The year 2020 will not only mark the beginning of the new decade, but also the birth of a new term for what was previously known as the baby boomers.  The Yold, or the “young old”, is the term the Japanese use for people currently aged between 65 and 75.

1955-60 was the height of the baby boom, the period of high fertility in rich countries after the Second World War.  The traditional retirement age is 65, and between the year 2020-25 one might expect peak retirement for baby-boomers…  But the boomers are not retiring.

By continuing to work, and staying socially engaged, the boomers, in their new guise as the young old, will change the world, as they have done several times before at different stages of their lives. The yold are not just any group of old people. They are challenging the traditional expectations of the retired as people who wear slippers and look after the grandchildren.

The over-60s are one of the fastest-growing groups of customers of the airline business. The yold are vital to the tourism industry because they spend more, when taking a foreign holiday, than younger adults. They are also changing education. Harvard has more students at its Division for Continuing Education (for mature and retired students) than it does at the university itself.

However, higher numbers of healthy yold people will require drastic changes in health spending. Most diseases of ageing are best met with prevention and lifestyle changes.  As most yold people need to preserve and stretch their retirement investments due to longer life expectancy, health investment needs to be met with healthy lifestyle choices. By doing this many of the diseases of ageing will be addressed, as prevention is much better and cheaper than cure.

By being part of Silver Fit you have started investing in your health, and you know what they say about investments – keep at it and slowly build up a healthy reserve.  Being fitter and stronger allows you to make the lifestyle changes you need in order to address many of the diseases of ageing.

So join the movement and become a yold person!