The societal impact of aging baby boomers is compounded by longer life expectancies, which have risen continually over many decades. The implications of these demographic trends are extensive and significant, yet they are just one part of the rapidly changing landscape of aging in the United States and around the world. The impact of the financial crisis and its continuing ramifications have emerged as key concerns, adding to the fiscal challenges of government, and complicating people's financial planning for later life. This is the fifteenth in a series of NBER volumes synthesizing analyses ... More

The societal impact of aging baby boomers is compounded by longer life expectancies, which have risen continually over many decades. The implications of these demographic trends are extensive and significant, yet they are just one part of the rapidly changing landscape of aging in the United States and around the world. The impact of the financial crisis and its continuing ramifications have emerged as key concerns, adding to the fiscal challenges of government, and complicating people's financial planning for later life. This is the fifteenth in a series of NBER volumes synthesizing analyses of economics of aging research. The large majority of this research has been funded by the National Institute on Aging, which has made a longterm commitment to advancing the economics of aging field. A particular focus of the research reported in this volume deals with health, and its relationship to financial wellbeing. Health is perhaps the most essential aspect of what constitutes wellbeing as we age, affects one's ability to work at older ages, and is strongly associated with financial wellbeing. Additionally, health has societal implications, such as for labor markets, government finances and health care costs. Also emphasized in the volume is the potential for interventions and policy changes to improve health and wellbeing, using approaches that may be implemented throughout this system of health-related interactions.