Those of us who "weren't born yesterday" and haven't been hanging out with Rip Van Winkle in Sleepy Hollow know we are in a time unlike any before it. In addition to the many challenges we face — climate change, energy, education, health care, immigration, wealth inequality, and gender and minority inequality, to name a few — we are also in a demographic revolution that will, over the next several decades, result in 50 percent of our population here in the U.S. and Canada as well as in every industrialized country in the world being over the age of fifty for the first time in history.

Increasing longevity, decreasing birth rates, and shrinking tax bases are just a few of the startling and relatively immediate implications this demographic revolution will have for those of us who are older Gen-xers, baby boomers, and elders here in North America and billions more around the world.

Of course, having failed to do a stellar job addressing other critical challenges, it is not surprising that many in our governments, institutions, and businesses, as well as those in the general public are behind the curve on this issue as well. We are, in fact, uninformed on and unprepared for the consequences and opportunities that lie ahead.