Fast- forward to the not- so-distant future: The world will revolve around the elderly

For most busy denizens of the early 21st century, contemplating the future means D guring out tomorrow’s dinner. But take a moment to journey forward to 2046, when 79 million baby boomers will be 82 to 100 years old. Thanks to lifestyle habits and medical advances, they probablywill be the healthiest group of elderly in history. Thanks to extended employment spans, they will be the wealthiest. Thanks to their huge voting bloc, they will be the most powerful. So just what kind of America will be forged by this crowd of geriatric goliaths? Talk to folkswhose job it is to think decades down the road and two disparate visions emerge: one inspirational and the other downright creepy. Using the revered boomer medium of D lm as a guide, the D rst story line offers a like world in which benevolent oldsters imbued with youth improve society by spreading their wisdom and wealth. The other scenario plays out more like in which an impoverished underclass is unable to make its mark on a world ruled by domineering elders. the Apes, Cocoon- Planet of How will things play out? The script for is still in our hands. “ Right now we’re facing a future in which this group either serves its own interests at the expense of the young, or it helps lead a multigenerational society in which they’re exemplars of enlightenment,” says Ken Dychtwald, president of Age Wave, a San Francisco-based D rm that helps companies prepare for the coming gray reign. “ Boomers still have the chance to be a contributory group, to give more than they take.” That’s a noble goal. But when it comes to taking — also de D ned as consuming — boomers are Zen masters. Setting aside for a moment the philosophical questions that will de D ne Boomerworld, much of the cultural landscape in 2046 will be shaped by the enduring spending power of folkswho added “ shopaholic” to society’s addiction lexicon. Food, houses, watches, shoes, electronics, entertainment, you name it. As boomer tastes go, so goes the marketplace. Interviews with futurists, marketers 2046: A Boomer Odyssey Please see COVER STORY next pageu

By Web Bryant, USA TODAY