"Reinvention. Liberation. Opportunity. That's what this book is all about. Throughout most of history, life was short and people followed a straight and predictable path. But as life expectancy soars and people expect more from those extra years, that linear model is rapidly changing.
Not too long ago, our age determined our limits, defined our lifestyle and decided the choices we could make. But with life expectancy stretching to an average of 77 years and promising to rise further, the people most likely to benefit from this chronological dividend — the rule-breaking baby boom generation — are revolutionizing the conventional model of maturity.
In Cycles, Maddy Dychtwald, co-founder of Age Wave, the nation's foremost thought-leader on the workplace, marketplace and lifestyle trends of baby boomers, describes the metamorphosis from linear life pathways to a new cyclic approach where life stages and activities are not just experienced once but visited and revisited. In this "circle of life," educated and independent men and women are reinventing themselves — finding adventure, challenge, connection, and a sense of purpose at all ages. People now return to school at age 35, have children at 45, start new careers at 50, and remarry at 70. Decisions are based less on age and more on lifestyle and life stage — with staggering implications for the marketplace, the workplace and our lives.
Drawing on groundbreaking demographic research, Maddy explores the increasingly widespread phenomena of lifelong learning, serial careers, second — and third — marriages, the growing complexity of blended families, expanded recreational pursuits, healthy aging and a new vision of retirement. At the same time, she uses her experience in generational marketing as a lens through which to investigate how employers can benefit from a cyclic workforce and how businesses can attract, satisfy and profit from the new ageless consumer.
Maddy Dychtwald offers a fresh and perceptive view of what life will be like for Americans in the years to come. Cycles will help people understand and appreciate the enormous potential of the second half of life.
Maddy Dychtwald's provocative presentation and analyses of the revolutionary changes in the way we live, work and play will stimulate marketers to discard many assumptions and to think of new ways to meet the evolving needs of 21st century consumers.