The coming “Silver Tsunami” crisis

The numbers regarding the aging baby-boomers have been well documented. Between 2000 and 2050 the number of people age 65+ will increase 149%, while the general population will increase only 49%.

In 1935 the age expectancy was 59.9 for males and 63.9 for females- an average of 61.7. These were the statistics when Social Security was set up in 1935.

When Medicare was enacted in 1965, the average life expectancy was 78 years. In 1995, it increased to 86 years and, by 2030, is expected to reach 94 years for those who reach the age of 65.

But numbers do not convey the true crisis that this shift in aging will create on the economy or on the wellfare of each individual. According to Mr. David M. Walker, former U.S. Comptroller General, in his article in the Nov. ‘08 Fortune Magazine:

          “Yet any such calculations [regarding the current economic crisis] are penny ante compared with the fiscal disaster bearing down on America…The entitlements due from Social Security and Medicare present us with that frightening abyss. The costs of these current programs, along with other healthcare costs, could bankrupt our country. The abyss offers no assets, troubled or otherwise, to help us cross it.”

At HomeSuites America we are taking a proactive approach to this problem by creating communities that provide the tools and programs to help people remain “aggressively independent” for as long as possible.

It is our hope that we can provide an opportunity for people to prepare for their later years.