Welcome to the new longevity. We aren’t just living longer; we are also extending the years in which we remain healthy, active and productive. A recent study found that a 70-year-old in 2022 had roughly the same cognitive ability as a 53-year-old in 2000.
This shift is already having economic implications. Just a decade ago, many observers warned that retiring baby boomers would become a significant drag on economic growth as they left the workforce. Yet the opposite has occurred. Those aged 50 and older, now part of the so-called “longevity economy,” accounted for just 24 percent of the global population in 2020 but contributed 34 percent of global GDP. In the U.S., households headed by someone aged 50 or older now account for more than half of all consumer spending.