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Preparing for the "SILVER TSUNAMI"
The tidal wave is about to crash on Oakland County. By the year 2012, the first of the "Baby Boomers" will reach full retirement age. This has been referred to as the "Silver Tsunami." County officials predict that Oakland County will experience an unprecedented older adult population growth, and that by 2030 the number of seniors in the county will have doubled. Officials also predict that by 2020, almost half of Oakland County's 61 communities will have more seniors over age 65 than school-age children. Another worry is that many seniors -- some surveys say 59-60% -- plan to relocate. This could be a devastating loss to local communities, Oakland County, our region, and the State of Michigan. According to the Census Bureau, the median annual income for an Oakland County householder age 65 and older in 2007 was $40,598 -- from Social Security, pensions, and/or investment earnings -- that are imported into our local economy; and on average, seniors spent 92% of this $5.5 billion. With this in mind, County and Community leaders understand they must be proactive in addressing his coming senior population boom, the anticipated exodus of many seniors, health care and other needs of seniors, and the adverse economic impact of all of this on the local economy. To be proactive, Oakland County Commissioners, Oakland County agencies and business leaders have formed the Senior Planning Coalition and the Senior Advisory Council to collaborate to produce a strategic plan to deal with these future situations and their economic and social implications. The following links will take you to various documents to show who is working together, and what they hope to accomplish:
Please return to this site periodically for updates on the progress of the
Senior Planning Commission.
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