The number of people reaching the age of 100 is expected to be in the millions worldwide by 2050. If this is true, then just as Mr. McGuire had one word of advice (“plastics”) for Benjamin’s future in the 1976 film ‘The Graduate,’ I have two words of advice for today’s investors: “birthday candles.”
Certainly, all those centenarians running all over the place… well, okay, not actually running, but just by their mere existence, could have a major impact on various aspects of senior living. Like our Sun City age 55+ communities.
How many centenarians are going to want to mingle with a bunch of whippersnapper 55-year-olds?
And suppose that businesses which currently offer senior discounts had to continue giving them for 40 or more years. Could they even afford to do that?
These are certainly questions worth considering for the future. But for now, I have qualms concerning the whole senior discount issue as it currently stands.
For example, I get $1.00 off the regular price for a haircut which is nice. But sometimes I wonder if it’s worth the hassle.
Every time I enter the barber shop… oops, the hair salon, the girl asks, “Did you check in online?” Naturally, I have no idea what she is talking about and answer “No.”
So, I am punished and must sit and watch while a stream of young customers staring at their phones enters the salon. Which, if I tried to do that, I would no doubt bump my head on the glass door.
All the younger people, of course, “checked in online” so they get to march right past the counter and settle in for their haircuts.
Meanwhile, as I’m waiting patiently, I notice that a young man being worked on is getting a half hour of meticulous care with multiple mirror viewings from every angle, plus scented sprayings, a scalp massage, and deep, probing questions about his romantic adventurous life as if he is James Bond.
My haircut, in contrast, takes about five minutes with the trimming of my eyebrows as the high point. But I get a $1.00 senior discount, and he doesn’t!
