The two men, who some commentators suggested seemed to have extraordinary energy – one said Barack Obama seemed to have had energy drink Red Bull – are not teenagers or 20-somethings. In fact, Mitt Romney turned 65 earlier this year, and Barack Obama, while younger at 51 years old, is still a Baby Boomer.
As discussed recently in a Huffington Post editorial, nearly 80 million Americans will turn 65 over the course of the next decade, and that will create a need for about 1.6 million openings for either beds or affordable assisted living.
According to the columnist Ai-jen Poo, while both candidates are independently wealthy, many American seniors are in a very different situation, and that the current situation of an aging population creates a scenario where millions of Americans are getting older and in need of additional healthcare options, but that because these Boomers are no longer working and paying tax, the money isn’t there to pay for the services they need.