Lina Ko February 2nd, 2010
Lately, I’ve been seeing a lot of baby boomers reading their e-books on trains and airplanes. Once again, contrary to popular belief, boomers do embrace technology. I recently purchased the Kindle 2 from Amazon and am loving every minute of it. No more papers piled at home or at your doorstep, but I can still skim through headlines in major newspapers before I go to work. The Kindle also offers free newspaper subscriptions for two weeks, and this successfully hooks me up to paying a monthly subscription of The New York Times. I’ve also cancelled my home subscription of The Globe and Mail because I now have the daily version wirelessly delivered to me on my device at half the price of the print version.
For people who love the smell and touch of printed volumes of books, an e-book might not be to their liking. But I think this is one of the most innovative devices for consumers – no more book shelves and no more yearning for library space at home. I can now create my own electronic library capable of storing up to 1,500 books – the Complete Works of Shakespeare, the Bronte collection, the Holy Bible, The Complete Charles Dickens Collection, the Works of Oscar Wilde and other literary greats – and carry it around with me to anywhere in the world when I travel because of the Kindle’s 3G wireless capability. I can wirelessly shop for new books, download them in less than 60 seconds, and read them in more than 100 countries.
Boomers are likely to be attracted to the six types of text sizes to choose from – no more squinting your eyes to read small type fonts in most printed books. The six-inch electronic ink display reads like printed words on paper because the screen works using real ink and doesn’t use backlight, eliminating the eyestrain and glare associated with other electronic displays. And at times if you’re tired of making your eyes work, you can always get Kindle to read to you out loud with its Text-to-Speech feature.
When Apple’s iPad becomes available in March, Kindle might face some stiff competition since the former can offer an all-in-one mobile device including an iBook Store in colour. But for people like me who only want an e-book, a slim and trim, 10-oz Kindle is good enough. If Amazon can continue to keep the e-book prices lower than the print versions; when more quality magazines such as The Economist become available on Kindle; when new books can be accessible to us e-readers even faster, I’m sure more and more boomers will replace printed volumes with the sleek reading device.
Lina Ko January 27th, 2010
According to the Hamilton Spectator, affluent baby boomers intent on offsetting the ravages of time are leading a wave of anti-aging product sales worth billions of dollars. The global market for products ranging from skin renewal to brain games is already worth $160 billion a year and is expected to rise to $275 billion in 2013.
Currently focused on the new trend of edible beauty products such as collagen-infused coffee and anti-aging water to improve the skin, millions of boomers are joining celebrities like Mick Jagger and Sharon Stone in exploring how to fulfill the age-old quest for the appearance and feel of youth in their progressively mature years.
With the first wave of boomers in Canada now hitting 63, anti-aging products are projected to account for just under 20 percent of total skin care sales.
Growth in nutracosmetics – supplements that are ingested in order to change one’s external appearance – is also climbing. One of the newest developments in skin care is a little red pill, taken daily, that supposedly provides nutrients to prevent wrinkles by increasing skin elasticity.
If you’re still not yet convinced about the market potential of anti-aging products, the lineup for a recent Paris lingerie fashion show included new, anti-aging underwear, described as bras and undergarments designed with anti-wrinkle properties that help hydrate the skin. Even in men’s grooming, the fastest growing category is now anti-aging. With older men increasingly competitive with a younger generation, they have to look better.
So much for the body and complexion. What about the brain? The brain fitness market is also booming with new brain games to help boomers keep their minds sharp and boost productivity well into old age. According to a report by SharpBrains, a U.S. market research firm, the brain fitness segment – spending on games, computer programs, training systems and other anti-aging products – has the potential to grow to $5 billion by 2015. Brain maintenance will become a mainstream trend from retirement homes to gyms as boomers seek to give equal importance to cognitive fitness.
Buying time has never been easier!
Lina Ko January 18th, 2010
In recent weeks, another roadside pedestrian death has raised questions about whether seniors over 80 should be allowed to drive. Last week in Toronto, a mother pushing her infant son in a stroller was killed by an 83-year-old woman who allegedly ran a red light.
So, when should seniors park it? According to the Toronto Sun, it’s one of the toughest things you can tell an older person to hand over the car keys. Taking a person’s car means taking away their independence. However, as the population ages, this will become a bigger issue. Many baby boomers are passionate about maintaining their independence and they won’t give up the car keys without a fight.
Ministry of Transportation figures actually show that over the five-year period 2002-2006, the average yearly fatal collision involvement rate per 10,000 young drivers (aged 16-19) was 2.15; the rate for seniors (aged 65 and above) was 1.11. According to the Insurance Bureau of Canada, it isn’t age that impacts driving so much as it is medical conditions that predominantly affect seniors. Others, with conditions such as dementia or failing eyesight, should not be on the road at all.
I think it’s ultimately a sense of responsibility. Many boomers are now very agile and fit to drive. It will be a long time before they will be asked to give up their car keys when they become seniors. But, as with parental guidance for their children, people around seniors should really advise them to stop driving when the time comes – that maybe sooner for some people and later for others. Independence is important, but not when it is at the expense of pedestrians’ or other motorists’ safety.
Lina Ko January 14th, 2010
It’s ironical that as boomers age, freedom at this life stage almost becomes as important as the freedom we enjoyed when we were teenagers. According to the National Post, there’s an inner hippie in all boomers that is saying – Break out. Flee suburbia. More colour, more texture, more of what I like. Who’s going to judge me anyway?
Few aging boomers aspire to stiff and patrician. Quiet is like being dead and that’s what boomers avoid by running towards vibrant youthful images. That explains why trendy buildings nowadays have lots of boomers who don’t want to be relegated to a senior’s ghetto. Retailers used to assume that it’s futile to market furniture to 50- and 60-year-olds. However, after all those years of putting the children first, parents now buy that formerly too expensive leather sofa.
Whether hippie once, or not, boomers as a generation were the centre of attention in their youth. Rather than run away to where retirees are supposed to hide out until they die, more boomers want to continue in the spotlight and at the centre of the action. For these, it’s a loft condominium downtown, not a cabin in the mountains.
I’ve always been an urban, big-city kind of person. This applies to my residence as well as my choice of vacation destination. I’m ashamed to admit that I’ve never enjoyed any ‘in unison with nature’ moments although Canada has lots to offer in this category. Don’t get me wrong, nor do I enjoy big crowds either. I get my energy by keeping younger company. Whether they are my multi-generation colleagues; or my younger neighbours in my condominium; or the arts- and theatre-loving New Yorkers and Londoners, I’m constantly re-energized by those around me. And I’m sure there are many other boomers like me who refuse to move into luxurious condominiums with hidden panic buttons; who continue to work in a profession that constantly requires new and innovative thinking; and who love to experience what big, urban cities can offer us in terms of diversity, energy and passion.
Lina Ko January 7th, 2010
According to a poll released this week by The Investors Group, Canadian boomers are stressed by the dual responsibility of taking care of both their own children as well as their aging parents. In some cases, providing extended financial support may jeopardize their own retirements.
Ten percent of boomers with children also provide support to aging parents, with 42 percent stressed by the dual role. The same report indicated that boomers are not whining about it. Two-thirds feel they are merely repaying their parents for the upbringing they enjoyed themselves as children. However, they are less keen to give money to their adult children. In fact, 25 per cent are bothered by the need to provide financial assistance. Six in 10 boomer parents provide an average of $3,675 a year to their grown kids.
This could jeopardize their own retirements if providing such assistance runs longer than expected. According to retirement planning experts, the sandwich phase may be temporary, but boomers should make it as temporary as they can. This should not be a full-time, long-term solution for grown children. On the other hand, waiting for inheritance is not a good strategy for boomers either. People are living longer and spending more. Based on this recent poll, the wealth transfer is going in the opposite direction. Whether it’s taking care of their aging parents or paying a steep price for parenthood, boomers should involve their financial advisors when gauging the impact of these duties on their future retirement.
Lina Ko December 18th, 2009
I’ve been talking to a lot of my boomer friends lately to wish them well over the Holidays. Some are morbid and pessimistic and keep complaining about the inability to retire. Others are youthful and optimistic, constantly seeking BOTOX as their spa-replacement solution. And they live all around the world in different continents – Hong Kong, Shanghai, London, Florida, Virginia, Palm Springs, New York and, of course, good old Toronto.
I’m determined to beat the winter blues from now on and try to visit friends over long weekends in the warm regions of the world. Moreover, I’ve decided to get brain-fit in the new year. I read from enRoute magazine that the famous Canyon Ranch now offers a brain fitness program – one of the first in North America. A weekend program of fencing, art classes, computer games and nutrition counselling promises to make people smarter and healthier.
The renowned spa is not the only one offering such services to boomers. Last year, Westin Hotels and Resorts placed instructional cards with mental and physical exercises in the showers, pools and lobbies of its hotels as part of its BrainBody Fitness Promotion. The Yorkville Club, a gym in my neighbourhood, introduced a NeuroActive Bike that puts your brains to work with 22 touch-screen games that challenge your recall of faces, shapes and sympbols.
Whether it’s mental or physical health, boomers need to maintain both to keep enjoying life and contributing to society. Here’s wishing all baby boomers (aged 43 to 62) a healthy, meaningful and happy new year ahead of us!
Lina Ko December 1st, 2009
I read with interest in The Toronto Star earlier this week that Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin is touching down in Toronto this week to talk about how NASA-style technology will help the elderly live better, stay in their homes longer and keep their brains sharp.
On Wednesday, Aldrin will speak about the bold new future of aging to about 200 international researchers, experts on geriatrics and people who work with the elderly. It will be the final session of a two-day summit, The Business of Aging, jointly organized by Toronto’s innovation incubator, the MaRS Centre, and the Ontario government.
According to the chief executive of MaRS, the organization plans to showcase the work of 14 up-and-coming Ontario companies now developing software, diagnostic tools and other technologies aimed specifically at the aging population. With the first wave of Canada’s 10 million baby boomers about to become seniors, there’s growing recognition that keeping them at home as long as possible is going to be key, despite what’s widely to be a shortage of caregivers.
A speaker at the summit, Laurie Orlov, says the ability of boomers to age gracefully, will depend on four things:
- Advances in ‘communication and engagement’ technology that allows seniors to keep in regular touch with friends, relatives and caregivers
- A new generation of home safety and security devices, from electronic sensors to personal emergency response systems you wear around your neck
- Health and wellness innovations such as new generations of fitness and ‘brain games’ programs and devices that will help the elderly manage and monitor chronic diseases from home
- Interventions to ensure dignity for the elderly so that they have social interaction, access to affordable and adequate transportation and are able to continue to learn and contribute to society.
I think this summit’s focus is definitely on the right track. It may sound very morbid, but instead of just accepting the impact of an aging population as it does on other societies such as those in Germany and Japan, our provincial government is facing this inevitable phenomenon head-on by strategically planning for its advent.
Lina Ko November 24th, 2009
Everything good must come to an end. So when Oprah finally announced on her show last week that her daytime TV show would end in 2011, both she and her audience choked up on air.
However, according to a lot of journalists and entertainment analysts, this hardly came as a surprise. Oprah calling it quits with her syndicated talk show became inevitable like Jerry Seinfeld quitting his hugely successful sitcom. One of the richest people in the world, Oprah has moved from an afternoon icon to magazine publisher to Broadway impresario to movie producer. She has become not only an entertainment giant, but also a motivational inspirer and the most powerful pop culture and even political influencer.
With her new venture in 2011, the Oprah Winfrey Network, we will probably see more of Oprah, instead of less. The most successful personal brand of Oprah will reach new heights with her own cable network. With her evolution as a household name over the last two decades, Oprah has always, in Rob Salem’s words, “managed to maintain her emotional integrity and boundless empathy, while also possessing the foresight and business savvy to retain ownership and creative control of her own brand.” We will not see the last of Oprah. It’s just another stage of renewal for the Oprah brand.
Lina Ko November 12th, 2009
In spite of a tough economic climate, most Canadian boomers are still giving generously when it comes to charitable donations of money and time. According to a new survey by the BMO Retirement Institute, an overwhelming majority of Canadians open their wallets to charities and other philanthropic causes, with an 84 percent donor rate in 2007 resulting in more than $10 billion. This represents a 12 percent increase or $1.1 billion over figures from 2004.
The report also indicated that Canadians’ generosity went beyond financial donations in 2007 as well, with 2.1 billion hours of volunteered time to charities – equating more than a million full-time jobs.
According to the BMO report, titled The Evolution of Giving: From Charity to Philanthropy, boomers also have lofty charitable goals for the next five years, with 82 percent saying they intend to at least maintain their current contribution rates.
I’ve blogged before on the subject of boomers wanting to give back to the community as they mature. Charitable causes might just continue to be recession-proof because of the boomers’ contributions!
Lina Ko November 3rd, 2009
Having just blogged about the rise in demand for physiotherapy, I was glad to come across a women’s gym that offers customized solutions for women boomers to stay active and fit. Contours Express, based in Kentucky, U.S.A., has Canadian franchises across Canada – Alberta, B.C., Nova Scotia and Ontario – aiming to make a difference in women’s lives. Although most of their members are boomers, the fitness centres also attract overweight teenagers, Gen-Xers, Gen-Yers and even seniors who want to keep fit in a fun, safe and non-intimidating environment.
Guided by qualified fitness trainers, the women’s gyms offer a 29-minute workout combining weight-based equipment with an aerobic exercise. I have a few girlfriends who want to lose weight and feel more energetic, but are too intimidated by most of the gyms because, believe it or not, most of the men and women frequenting gyms downtown are actually extremely fit. Because I haven’t seen any fitness centres in urban centres that offer customized solutions for boomer women, I hope Contours Express might consider opening a franchise in downtown Toronto. But, at the moment, their gyms in Newmarket, Burlington, Orillia and Whitby are helping women in these suburbs who want to help themselves.
