The Century Summit 2023
November 6th
9:00 AM: Welcome and Overview
Ken Stern, Chair, Longevity Project; Century Summit Co-Chair
Laura Carstensen, Founding Director, Stanford Center on Longevity; Century Summit Co-Chair
Karen Biddle Andres, Director of Impact Strategy, Aspen Institute Financial Security Program
9:10 AM: The Big Idea: Redefining Community in an Era of Longer Life
Chip Conley, Founder, MEA (Modern Elder Academy)
Relevant links:
Modern Elder Academy (MEA): https://www.meawisdom.com/
Chip Conley’s book, “Learning to Love Midlife: 12 Reasons Why Life Gets Better with Age”: https://chipconley.com/learning-to-love-midlife/
Research consistently points to social wellness as an important factor impacting health and well-being. Here's a Summary of Research Findings on Social Well-being and Longevity: https://healthnews.com/longevity/healthspan/social-connection-and-longevity/
9:35 AM: The Big Idea: Should We Reinvent our Life Funding Models for an Era of Change?
Tobias Read, Oregon State Treasurer
Anne Ackerley, Managing Director & Head, BlackRock Retirement Group
Aurora Harris, Senior Director of Regional Strategy, Young Invincibles
Karen Biddle Andres, Director of Impact Strategy, Aspen Institute Financial Security Program (moderator)
Relevant links:
Oregon State Treasury Resources for Financial Literacy: https://www.oregon.gov/treasury/your-money/pages/default.aspx
Flexibility is key to combating burnout! BlackRock’s Read on Retirement survey report finds that financial burnout is on the rise: https://www.blackrock.com/us/individual/insights/retirement/2023-read-on-retirement-survey
Young Invincibles research finds generational gaps in financial security: https://younginvincibles.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/FHYA-Final2017-1-1.pdf
Aspen Institute's report about closing the access gap in retirement savings: Moving From 57 Million to Zero: https://www.aspeninstitute.org/publications/moving-from-57-million-to-zero-5-big-ideas-about-closing-the-access-gap-and-making-retirement-savings-work-for-everyone/
10:18 AM: Anticipating and Responding to the Big Changes around Retirement
Ken Dychtwald, Founder and CEO, Age Wave
Ken Stern, Chair, Longevity Project; Century Summit Co-Chair (moderator)
Relevant links:
Age Wave + Edward Jones study on retirement: “Welcome to the new retirement” (2023): https://www.edwardjones.com/us-en/market-news-insights/retirement/new-retirement
Retirement profiles are changing: “Classic” retirement at age 65 is not the most common model, with plenty of people retiring early and choose to re-engage with the workforce in some capacity: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7594171/
11:00 AM: The Big Idea: Creating the Equitable Community
Carol Larson, Stanford Center on Longevity Senior Research Scholar; Former President & CEO, David and Lucile Packard Foundation
Raymond A. Jetson, Wisdom and Longevity Catalyst, IG Co-Lead, MetroMorphosis; Founder, Aging While Black
Carol Naughton, CEO, Purpose Built Communities
Eunice Lin Nichols, Co-CEO, CoGenerate (moderator)
Relevant links:
Learn more about Purpose Built Communities: https://purposebuiltcommunities.org/what-we-do/
Learn more about Aging While Black: https://agingwhileblack.co/
Read more about Jetson's unique approach to mentoring relationships among Black Elders: https://www.nextavenue.org/raymond-jetson-urges-black-elders-to-mentor/
The "Strength of Weak Ties" is a social theory maintaining that "infrequent, arms-length relationships – known as weak ties – are more beneficial for employment opportunities, promotions, and wages than strong ties": https://news.stanford.edu/2022/09/15/real-strength-weak-ties/
12:35 PM: Can the retirement savings system be made more equitable?
12:35 - 12:45 PM: Surya Kolluri, Head, TIAA Institute (presentation)
12:45 PM - 1:25 PM Panel:
Jason Fichtner, Chief Economist, The Bipartisan Policy Center
Aron Szapiro, Head of Government Affairs, Morningstar
Surya Kolluri, Head, TIAA Institute
Karen Biddle Andres (moderator)
Relevant links:
#RetireInequality report by TIAA: https://retireinequality.com/
Social media poses risks for mental health, but also potential benefits. The type and nature of social media use are probably the determining factors: https://www.hhs.gov/surgeongeneral/priorities/youth-mental-health/social-media/index.html
Defined benefit pensions may reduce inequality, a UC Berkeley study found that “Pension income provides a critical buffer against economic hardship in old age for all groups, especially Black and Latino seniors, seniors without college degrees, and women.” https://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/closing-the-gap-the-role-of-public-pensions-in-reducing-retirement-inequality/
TIAA's "income test drive" is: "A feature that lets you experience lifetime variable income payments for a 2-year period before making a final commitment. You have the flexibility of canceling anytime without cost or penalties.": https://www.tiaa.org/public/retire/financial-products/annuities/retirement-plan-annuities/income-test-drive
1:28 PM: The Role of Housing in Healthy Communities: The Federal Perspective
Julia Gordon, Assistant Secretary for Housing and Federal Housing Commissioner, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Paul Irving, Senior Advisor, Center for the Future of Aging, Milken Institute (moderator)
Relevant links:
The federal government recently published a set of guidelines to improve social determinants of health among older adults: https://health.gov/our-work/national-health-initiatives/healthy-aging/social-determinants-health-and-older-adults
Check out how your community is doing in terms of factors like education, housing, and health features with Milken Institute’s Community Explorer: https://milkeninstitute.org/research/community-explorer-interactive-tool
Access to high-quality home-based care is inequitable. Black and Hispanic home health patients are significantly less likely than their White counterparts to use high-quality home health services: https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/10.1377/hlthaff.2021.01408
2:05 PM: Home, Place and Where We Will Live our Longer Lives
Seth Sternberg, CEO, Honor
Dr. Terry Fulmer, President, The John A. Hartford Foundation
Amy Yotopoulos, President and CEO, Avenidas (moderator)
Relevant links:
The John A. Hartford Foundation found bipartisan support for policies that aid family caregivers: https://www.johnahartford.org/images/uploads/resources/JAHF-Age-Friendly-OnePager-Final.pdf
More information about the RAISE act: https://acl.gov/programs/support-caregivers/raise-family-caregiving-advisory-council
The Stanford Center on Longevity found that caregivers experience better emotional well-being when they can fulfill emotionally meaningful goals. https://longevity.stanford.edu/spotlight-on-caregiving/
2:45 PM: The Big Idea: What Communities can do to Foster Social Capital
Edward Garcia, Founder and Chair, Foundation for Social Connection
Marc Freedman, Founder & Co-CEO, CoGenerate (moderator)
Relevant links:
Across generations, people find personal and communal value in age diversity. Over 90% of Americans at least somewhat agree that working across generations can help America better solve its problems and bridge divides. Read the full report: https://cogenerate.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Encore-Cogneration-Report-1.pdf
According to the surgeon general, loneliness increases the likelihood of premature death by 26%, and social isolation increases the chances of premature deaths by 29%. In all, lacking social connections is comparable to smoking 15 cigarettes a day! https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/surgeon-general-social-connection-advisory.pdf
3:15 PM: The Engaged Community: The View from Street Level
Josh Hodges, Chief Customer Officer, NCOA
Carrie Schwab Pomerantz, Director, The Charles Schwab Corporation; Chair Emeritus and current Board Member, Boys & Girls Club of America
Martha Deevy, Associate Director and Senior Research Scholar, Stanford Center on Longevity
4:50 PM: “Join Or Die” discussion
Bob Putnam, author of “Bowling Alone”; Professor Emeritus, Harvard University
Pete Davis, filmmaker
Martha Deevy (moderator)
Relevant links:
Learn more about “Join or Die” here: https://putnamdoc.com/
If you would like to see the film, you can request a screening in your community! Use this form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdL-lHkrhs-NqV_HLiRMHyyM4SNOe31PKPgTImLM5Jh7cXu8Q/viewform
END OF DAY 1
November 7th
9:10 AM: Beyond Wages: The Future of Income When We’re Not Working
Dylan Tyson, President, Prudential Retirement Strategies
Devon Gray, President, EPIC
Ida Rademacher, Vice President, The Aspen Institute and Co-Executive Director, Aspen Institute Financial Security Program (moderator)
Relevant links:
Guaranteed income podcasts: https://open.spotify.com/search/Guaranteed%20income/podcastAndEpisodes
Data visualizations from 30+ guaranteed income pilot programs across the United States: https://guaranteedincome.us/
Research finds no evidence supporting the fear that Universal Basic Income might have a negative effect on labor force participation. The support for benefits is not overwhelming, though benefits are more likely to be observed among those who are most disenfranchised. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(18)32083-X/fulltext
9:52 AM: When Complexity Meets Longevity: The Federal Perspective
Rep. Young Kim (R-CA)
Tim Shaw, Policy Director, Aspen Institute Financial Security Program (moderator)
Relevant links:
Tim Shaw co-authored a brief providing a roadmap for a national commission that would prepare a national financial inclusion strategy: https://www.aspeninstitute.org/publications/building-blocks-of-wealth-a-national-financial-inclusion-strategy/
10:13 AM: When Complexity Meets Longevity: Navigating Our Financial Futures
Tina Haley, SVP & Head of Product, Corebridge Financial
Annamaria Lusardi, Senior Fellow, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research
Chris Farrell, Senior Economics Contributor, Marketplace
Kerry Hannon, Senior Columnist, Yahoo Finance (moderator)
Relevant links:
As an example of financial complexity meeting longevity, Chris Farrell talks about how we’re seeing a lot more older adults paying off student debt (and it’s often their own student debt!): https://www.marketplace.org/2023/09/14/older-people-also-face-student-loan-debt-burden-with-payments-looming/
Older adults are the only age group in the US to see an increase in poverty rates! National Council on Aging: https://www.ncoa.org/article/latest-census-bureau-data-shows-americans-65-only-group-to-experience-increase-in-poverty
Around the world, governments and organizations are trying to take on the challenge of financial education. A review of evaluations of financial education: https://cepr.org/voxeu/columns/financial-education-effective-and-efficient
Corebridge financial's Funding Longer Lives report: https://www.corebridgefinancial.com/insights-education/funding-longer-lives
11:18 AM: The Big Idea: Technology, AI, The Coming Work Revolution and What it Means for How We Plan our Lives
Paul Oyer, The Mary and Rankine Van Anda Entrepreneurial Professor and Professor of Economics, Graduate School of Business, Stanford University
Anika Heavener, Vice President of Innovation and Investments, SCAN Foundation
Angela Aristidou, Digital Fellow, Stanford HAI Digital Economy Lab; Professor, University College London
David Derryck, Entrepreneur in Residence, Aspen Institute Financial Security Program (moderator)
Relevant links:
Thought-provoking piece from Forbes on how AI might affect the future of work: https://www.forbes.com/sites/marenbannon/2023/06/22/how-ai-is-changing-the-future-of-work/?sh=6718566e72e0
Artificial Intelligence has the potential to be incredibly helpful in diagnoses and make doctors more accurate while reducing their workload. That said, AI's usefulness is highly dependent on the quality of data on which it is trained and on the benchmarks used for training AI models for diagnosis. There is still a great need for more work in this area: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41746-021-00438-z
Another nuanced perspective from the US Government Accountability Office: https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-22-104629
Another interesting angle to think about is the "personification" of AI, that is- the ability to use AI agents to know us as individuals to help us do our jobs better. But, there might be some risks involved: https://blog.ccganalytics.com/the-pros-and-perils-of-personification-of-ai
12:00 PM: The Big Idea: Climate Change and What it Means for How We Plan our Lives
Rob Jackson, Professor, Earth System Science, Stanford University
Relevant links:
Prof. Jackson's op-ed: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/19/opinion/air-pollution-fossil-fuels.html
Good air quality is associated with longer, healthier lives: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/living-near-green-spaces-helps-you-live-longer-new-study-n556621
Indoor air quality might be even more important to healthy longevity, given that people spend about 90% of their time indoors, according to the EPA: https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/inside-story-guide-indoor-air-quality
More on the UN's Ecosystem Restoration initiative: https://www.decadeonrestoration.org/
Bill McKibben runs an organization called "Third Act" that encourages people over the age of 60 to take environmental action: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/brief/430904/bill-mckibben
12:45 PM: Reflections: The Global View
John Wong, Isabel Chan Professor in Medical Sciences; Executive Director, Centre for Population Health, National University of Singapore; Senior Advisor, National University Health System
Laura Carstensen, Founding Director, Stanford Center on Longevity; Century Summit Co-Chair
Lynne Corner, Director, VOICE; COO, UK’s National Innovation Centre for Ageing
Ken Stern, Chair, Longevity Project; Century Summit Co-Chair(moderator)
Relevant links:
National Academy of Medicine- Global Roadmap to Healthy Longevity, which Prof. Carstensen helped shape: https://nam.edu/initiatives/grand-challenge-healthy-longevity/global-roadmap-for-healthy-longevity/
Health District @ Queenstown in Singapore: https://www.hdb.gov.sg/about-us/news-and-publications/publications/dwellings/Health-District-Queenstown
The degree to which a population is aging is often described using "Age Pyramids": distribution of the population by age, where younger ages are on the bottom and older ages are on top. An aging society is one in which the pyramid looks more like a rectangle (indicating equal proportion of older and younger people) or even a reverse pyramid (indicating more older relative to younger people). This is a cool resource to see global age pyramids: https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/references/population-pyramids-by-region/
Read more about the City of Longevity project: https://cityoflongevity.uknica.co.uk/; https://issuu.com/nationalinnovationcentreforageing/docs/city_of_longevity_brochure_420_short_ok_3_print
Earlier this year, The National Innovation Center on Aging in the UK hosted the inaugural "Cities of Longevity" conference. Bringing together representatives from dozens of cities across the globe, they started forming a global network of cities learning from one another how to intervene and promote better longevity for their population. Impressions from the first global Cities of Longevity conference: https://www.forbes.com/sites/avivahwittenbergcox/2023/07/11/cities-as-innovation-hubs-of-longevity-societies/?sh=378df249fcd4
The "Ibasho" project: https://ibasho.org/
1:30 PM: Responding to the BIG DELTAS: Workers, Employers & Government
Barbara Marder, President, EBRI
Karin Kimbrough, Chief Economist, LinkedIn
Amanda Renteria, CEO, Code for America
Jialu Streeter, Executive Director, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (moderator)
Relevant links:
Not only do employees prefer to have the ability to work remotely, it seems to be associated with better performance: https://journals.aom.org/doi/abs/10.5465/AMBPP.2021.15255abstract
2:13 PM: The Big Idea: innovating our Care and Paid Leave Structure
Jilma Meneses, Secretary of Washington State Department of Social and Health Services
Susan Golden, Stanford Distinguished Careers Institute; dciX Caregiving Innovations Project (moderator)
Relevant links:
WA Cares Fund: https://wacaresfund.wa.gov/how-it-works
Cost of different types of long term care is high, and on the rise: https://www.genworth.com/aging-and-you/finances/cost-of-care/cost-of-care-trends-and-insights.html/
2:40 PM: Women and Funding Even Longer Life
Catherine Collinson, CEO & President, Transamerica Institute
Crissi Cole, CEO, Penny Finance
Richard Eisenberg, "The View From Unretirement" columnist, MarketWatch (moderator)
Relevant links:
Transamerica's report on women's retirement outlook: https://transamericainstitute.org/research/women-retirement#2023womenretirement
One reason for gender disparities in financial literacy may be due to women’s relative lack of confidence in making financial decisions (not a lack of knowledge). https://longevity.stanford.edu/sightlines-financial-security-special-report-mobile/#gender-report
A less frequently referenced challenge of older workers is the physically demanding nature of many jobs they hold: https://www.epi.org/publication/older-workers-difficult-jobs/
3:15 PM: You and Your Community
Brian Lowery, Professor, Stanford Graduate School of Business; Co-director, Stanford Institute on Race
Laura Carstensen, Founding Director, Stanford Center on Longevity; Century Summit Co-Chair (moderator)
Relevant links:
Brian Lowery’s book “Selfless: The Social Creation of ‘You’” https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/books/selfless-social-creation-you
3:48 PM: The Big Idea: Reconnecting America’s Seniors
Claire Casey, President, AARP Foundation
Ken Stern, Chair, Longevity Project; Century Summit Co-Chair (moderator)