Are we ready for the ‘Silver Tsunami’?

Countries and governments must do more to plan for accelerated growth in the over-65 population, says US retirement living specialist Anne Burns Johnson.

The executive director of the Institute for Senior Living in the United States, Burns Johnson will be in Australia in November to share her insights at the Retirement Living Summit in Brisbane.

For the first time in history, the population of people over 85 – those Burns Johnson calls the “old old” – is increasing disproportionately compared to other age cohorts.

“This means more dementia, more multiple chronic conditions, and a greater need for services than we have ever experienced before,” she says.

Burns Johnson says the general rule of thumb is simple: when the over-65 population is 20 per cent or more of the total population, a country is facing a real crisis.

“In the United States, about 12 per cent of the population is over 65 right now. Theoretically, we have time to prepare. But from a policy perspective, very little is being done, or talked about, or even considered,” she explains.

Burns Johnson says dramatic shifts in consumer expectations are reshaping the retirement living sector forever.

Consumers of all ages and incomes now demand “convenience, control and choice”.

“Just think about the last time you bought a new book, a vacation package, researched a new car or paid your electricity bill. It was all done online. Although a senior may not use these services as much as a 30-year-old, the principle behind them remains the same: choice, control and convenience.”

And yet, Burns Johnson asks, how many retirement communities use a point of service card swipe for meals?

Are senior expectations being met in retirement housing?

Burns Johnson doesn’t think so – which is why disruptive forces are changing the game.

She says the market is aware of the large and growing senior demographic, which is why builders and investors are creating more retirement living communities.

But players with very little experience in the senior services arena are also getting into the sector because they see its potential.

“Intel and GE have been in this market for almost a decade refining and honing products that allow ageing in place or that can be used in retirement housing settings,” she says.

“Now, however, we are seeing Google dedicating a segment of its enterprise to ageing innovations.

“Uber is now offering transportation services to senior communities and, in selected markets, has initiated an UberEats meal delivery service. Local franchises offering home care services are proliferating almost as fast as McDonald’s,” she says.

In California, where Burns Johnson resides, the current population of 4.2 million seniors will expand to six million by 2020.

Age-appropriate and assisted living services just 0.082 per cent of the population.  The question is: who will service the other 99.9 per cent?

Find out what Australia can learn from the retirement living industry in the United States when Anne Burns Johnson presents ‘Unlocking the world: the overseas perspective’ on Tuesday 24 November at the Retirement Living Summit. Register today.