Ageing as an investment opportunity

This article in the Wall Street Journal caught our eye.  Our research looks at the different ways in which age, age categories and ageing are constructed in Web 2.0 media. So a piece which talks about ageing as ‘the next big investment opportunity’ – with apparently opportunities for entrepreneurs, businesses and employees – was always going to get our interest.

The key points of the argument (and the suggested actions) seem to be that:

• older people and their consumer demand is the primary driver of economic growth (so invest in companies which meet these demands);
• work for a company that meets these demands (so you could get a job as a care-giver working for home care services);
• become an entrepreneur “Seniors make great entrepreneurs because of their life experience, emotional intelligence and experience working with and managing different types of people.” (quite a bit of generalisation here);
• set up a business helping people (older workers, it implies) stay current with their skills