The Longevity Revolution

Why investing in the aging consumer is a smart strategy for savvy investors

Ric Edelman: It's Thursday, November 2nd. A major theme of this show is the fact that we're living longer than ever. Longevity. Something you can't ignore. Yeah, it's great that we're going to live longer than ever. But you don't think it's great? You think it'd be better if people only lived as long as they lived 100 years ago? Guess what? You'd be dead right now.

Yeah, in 1900, life expectancy in the United States was 47. Back during the American Revolution, life expectancy was 25. 20% of people never made it past their fifth birthday. Getting pregnant was a leading cause of death. But over the past two centuries, we've made massive improvements in public health. We now understand the importance of clean water. We know about germs and how diseases are spread. We've got antibiotics to kill those germs and vaccines that prevent disease. We've got MRIs and CAT scans that let doctors see what's wrong and esthetics that let them perform surgery.

We're also benefiting from advances in everyday life. Heat and air conditioning protect us from the elements. Indoor plumbing and refrigeration, ample agriculture that lets us avoid hunger. We've also learned the importance of taking care of ourselves. We're living healthier lifestyles. We're exercising, eating healthier, smoking and drinking less, all improvements over the lifestyles of our parents and grandparents. So while they died in their 50s and 60s, we're living into our 80s. And by the time we get to our 80s, we'll be living to our 90s and hundreds and beyond, because medical advances keep going. 

Bottom line. Globally speaking, we're going to have 2 billion people over the age of 60 within two decades, a globally aging population that's affecting a wide range of industries health care, financial services, travel and tourism, education, consumer goods. Let's delve into each one of these.

Health care. The older we get, we know the deal, the more we experience health challenges and chronic conditions. That means a bigger demand for health care services and products and technologies that can all improve our quality of life. Some of the innovations we're already starting to see. Telemedicine. Wearable technology. Digital therapeutics. Personalized medicine.

Financial services, a big deal, too, because if you're going to live to age 100, you've got to make sure your money lasts as long as you do. That means we need new solutions for saving, investing, insuring, and managing wealth. You're seeing lots of innovation in the financial services field that caters to older adults, robo advisors, retirement income products, longevity insurance, and fintech platforms.

And as people live longer, we've got more leisure time. That's a huge deal for the travel and tourism industry. services, products and experiences. And older people want senior-friendly tours, wellness retreats, intergenerational travel because we want to bring the grandkids with us and accessible tourism that leads to education.

Older people love going back to school. They want to update their skills and knowledge. They can remain relevant and productive in the changing economy. This increases the demand for education services, as well as products and platforms that can provide lifelong learning opportunities for older adults. Some examples of these innovations: Online courses micro-credentials peer to peer learning and age-inclusive education.

And then finally, consumer goods. Older people have more disposable income and a lot of purchasing power that they can spend to enhance their comfort. This creates opportunities for consumer goods companies that can offer products designed for the needs and preferences of older consumers. We're talking smart home devices, wearable technology, adaptive clothing, functional foods. Yeah, this sounds fun for all of us as we age. It also means there's an investment opportunity here. So let me just mention one ETF to consider the Global X Aging Population ETF. The symbol is AGNG. “Aging”. It tracks the Indexx Aging Population Thematic Index and invests in companies that are serving the world's growing population of older people.

Most of its holdings are health care companies, and I predict that AI will soon play a role in all of it. AI is all about data. We can produce, manipulate, store, retrieve, transmit data faster and cheaper than ever. Scientists don't have to work alone anymore. There are now teams collaborating across continents in real time. A single team might have a radiation oncologist, a biologist, an evolutionary ecologist, a biophysicist, a geo biologist, and an evolutionary dynamics expert. They might even have a game theorist. New drugs target cancer more precisely in the right dosage, specifically for you, at exactly the right time, or with fewer side effects. And today's massive computational power means we're soon going to be able to produce vaccines in days instead of years.

So although we're all getting older, these new advances in science mean we're going to be aging in a much healthier fashion than our previous generations ever could. It's all pretty exciting. So take a look at the Global X Aging Population ETF, symbol AGNG. Talk to your financial advisor about it. The Global X Aging Population ETF, symbol AGNG.

Israel finds itself forced to fight a war for its very existence. And even though Israel is 6,000 miles from American shores, the war is directly disrupting many American lives. One of them is JB, one of the dedicated advisors at Edelman Financial, and a special episode of my podcast. This Monday, November 6th, I'll share with you the astonishing and admirable actions JB has taken to stand with Israel. I'll tell you of his deeply personal story, which brings this broad global conflict into a perspective of humanity and family. Join me this Monday as we stand for Israel through the eyes and ears - and heart - of JB. 

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