The annual conference of the National Council on Aging/American Society on Aging was held this year in Chicago. As in past years, I was like a whirling dervish trying to cover the two main streams of the conference – caregiving and work in an ageing society. I also had the opportunity to present on the issue of Human Rights for Caregivers, but more on that in a future article.

From my perspective, the highlight of the conference was a presentation by Ken Dychtwald, PhD, founder of Age Wave, and I'd like to share just a few of his insights into the future of ageing. Paradoxically, his presentation on the future brought to mind the lessons of the past and the lessons of our elders, for whom self-sufficiency and thrift were the order of the day.

First and foremost, Dr. Dychtwald emphasised the need to understand that in the USA the projected growth in workers between 2005 and 2040 is 20 percent, while the projected growth in the number of retirees is 120 percent. You don't need a crystal ball to realise the impact this will have on our social and economic wellbeing as the USA and other countries face such a huge demographic shift at a time of massive personal and national debt.

While investment gurus focus on the 'new normal' of financial management after the crash of 08/09, there is no 'normal' in our changing demographics. The coming wave of retirement is unprecedented in the history of mankind. And the coming wave of financial hardship among many of those retirees will put a greater burden on those of working age.

We are all in denial, thinking 'surely it can't be this bad'. Unfortunately, the denial factor is fueled by the very optimism that has defined the Baby Boomer generation (those born between 1946 and 1964). After all, didn't they change the world by stopping the Vietnam war, fighting for civil rights and women's rights, and generally rejecting their parents' post-Depression era paradigm of self sufficiency and saving for a rainy day? Aren't Baby Boomers the healthiest, wealthiest, and best educated generation – ever?

Unfortunately, the crash of 08/09 has exposed the soft underbelly of a generation accustomed to easy credit and rampant consumerism. According to Dr. Dychtwald, one third (25 million) of American Baby Boomers have less than $1,000 in net assets, and one in four American home-owners have negative equity in their homes. For those who saved and invested, the crash of 08/09 continues to reverberate through decimated retirement funds and property values.

To offset this gloomy picture, Dr. Dychtwald recommends a 're-setting' of the retirement clock to the age of 70. To do this requires the removal of all legal barriers to what others have described as the three Rs of human capital planning – Retention, Retraining and Recruitment of the older worker. It also requires that we take greater personal responsibility for our health as the epidemic of obesity and other lifestyle-induced diseases reduces our ability to work while increasing the need for very expensive healthcare.

Dr. Dychtwald also suggests a new paradigm of ageing that focuses on personal responsibility, starting with health and financial education in our schools and continuing through retirement. The added benefit of living longer should be viewed as a bonus to be used during mid-life, in education, encore careers, civic engagement and increased physical activity, not as additional years spent in the decline of old age.

He calls for individual and collective "financial rehabilitation" as the generational optimism enjoyed by Baby Boomers hits the hard, cold reality of life after the credit card and debt party of the last few decades. It won't be easy, whether for a country like Greece that is about to default on its massive debts, or each and every one of us as we learn that less can, in fact, be more.

Our elders did not rely on Government handouts that come out of our increasing taxes. They worked hard, took care of their families, and shared what they had with those less fortunate. They did the right thing. While looking to the future we have much to learn from our elders, starting with personal responsibility and thrift.

Marian Sherratt is President of SORCOS, a social research and consulting firm. She writes on issues concerning our ageing population each month in The Royal Gazette. Send e-mail responses to m.sherratt@sorcos.com">m.sherratt@sorcos.com.