value for too long. 

With the convergence of rising longevity, the aging of the massive Boomer generation, and widespread financial insecurity, there is a greater need than ever for trusted, holistic financial guidance. Americans want financial professionals who seek to understand what matters most to them and their families and can help them achieve their goals.

This new presentation by Dr. Ken Dychtwald, the nation’s foremost visionary and expert on longevity, aging and retirement, draws on his new book, What Retirees Want: A Holistic View of Life’s Third Age, as well as cutting-edge new research that spans five generations. 

Dychtwald will outline the forces shaping retirement planning today and offer ways that financial professionals can ready themselves to demonstrate greater empathy to deliver targeted solutions that safeguard a well-lived retirement for these uncertain times.

Topics to be covered include:

• Why has financial peace of mind become far more important than wealth?
• What are the greatest worries for pre-retirees and retirees in achieving a financially secure retirement?
• What are the “generational generosity” watchouts for financial professionals and their clients that could jeopardize retirement?
• In what ways is women’s rising financial power transforming the field of retirement planning and how should you respond?
• How will the demands of eldercare, sibling care, grandparenthood, singlehood, and “rehirement” impact retirement planning?
• How can financial professionals best manage the greatest generational hand-off in history and guide clients to leave a legacy?

Based on his newly updated book, Radical Curiosity, Dr. Ken Dychtwald reveals in this special presentation the critical importance of maintaining lifelong curiosity in today’s ever-changing world. Through his enormously entertaining stories about mind-boggling encounters with an impressive cast of characters—from hippies to Hells Angels to presidents, CEOs and world-leaders—Ken shares key lessons about the challenges and opportunities of continuing to grow as we grow up. 

He playfully examines how curiosity has guided him through every era of his life, from his humble beginnings in Newark, New Jersey to his “enlightening” years spent at the world-renowned Esalen Institute in Big Sur during the height of the human potential movement, and from igniting the holistic health and healthy aging movements to his fellowship at the Davos World Economic Forum and ultimately creating his globally acclaimed company Age Wave, with a client list that includes half the Fortune 500. 

Ken’s fascinating journey is replete with trials and errors every step of the way, and eye-opening lessons for all ages learned from a rich life that’s still a work in progress.

Rising longevity and the aging of Boomers worldwide are radically altering both the demographic landscape and every aspect of our personal, social, financial, and political lives.   

How will these irreversible trends toward increasing longevity impact healthcare, medicine, nutrition and environmental safety? As the massive global Baby Boom generation ages, how can we also ensure that our healthspans and brainspans match our lifespans?  And how can we ensure abundant lifelong health for all – not just the wealthy?

In this revealing glimpse into the future, Age Wave Founder and CEO, Ken Dychtwald, PhD, will address the implications of rising longevity and how your organization needs to envision the future to prepare for it. 

• How will maturity change as tens of millions of us live to 80, 90 or 100+?
• With continued breakthroughs in longevity, at what age will old age begin?
• Will the boomers opt for “pro-aging,” “anti-aging” or “ageless aging?” 
• How will boomer women and men approach aging differently?
• Who will pay for the multiplying needs of a multiplying cohort of older adults?
• How will we match our healthspan to our lifespan?
• Are we prepared to reengineer many of our products and services to meet the needs of aging boomer consumers?
• How will boomers deal with “right-to-death” issues?
• Can our political system handle the demands that tens of millions of elder boomers will place on our social and economic infrastructure?
• How will your business be ready for this unprecedented longevity revolution resulting in dynamic forces that will forever change our relationship with health and medicine?

Amidst our high-tech, high-anxiety, and workaholic culture, there is an awakening appreciation for the immeasurable value of great times with friends and loved ones, the satisfaction of continued personal growth, and the excitement of encountering new people, places, and cultures. Fueled by COVID fatigue as well as the dual Boomer liberations of empty-nesting and retirement—and turbo-charged by Millennial FOMO—hundreds of millions of men and women worldwide are hoping to enjoy more “time affluence” than at any other point in history. 

This dynamic new presentation by Age Wave guru and author of his new memoir, Radical Curiosity: My Life on the Age Wave, explores the forces causing an unquenchable curiosity for stimulating and nourishing “peak experiences” of every form and flavor. 

Dr. Ken Dychtwald will uncover the abundant opportunities for both entrepreneurs and industry leaders who understand how to serve this emerging new travel consumer.

Topics to be covered include:

• Longevity: more life, more time, more personal reinventions, more travel
• How will the unprecedented “age wave” demographic phenomenon both boost and transform the travel marketplace worldwide?
• Why the “freedom zone” is now the most liberated and liberating time in life?
• Life’s true valuables: the growing importance of experiences over things
• 2.5 trillion hours to fill: tapping the enormous “longevity economy” 
• How can you transform your marketing strategies to meet the needs of today’s discerning travelers searching for “peak experiences?”