More on Demographics from Fast Company
The demographic concentration of boomers at the top of the population pyramid, backed by their vast reservoirs of disposable income, represents the next American gold rush. Ten years from now, the cover of this magazine will be graced with the smiling faces of the entrepreneurs and corporate leaders who unlocked the elder boomers' hearts and minds--and drained their bank accounts.
(What are we doing to prepare Seasoned Saints for that?)
It's hard to overstate the weight of the numbers:
Boomers now represent a U.S. market of some 36 million, or about 12% of the population, and as they move up the pyramid, the number of seniors is going to rise dramatically.
By 2011, the 65-and-over population will be growing faster than the population as a whole in each of the 50 states. The Boomer Binge will have begun.
Businesses aren't confused about the opportunity that growth represents: Consumer electronics firms such as Vodafone are investing in mobile phones with designs tweaked to the requirements of older customers; and Gap Inc. Recently unveiled Forth & town, a new clothing line for women who fall into the vast retail void between the navel-pierced teen and the librarian in a twin set.
(But the church is not even discussing it. The thought leaders are still focusing on "The Emerging Church", "Post Modernism" and so forth. Seminaries, magazines and denominations still treat Seasoned Saints like they are a detriment rather than the engine that will drive the future. We should be at least as smart as Gap!)
And those examples are just a foretaste. The real breakthroughs are going to come from companies helping boomers to hold on to their youth--and milk it for all it's worth. Boomers have never met a life stage they didn't want to remake in their own image, and their golden years will be no exception.
(But business wants to exploit us not help us find our new lease on life. Only God can fill the deepest needs of Seasoned Saints.)
Some boomers, upon turning 65, will disappear in a puff of RV smoke, retiring to a never-ending suck-the-marrow-from-life experiential party that ends only at death. Others will find themselves fully and happily employed by companies desperate to keep them. Still others, due to lamentably low savings rates and the erosion of social services, will enter a purgatorial nether-retirement and serve as an object lesson for their children.
(What's it all about alfie? Retire to die or retire and Refire? Get off your Winnebago and do something exciting for God.)
We are retooling our ministry to assist Boomers to really become Seasoned Saints. This group is already experienced as believers, skilled in the workplace, wiser and insightful about the real world, experienced as parents and grandparents, less in need of finances than a place to use their gifts.
Watch for announcements telling you how we will do it.
posted by Gary Sweeten @ Saturday, July 29, 2006
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