AARP Supports DSW

AARP is all about empowering people to choose how they live as they age. We are thrilled to be part of Denver Startup Week to interact with the region’s tech innovators and explore how tech can help improve our lives.

Did you know that 50-plus people in Colorado generate $134.9 billion in economic activity? And that overall across the U.S. this demographic of 111 million people generates $7.6 trillion in economic activity? This trillion dollar number represents the sum of all economic activity driven by the needs of Americans aged 50 and older and includes both products and services they purchase directly and the further economic activity this spending generates.

Our Longevity Economy research also found that 50-plus workers are a contributing force in the workplace and have high rates of entrepreneurship. In fact, people 50-plus are staying employed for longer, earning wages, spending more money, generating tax revenue, and producing economic value for an extended period of time. Those aged 55-64 have had the highest rate of entrepreneurial activity in the US over the last 10 years and one in three businesses in the US in that timeframe was started by an entrepreneur aged 50 or older. And the Colorado entrepreneur rate of people 50-plus is 17 percent compared with 9 percent for people 25-49.

I look forward to sharing more information, including Colorado’s economic and entrepreneurial contributions, during my panel on Tuesday, Sept. 26, from 4 to 5:30 p.m., titled:  “Aging, Innovation and the $7.6 Trillion Longevity Economy.”

I hope to see many of you there.

Jody Holtzman is senior vice president of 50+ market innovation for AARP.