Retirees use technology to stay supported

Global Business

Retirees use technology to stay supported

It’s a fact of American life, the baby boomer generation, born right after World War II, is hitting retirement age, and putting resources to the test. But that generation armed with technology and knowledge of a shared economy, is coming up with innovative ideas to maintain their independence. Mark Niu reported from Berkeley, California.

Eighty-year-old Barbara Daly makes a call that’s answered by an Ashby Village coordinator with a virtual network of volunteers at her fingertips. She sends out emails to candidates fit for the job, and voila a volunteer repairman arrives at Daly’s home to change the light bulbs.

“Even though I might be able to do something like climb a ladder. I don’t feel comfortable doing it,” Daly said.

Retirees use technology to stay supported

It's a fact of American life, the baby boomer generation, born right after World War II, is hitting retirement age, and putting resources to the test. But that generation armed with technology and knowledge of a shared economy, is coming up with innovative ideas to maintain their independence. Mark Niu reported from Berkeley, California.

Ashby Village’s executive council discusses how its volunteer network can best serve its 320 retired members.

Ashby is one of 140 virtual villages nationwide, with just as many currently in development.

“More of us can’t ask, ‘can you take the afternoon off to take me to a doctor’s appointment or to take me grocery shopping?’ We don’t want to rely on that. We wanted to build a community where this was the focus, support each other and it was okay to ask,” Pat Sussman, Co-Founder Ashby Village said.

Virtual villages are non-profit organizations that survive off volunteers, donations and membership fees. For example, at Ashby Village, membership costs $750 a year per person or $1,200 per household.

Volunteer Kristina Holland recently became a member and is on assignment to drive 93-year-old Margie Pezzaglia to the store. But on these jobs, something else develops, friendships.

Researchers in Hong Kong are also studying U.S. virtual retirement villages to see if the model can translate to Asia. After all, Chinese do have a saying: “What’s more important than a faraway relative, is a nearby friend.”