Laura Carstensen

Adult children tend to be more focused on safety, and their parents tend to be more focused on living a meaningful life.

And so that's where I think we often see the conflict.

And

My personal view on this is we should appreciate that as people come close to the end of their lives, that being able to live their life in ways that give them satisfaction and joy and meaning is important.

probably more important.

I'm saying this tentatively because it's tough, but then there's safety.

Living in a home you've lived in forever is a really important goal for many people in later life.

The vast majority of older people say they want to die living in their own homes.

They don't want to move.

And so I think what we need to do as a society is to help people do that better.

But trying to talk somebody into making a very different life choice because you'll feel better is something that I think younger people should consider when they're feeling uneasy about their parents' situation.

Education is one of the best predictors of quality of life and physical functioning in later life.

And I think it's remarkable that in almost all studies, we're taking that education from decades earlier, from when people were children into maybe their early 20s, but that's stretching it, right?

And then education ends for most people in the United States.

And still, their levels of education early in life are predicting how well they're doing in later life.

Imagine if education was integrated all the way through.

This is the kind of world I believe we really need to create.

The model we have today that guides us through life suggests that the first part of life is about education and learning.

You go to school, you learn a trade.

The second part of life is about work and family.