Happy Monday! While many of our readers are enjoying the long Columbus Day weekend, we know there are still plenty of you who want to see the mature marketing news and insights from the past week that had people talking. This week we learn from Senior Housing News that senior living has a new threat looming of which we should be aware. We will also explore what Boomers (and the rest of us) are doing wrong when it comes to saving, per an article from Next Avenue.
Have something to share? We welcome your thoughts, insights and comments.
Most Clicked: This week’s most clicked mature marketing news story shared that there is a new threat to senior living communities…and its name is condo concierge.
According to an article within Senior Housing News, more and more senior living communities are being threatened not by direct competitors, but by condo buildings that are beginning to offer more robust services to their residents. At the forefront of this evolution are residential builders who are thinking beyond the desires of today’s residents to what future residents will require as a part of living well within their buildings. The outcome is incredibly appealing, according to the article, with buildings incorporating resident spaces including art studios, pet grooming and more. Not to mention concierge services to make life even easier.
According to one developer quoted within the article,
“I’m aware of a number of active adult apartment developers right now that are building things for the 55-and-older group, thinking, okay, in 20 or 30 years, we can add a commercial kitchen and evolve as the population evolves.”
Many of my senior living industry friends will note that these are the exact types of services their communities have been offering for years. I would agree, and add that as marketers we need to do a better job of amplifying the lifestyle offerings beyond wellness. Magnifying the glitz.
55+ community Fairing Way, based in Massachusetts, does an excellent job of highlighting their lifestyle — and letting the residents really showcase what it means to them. Their “resident-driven lifestyle” is promoted significantly throughout their website and associated marketing pieces, including videos of real residents sharing what they love about living there. The community features an onsite concierge, Fitness Center and accessible access to surrounding attractions. The value for future residents? A lifestyle that is flexible and exciting (and appealing to residents of today AND tomorrow).
Fairing Way’s video effectively highlights their “resident-driven lifestyle.”
As the market evolves we need to evolve our way of thinking when it comes to how (and what) we highlight within our senior living communities that will appeal to the largest swath of prospects. This could be the determining factor in overcoming this new(ish) threat.
Most Shared: I don’t do as well as I should at saving for my future. But I’m not alone. According to a recent Wells Fargo survey we all have it wrong when it comes to saving, per an article within Next Avenue.
The article shared insights/findings based on a Wells Fargo survey of more than 904,000 households, looking specifically at the habits of Boomers, Gen X and Gen Y savers. The survey compared stock, cash on hand and fixed income allocations against the averages for each category that is recommended at the time of retirement.
The findings said it all, cash is king for all three generations, however that may not be a good thing. The author notes that we should all have at least a portion of our investment in stocks and bonds, noting specifically that investing here allows you to increase your dollars far quicker than the what you’d earn for the cash you have in the bank.
“Based on the Wells Fargo data, there’s no question that all three generations are holding much bigger chunks of their investments in cash than might be expected, however. McMillion surmises some may be doing this to have a “rainy day fund” as protection against a financial emergency.”
The author noted that when it comes to saving the younger generations do not invest as much in stocks, citing fears of market stability as a major concern as well as student loan debt prohibiting investment. Boomers, however, have seen success in investing regardless of the market ups and downs. Ultimately the author concluded that we all need to have cash available should an emergency occur, but the real opportunity to prepare financially for retirement is in more aggressive, growth-oriented investments.