Posted at Jul 27/2005 08:04AM:
zaslow: Just a note about the issue of proximity to families. It's generally expected that most boomers will "age in place." They may downsize from the large family home to a condo, but they'll likely do it in the same area, same city, in which they've long lived.
3. Grandparents (72 and 74)
These grandparents are prepared to drive from within 3 state radius to visit their grandchildren.
Try not to fall into trap of thinking only about people we know who are in their 70s now -- don't forget that a good slice of the Baby Boomers will be in their 70s at the time of our five scenarios:
- tech savvy
- Ruth Zaslow: difference in use of tech between 70 year olds now and people who will be 70 in 2015
- maybe still working (don't want to stop or can't stop for economic reasons)
- Eric Grant raises question of what the disposable income of retirees in 5-10 years will be.
Proximity to Family?
- Isn't there a trend for older people to move closer to families?
- Possible scenario: children from the same family--once they're married and have their own families--living in separate states
Extended road trips
Car as home (from home)
- live updates on medications, en route?
- again, try not to get too focused on this kind of things -- Boomers as 70-year olds may well be very different from the current generation
- updates on personal investments?
Compare with snowboarders from last time:
- shared memory
- experiences with various family members
- but only 2 in the car -- less likely to have time to do the same kind of sharing of memory via video clips etc.
How about updates on nearest rest stops, facilities, and gas stations?
- Where are the next three or five gas motorway services (David Platt: sorry for use of the British term -- if someone can tell me the US equivalent, feel free to substitute it and replace this!), and what facilities do they have? Restaurants (types of cuisine and reviews), stores, tourist attractions etc.
- Where are the next three gas stations and what are the differences between their gas prices? Is it worth pushing on to the fourth gas station 20 miles away to get a better price? (And will your car tell you if it can make it to the fourth gas station?)
Return to Five Scenarios for 2015.
