Putting “longevity” and “economy” in the same sentence may sound like the start of a great joke. Our bouncing economy goes from great to grim with each change of the news channel. This significant “demographic sea change”, as AARP’s CEO calls it, is about to crash into and forever change our American generational normal.

When I read the research and try to synthesize the information, here’s what I’m taking away:

• Over the next generation, the entire globe’s population of humans 60+ years of age is going to more than double;
• This demographic today is currently the largest consumer market;
• We – businesses, lawmakers, caregivers, and marketers alike – need to start paying closer attention to their needs.

With this seismic demographic shift, a new audience will be birthed, and the market will be forced to listen to the powerful den of voices and begin to make space for them. You can already see this swivel in how Apple is marketing their devices with heart activity tracking and the innovation showing up in glucose monitoring or major partnerships (think: Aetna and CVS, for example).

To take it one step further, what I’m seeing in the healthcare industry is an increase in responsibility for the generation behind this silver tsunami who will soon be the care coordinators for their parents and grandparents. The development of tech as well as interconnectivity for the purposes of remote monitoring or real time care updates is going to take on a heavier importance as this increase begins.

There’s never a better time than now to pay closer attention to these changes and get ahead of the swell. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself on the wrong side of the wave.