As the pandemic wreaks havoc on our mental and physical health, it is also quietly reshaping how Americans will face retirement and old age in the years to come.
The virus is bringing sweeping change, mainly by “accelerating developments already under way,” says physician and entrepreneur Bill Thomas. For example, “isolation of older people has long been a problem, but Covid is focusing attention on the issue and adding urgency” to address it.
Some changes in store will be stressful. Rising government deficits and falling bond yields are creating so much uncertainty about financing retirement that most people who can continue to work will—and for as long as possible, says Laura Carstensen, director of Stanford University’s Center on Longevity.
“It’s going to make people rethink retirement altogether,” she says.
Other developments will be welcome. For instance, more people will age at home, where most adults say they want to remain. There will be a boom in innovations improving life in later years. And with Covid giving us a reason to reflect on mortality, we will plan how we want to live and die more deliberately.
1. More will age at home
2. Older people will benefit from a technology boom
3. Lifespans will decline
4. We will have a better handle on what we want to do with our time
5. We will plan for death
6. We will embrace healthier lifestyles
7. We need to save more to retire
8. The 401(k) will morph into a multipurpose account
9. We will work longer
10. Our views on aging will change
