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Boomers and the Entrepreneurship Boom

The popular imagination associates entrepreneurs with youthful tech geniuses like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. But the next wave of entrepreneurial innovation could come from Baby Boomers, argues Dane Stangler with the Kaufman Foundation.

In the past decade, entrepreneurial activity was stronger among 55- to 64-year-olds than any other age group, Stangler writes in "The Coming Entrepreneurship Boom." Boomers are living longer, enjoy better health and have more vitality than previous generations. "Those entrepreneurial 60 year olds could be 2020's entrepreneurial 70 year olds."

If Stangler is right, seniors could fuel entrepreneurial growth in Virginia's economy. Instead of worrying about how to make communities attractive to younger members of the "creative class," perhaps they should focus on making themselves attractive to retirement-age Baby Boomers. Read more.

A Trying Time in Housing for Elderly

Occupancy rates have been slipping for all types of senior housing, as elderly people find it difficult to sell their homes. The sector's occupancy rate in the first quarter stood at 89.2 percent, a decline of two percentage points from the same period last year, according to the National Investment Center for the Seniors Housing and Care Industry.

The problem is particularly acute at the Fox Hill senior living project in Bethesda, Md., where only 54 of 240 luxury units have filled up since opening six months ago. The project, an initiative of Virginia-based Sunrise Senior Living, was conceived with the idea of letting residents retain equity in their condos on the assumption that they would appreciate in value, writes the New York Times. The collapse of real estate prices since then hasn't exactly helped.

The traditional senior retirement community may have reached its high-water mark. The trend now seems to be toward business models that emphasize aging in place or inter-generational living. Virginia communities should plan accordingly. Read more.

Countries Where Retirees Are Most Likely to Work

Don't want to work after age 65? I hope you live in Europe. Less than 10 percent of employees in European Union countries continue to work after age 65, according to a report released yesterday by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) and the U.S. Census Bureau.

The proportion of people working after age 65 in the European Union ranged from just 2 percent of older men and 1 percent of women in France to 8 percent of men and 3 percent of women in Poland in 2006. Most older people in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand are also able to retire by age 65. In Australia and Canada, just 12 percent of men work after age 65, as do 17 percent of New Zealand men. In the United States 20 percent of men and 12 percent of women age 65 and older go to work each day. Read more.

Still Pitching at 75

OSAKA, Japan - It may be late in the game, but Japan's septuagenarian Osaka Silver Sisters aren't hanging up their baseball gloves and bats any time soon. In matching red and white uniforms, 75-year-old captain Mineko "Mimi" Khosaka and her teammates pitch, hit and run with vigor, writes Reuters.

The Silver Sisters say they plan to play baseball until they turn 80. Until then, Teruko Yoshida, 75, says winning will remain her top priority. "I'm very competitive so I give my best to hit every ball. I'm also very focused so I tend to forget all the body pain until I get home when I finally realize all the back and knee pain," she said.

Parks and Recreation departments, brace yourself for seniors re-living (or prolonging) their youth on ball fields and tennis courts across Virginia! Read more.