Best-selling author and the world’s leading expert on longevity and retirement, Ken Dychtwald, PhD, and
co-author and researcher Robert Morison highlight life’s new “Third Age” in their
long-awaited, visionary book, What Retirees Want. This prescient book explores how Boomers are
redefining retirement in every conceivable way and why they are the largest untapped market for businesses and
nonprofits that’s hiding in plain sight. It also serves as a much-needed guide for anyone contemplating
this new stage in their life. Currently available for
pre-order, What Retirees Want will be available everywhere books and eBooks are sold
on July 15.
Hoboken, NJ (June 25, 2020) – Today, thanks to extraordinary medical, demographic, and
economic shifts, most of us will live unprecedentedly long lives. Consequently, the world is witnessing a powerful
new version of retirement—the Third Age—driven by the power and needs of the massive Baby Boomer
generation. Consumers over 50 now account for more than half of all spending and control more than 70% of the
country’s net worth. How will work, family, health, leisure, money, success, purpose, and retirement be
transformed in the years ahead to accommodate two billion people over the age of 60 worldwide?
This wide-ranging book, What Retirees Want: A Holistic View of Life’s Third Age, explains how
individuals, businesses, non-profits, and governments can best prepare to thrive in a new era—where the needs
and demands of third agers will set the lifestyle, health, social, marketplace, and political priorities of
generations to come.
What Retirees Want, written by Ken Dychtwald, PhD, and Robert Morison, presents the culmination of 30+ years
of their groundbreaking research. The book offers an unrivaled, holistic understanding of today’s and
tomorrow’s retirees with innovative solutions to anticipate and meet their needs.
According to Dychtwald, “Over the past decade, our teams of researchers, psychologists, economists, and
gerontologists have spent more than 70,000 hours investigating how the Boomer Age Wave is transforming every aspect
of retirement. I am very proud of this new book and see it as the capstone of my life’s work.”
As the Baby Boomer generation paves the way for an entirely morphed retirement, this exciting third age poses many
daunting questions addressed in the book, including:
- How long will we live and what will "old" look like in the years ahead?
- What incredible new technologies of medicine, life extension, and human enhancement await us in the near future?
- What new products and services will boom as a result of this coming longevity revolution?
- What ageist marketing practices are hurting people and damaging business growth?
- Will the majority of elder Boomers outlive their pensions and retirement savings and how can this financial
disaster be prevented?
- How will youth and age get along as the demographic equations shift?
- What purposeful new roles can we create for third agers so that the developed and aging nations of the Americas,
Europe, and Asia capitalize on the upside of aging?
- Which pioneering organizations and companies worldwide have created breakthrough products, services, and
marketing that resonate with the quirky and demanding Boomer generation?
“Our research reveals the new world of opportunity and choice that today’s retirees have in all facets of
their lives—and the nearly unlimited opportunities for businesses, nonprofits, and government agencies that
want to serve them well.” says Bob Morison.
What Retirees Want: A Holistic View of Life’s Third Age is currently available for
pre-order and will be available everywhere books and eBooks are sold on July 15.
About the Book
What Retirees Want: A Holistic View of Life’s Third Age
(Wiley, July 2020, 320 Pages, $28, ISBN: 9781119648086)
####
Advance Praise for What Retirees Want: A Holistic View of Life’s Third Age
“Dychtwald and Morison have changed the way I view the future. Their analysis of rising longevity and aging
demographics is critical for any business, not-for-profit, or government leader who wants to understand the massive
changes and new opportunities that will affect every aspect of our lives.”
Peter H. Diamandis, MD, Founder, XPRIZE, and Author, Abundance: The Future Is Better Than You
Think
“The authors challenge the age-related myths and prejudices that are pervasive in modern marketing. It’s
time to reframe how we think about, portray, and treat the growing cohort of retirees, and this thoughtful and
important book shows us both why and how.”
Stephanie Fischer, President and CEO, Global Retail Marketing Association
“Dychtwald and Morison offer a brilliant and convincing perspective: an essential re-think of what
‘aging’ and ‘retirement’ mean today and an invitation to help mobilize the best in the tidal
wave of Boomer Third Agers.”
Daniel Goleman, PhD, Author, Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ
“What Retirees Want provides fascinating insights into what a world with a billion people over age 60
will look like—its impact on society, business, politics, health care, and the marketplace. Anyone who reads
this book will better understand how to capitalize on the new opportunities and challenges brought by the
revolutionary age wave.”
Thomas Donohue, CEO, United States Chamber of Commerce
“What Retirees Want is a dazzling must read! Every aspect of our lives will adjust to make room for
what Dychtwald and Morison call the Third Age. And with women outliving men, this book offers a fresh and needed
perspective on a wide range of hopeful action steps to improve both women’s and men’s life
journeys.”
Maria Shriver, Journalist, Author and Activist, Former First Lady of California
“For more than 20 years, Ken Dychtwald’s groundbreaking thinking has greatly influenced my own,
especially with regard to developing new ways of providing retirement plans and investment strategies to tens of
millions of investors. As someone just starting this phase of life, I found this breakthrough book to be both
insightful and incredibly inspirational!”
William McNabb, CEO, Vanguard Group (ret)
####
About Ken Dychtwald, PhD
Over the past 40+ years, Dr. Ken Dychtwald has emerged as North America’s foremost visionary and original
thinker regarding the lifestyle, marketing, healthcare, economic, and workforce implications of the age wave. He is
a psychologist, gerontologist, and best-selling author of 17 books on aging and longevity-related issues, including
Age Wave, Gideon’s Dream: A Tale of New Beginnings, and A New Purpose: Redefining Money, Family,
Work, Retirement, and Success.
Since 1986, Ken has been the Founder and CEO of Age Wave, a firm created to guide companies and government groups in
product and service development for Boomers and mature adults. 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. 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 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, co-written with Robert Morison, in
the Harvard Business Review, “It’s Time to Retire Retirement,” was awarded the
prestigious McKinsey Award. He was recently awarded the Inspire Award from 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.
About Robert Morison
Robert Morison is a researcher, writer, speaker, consultant, and authority on what happens at the intersections of
business, technology, and people management. He has been leading breakthrough research for more than 30 years,
collaborating with eminent academics, thought leaders, and management innovators. He has written on topics ranging
from business innovation, reengineering, and analytics to workforce management, demographics, and retirement.
Bob has been collaborating with Ken Dychtwald and Age Wave for 20 years, including managing—on behalf of a
consortium of major corporations—the research projects “Demography is De$tiny” and “The New
Employee/Employer Equation.” He coauthored with Ken Dychtwald and Tamara Erickson the McKinsey
Award–winning Harvard Business Review article “It’s Time to Retire Retirement” and
the book Workforce Crisis: How to Beat the Coming Shortage of Skills and Talent. He is also co-author of
Analytics at Work: Smarter Decisions, Better Results.
Earlier in his career, Bob held management and research leadership positions with General Electric, CSC Index, and
the Concours Group. He has spoken before hundreds of corporate, industry, research, and government groups, and he
has been a commentator on workforce issues on Nightly Business Report on PBS. Bob currently serves as
Senior Advisor with Age Wave and Lead Faculty for the International Institute for Analytics. He holds an AB from
Dartmouth College and an MA from Boston University. Bob and his wife, the author Lynne Barrett, live in Miami,
Florida.
####
For more information, visit:
https://agewave.com/
Media Contact:
Amy Laudicano
Publicity Manager, Wiley
alaudicano@wiley.com