Dr. Ken Dychtwald

About

About Dr. Ken Dychtwald – Futurist and Speaker on Longevity and the Marketplace, Aging and Retirement:

Over the past 40+ years, Dr. Ken Dychtwald has emerged as North America’s foremost visionary and original thinker regarding the lifestyle, marketing, health care, economic and workforce implications of the age wave.

Ken is a psychologist, gerontologist, and best-selling author of 18 books on aging-related issues, including Bodymind, Age Wave: The Challenges and Opportunities of an Aging Society, Age Power: How the 21st Century Will Be Ruled by the New Old, Healthy Aging, Gideon’s Dream: A Tale of New Beginnings, A New Purpose: Redefining Money, Family, Work, Retirement, and Success and What Retirees Want: A Holistic View of Life’s Third Age (an Amazon #1 bestseller in both the retirement and business marketing categories). He also released a memoir in April 2021: Radical Curiosity: One Man’s Search for Cosmic Magic and a Purposeful Life (an Amazon #1 New Release in the psychologist biographies category). He was the executive producer and host of the highly rated/acclaimed PBS documentary, The Boomer Century: 1946–2046 which aired over 2,000 times on PBS stations nationwide and his new Public Television special is titled Life’s Third Age. Ken also conceived and hosted the innovative new American Society on Aging series “The Legacy Interviews,” featuring interviews with the legendary pathfinders of the field of aging.

Since 1986, Ken has been the Founder and CEO of Age Wave, an acclaimed think tank and consultancy focused on the social and business implications and opportunities of global aging and rising longevity. His client list has included over half the Fortune 500. He has served as a fellow of the World Economic Forum and was a featured speaker at two White House Conferences on Aging. Ken has twice received the distinguished American Society on Aging Award for outstanding national leadership, and American Demographics honored him as the single most influential marketer to baby boomers over the past quarter century. His article in the Harvard Business Review, “It’s Time to Retire Retirement,” was awarded the prestigious McKinsey Award, tying for first place with the legendary Peter Drucker. He was honored by Investment Advisor as one of the 35 most influential thought leaders in the financial services industry over the past 35 years. Ken and his wife, Maddy, recently received the Esalen Prize for their outstanding contributions to advancing the human potential of aging men and women worldwide. In 2018 he was awarded the Inspire Award from in the International Council on Active Aging for his exceptional and lasting contributions to the active-aging industry and for his efforts to make a difference in the lives of older adults globally. In 2020, he was the first recipient of the Pioneer Award from the Retirement Coaches Association.

During his career, Ken has addressed more than two million people worldwide in his speeches to corporate, association, social service, and government groups. His strikingly accurate predictions and innovative ideas are regularly featured in leading print and electronic media worldwide and have garnered nearly fifteen billion media impressions.

Topics

What Dr. Ken Dychtwald Talks About:

The Biggest Untapped Market Opportunity – It’s Hiding in Plain Sight!

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
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.

Breakthroughs at the Tipping Point: The Future of Health, Medicine, Aging and Longevity
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 and 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?

The Future of Retirement: New Timing, New Purpose, New Funding – and New Planning Help Needed
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. He’ll outline the forces shaping retirement planning today and offer ways that financial professionals can ready themselves to demonstrate greater empathy to safeguard a well-lived retirement with targeted solutions 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 in achieving a financially secure retirement?
• How could “generational generosity” jeopardize retirement?
• In what ways is women’s rising financial power transforming the field of retirement planning?
• How will the demands of eldercare, sibling care, grandparenthood, singlehood, and “rehirement” impact retirement planning?
• Leaving a legacy: managing the greatest generational hand-off in history

Recent Publications

“Ken Dychtwald changed the way I view the future. He unlocked truths so clear and powerful that they are shocking. His understanding of population demographics is utterly critical for any CEO, executive team or government leader to understand.”