golfkat Travel Blog

Get a load of this:  Just recently the US Census Bureau released new projections, which pointed to an aging America. According to the Daily Mail, adults 65 and older will soon outnumber children for the first time in America’s history. By 2030 all baby boomers will be older than age 65, and one in every five Americans will be retirement age. Not only does this put pressure on our healthcare system, but with a shrinking workforce, and thus lower tax base, the dilemma could cause stagnation and all sorts of unforeseen economic consequences.

But it gets worse:  America, is not alone, however. This is a problem that other rich countries around the world are facing as well. As mentioned above, England and France are grappling with similar issues and Germany’s population is aging as well. The most well-known society with a population that is growing exponentially older is Japan. According to Business Insider, there are now more adult diapers sold than baby diapers in Japanese supermarkets.  In Japan, would you believe they have 75,000 centenarians.

In the U.S., we only have slightly less than 73,000 centenarians.

Yet, look at this data:  Data released today showed life expectancy fell by one-tenth of a year, to 78.6 years, pushed down by the sharpest annual increase in suicides in nearly a decade and a continued rise in deaths from powerful opioid drugs like fentanyl. Influenza, pneumonia, and diabetes also factored into last year’s increase. – WSJ

So, what is the key to this longevity?

Stay mentally active. Staying mentally active may help sustain your memory and thinking skills. You can read, play word games, take up a new hobby, take classes, or learn to play an instrument.

What about you?  Besides the physical part, which we all seem to focus on, the mental is becoming just as much or more important.  Reading and watching TV have limitations.  I get bored with word games after about an hour.  For something new, I took up cycling a few years back, not quite hobby, but it keeps me moving.  And I still try to travel, though not as much as before.  I have been taking classes at both Fresno State and Clovis Community College.  And I took up the guitar a few years ago, though I am not quite ready to join a band.

Although births are projected to be nearly four times larger than the level of net international migration in coming decades, a rising number of deaths will increasingly offset how much births are able to contribute to population growth. Between 2020 and 2050, the number of deaths is projected to rise substantially as the population ages and a significant share of the population, the baby boomers, age into older adulthood. As a result, the population will naturally grow very slowly, leaving net international migration to overtake natural increase as the leading cause of population growth, even as projected levels of migration remain relatively constant.

What does this mean?  First, we need immigrants to come to the U.S., and join the working populace.  Second, the pressure on social services, medical care, long term care, and aging research will increase as well.  The next result, as more of the budget is spent on supporting the aging population, economic growth will invariably stagnate or even diminish!

And story is worse in many other countries, besides Japan.  Many European countries, particularly Germany, and many Scandinavian countries have even worse aging profiles.

Here is another great story:

The demographic time bomb that could hit America – The Washington Post
In 2017, the United States saw the fewest babies born in 30 years, a stat that produced a lot of hand-wringing. But it turns out things could be worse — a lot worse. We could be Japan, whose …
http://www.washingtonpost.com