Getting old doesn't have to be a pain. But we need to invest in aging Americans. | Opinion
If we don’t invest in it and innovate around it, millennial retirement won’t be a beachfront home in Boca Raton. It will be doom-scrolling GoFundMe pages for long-term care.
My grandfather lived to 99. He built a business, raised a family, retired early − and aged into a system that actually worked. He didn’t beat the odds. America built the odds. Social Security. Medicare. Pensions. Community. These were intentional policies and social infrastructures designed to make aging feel dignified, and something you could plan for.
Like many millennials, I grew up conditioned to believe that the systems my grandfather relied on would not be around for us. So I’ve leaned into the “life’s too short to worry about it” mindset.
Here’s the irony: Life today is actually longer than it was for the Greatest Generation, born in the years 1901-27. And it’s not just lifespan that has been extended. The span of years we can expect to work, parent and enjoy healthy and active lives also is now longer.
Yet, the legacy programs we inherited weren’t built for 30-year retirements, dual-income households or gig work without pensions. Instead of modernizing, we patched holes. Today, policymaking is constrained by election cycles, where sound bites win out over sound policy.
Investment is needed to help America's aging population
Though the Trump administration targets budget cuts and touts efficiency, the private sector remains largely uncoordinated. Technology designed to help people as they age is still seen as niche, and many investment funds haven’t yet recalibrated for the scale of this opportunity. It’s a chicken-and-egg dynamic: Less capital means fewer start-ups, fewer start-ups mean less traction and less traction keeps capital on the sidelines.
Meanwhile, we’re launching billionaires and celebrities into space. But we don’t need to look to the stars for a growth market. The real opportunity is closer to home: the longevity economy. It’s here, and it’s one of the most predictable, high-return opportunities we’ve got.
If we don’t invest in it and innovate around it, millennial retirement won’t be a beachfront home in Boca Raton. It will be doom-scrolling GoFundMe pages for long-term care.
Aging isn’t optional, but doing so with dignity is starting to feel like it is. Growing older doesn't inherently place a burden on the economy. It is, however, a burden for individuals who navigate it without sufficient support.
More than 50 million Americans provide unpaid care for loved ones each year. Their collective labor is valued at $600 billion.
Yet, caregiving barely registers in economic models or public planning. We’ve deferred the costs of aging for decades by approaching it like a personal problem to be privately managed. If we don’t treat aging as a system to invest in, we’ll keep paying for it in all the wrong ways.
The data is clear: The longevity economy, driven by people over 50, already generates $45 trillion in annual economic activity worldwide. That figure is projected to reach $118 trillion globally by 2050.
Older adults outspend younger generations in health care, housing, travel and financial services. They’re driving the demand, but supply side remains undercapitalized.
U.S. health care alone accounts for $1.9 trillion annually. Real estate, aging-in-place tech and home renovations are booming. Older Americans also spend more on leisure and entertainment, and they increasingly demand digital-first, personalized experiences.
Aging population creates opportunities for growth
Aging by design pays dividends. Not just socially but financially. The sooner we build around this reality, the bigger the return. But the market won’t follow until the message leads.
That’s why Venture Vitamin − a think tank I founded − partnered with AARP to convene more than 80 thought leaders across four cities in 2024 and early 2025. These roundtables brought together investors representing more than $20 billion in assets under management and deployable capital, alongside innovators, health care experts, scientists, institutions and policymakers.
What emerged was the beginning of a coordinated effort among those who shape what gets built, who benefits and who pays for it.
We tackled four key questions: Where should we invest? What needs innovation? What policies actually help? And what does aging well even look like?
The insights became the foundation of our white paper, The Business Case for Investing in the Longevity Economy − a collection of perspectives designed to help shape a blueprint to build from.
AARP continues to be a leading force in mobilizing capital through the AARP AgeTech Collaborative. Yet, it will take a coalition of investors, institutions and builders to unlock the full potential of this market.
America is capitalist at heart. But we can be capitalists with a heart. So while Silicon Valley hunts for the “next big thing,” let’s not overlook the sure thing: Making aging great again.
Heather Carter is the founder and general partner of First Money Fund, an early-stage venture fund focused on the longevity economy. She also is the founder of Venture Vitamin, a think tank working at the intersection of aging, innovation and investment.