On November
22nd, 2006, the MIT AgeLab and financial
services leader, The Hartford, held
a panel discussion at MIT entitled
"The Future of Longevity." The event
commenced a new stage in the AgeLab/Hartford
multiyear, multimillion dollar research
collaboration, which will focus
on longevity planning, retirement,
and decision making.
In his opening speech,
Dr. Joseph Coughlin, founder and
director of the AgeLab, explained
that the latest AgeLab/Hartford
endeavor will go beyond investigating
ways of saving and spending to explore
how we will work, play, and transport
ourselves successfully in the future.
Dr. Coughlin articulated, "we are
going to innovate together to learn
how to live tomorrow." Lisa D'Ambrosio,
MIT AgeLab co-investigator on the
project, stated, "the MIT AgeLab
and The Hartford are real partners
in developing a deeper understanding
of what we can do to help ordinary
Americans plan and prepare successfully
for what have traditionally been
their retirement years."
Using The Hartford's
vernacular, "prepare to live," Dr.
Coughlin set the theme for the project
and the panel discussion on longevity
planning. The discussion was moderated
by John Walters, president of The
Hartford's Wealth Management Group,
and included Ben Stein, columnist,
author and honorary chairperson
of National Retirement Planning
Week, Dr. Coughlin, Maureen Mohyde,
director of Corporate Gerontology
at The Hartford, and John Diehl,
certified financial planner and
president of The Hartford's Retirement
Solutions Group.
Commenting on the
discussion's value to The Hartford,
Walters stated, "It's important
that we understand our clients fully.
We need to know the challenges they
face and what will drive them to
plan, so we can in turn create the
right product and service solutions
to help them." Adding insight to
the discussion, Maureen Mohyde,
also of The Hartford, described
what she termed the "longevity mismatch,"
whereby women are expected to live
longer than men and many couples
do not plan for a scenario in which
the woman may live an additional
10 or 15 years.
Invoking language
from a 1945 study conducted by former
president of MIT, Vannevar Bush,
on the future of science and technology
in the U.S., Dr. Coughlin referred
to longevity as the new "endless
frontier." He remarked, "I'd like
to argue that longevity, something
that humankind has sought since
time began, quite frankly is a new
reality." It is an endless frontier
for us on a personal level, on a
public level, and indeed for those
of us at the MIT AgeLab, on a research
level."
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