100 Years Young

It is amazing how many people are living to be the ripe old age of 100. It is not as shocking anymore, it is becoming normal.

I took a socially distant walk with my friend and we noted that our grandchildren will live to be 100. Think about that. A world where we all live to be 100 which clearly means we can not be retiring at 64.

January 20, 2021, we will have a new President, Joe Biden, with his own agenda. He is living proof that we are all living longer and functioning at pretty much the same mental level. Well…we hope so.

After a full-on country lock-down during a pandemic that never really locked down, we should all be asking ourselves what does the future look like because we are about to live in it. Will this administration create a new agenda with an eye to how we live in a more equitable world in decades to come? If Joe is planning on doing just one term, he could truly push through an extraordinary agenda if the Democrats win Georgia. It is certainly time for one.

I wonder if people in our Government are thinking about a future with many people over 60 who aren’t making an income?  How does one afford to retire based on that data?  How do we keep people engaged at an older age while they begin to enjoy their next phase and still be able to pay for their life?

We are thirty years past the time when Reagan killed the middle class. How he got people to vote against their own needs has always amazed me. A lot has changed since then. The cost of health insurance is one of the biggest drains on everyone. It drains restaurants, small family businesses and the elderly.

Biden needs to figure out how we create a new middle class with affordable housing, an accessible healthcare system for everyone and the ability to put some money in the bank for a rainy day. He also needs to think about people who are going to live way past their retirement age.

20 is still 20, 40 is still 40, 60 is still 60 and my guess 80 is still 80 with all of the aches and pains and now we are learning more about being 90 and 100. Will people still have that get up and go at 70 for the career they had in their 40’s? I doubt it. There is an opportunity here to engage this older generation who are trying to figure out what’s next while making some cash. How can they give back to their communities?

Only time will tell how things will roll out in the first 90 days of Biden’s administration. I pray we see a very aggressive new approach.