Recently, there is a group of trendy elderly people who have attracted the attention of the whole network. Although they are over 60 years old, they are full of energy, they can play anything, they want to try everything, and they have made their retirement life the dream of young people. Why do these elderly people enjoy life so much?
When the old people are trending, there is nothing to do with the young people?In 2023, my mom and I seem to have a consumer personality swap. I only seek stability in the present world, advocate frugality, am keen on Chinese medicine health, pray to God and Buddha, and envy community canteens and universities for the elderly. My mom is always full of energy and enthusiasm for life. 
I thought my mother's retirement life was to go out in the morning to buy groceries, then come home to cook, play mahjong, dance square dances, and pass the time day after day. As everyone knows, my mother's daily schedule is busier than work. When I was a child, I was asked to go to a hobby class, and after I retired, she enrolled herself in a university for the elderly. Dance, calligraphy, Chinese painting, singing, vocal music, ......Learn several talents every day, and never get tired of it.
The image management of my mother also made me unreachable if I just wanted to be a fat house.
In order to maintain a slim figure and wear beautiful clothes, yoga classes and body classes cannot be left behind. You also have to learn flower arrangement and tea art, self-cultivation and temperament. Today, she is the "mainstay" of the community model team, and often represents the community in the north and south. 
My mom used to complain that I "know how to play with my phone", but now, she is also obsessed with mobile phones. Repeat the same process every day when you get home - take off your coat, lie down on the sofa in the living room, put on your reading glasses, then raise your phone, "click" to unlock the screen, and enter the parallel world of the Internet. Play small games, watch**, brush**, watch micro-short dramas, take online classes, visit the live broadcast room, ......It's already her basic operation. 
In terms of "knowledge payment" and "online shopping", my mother is particularly willing to spend money, and the way is wilder than mine. All major ** members have to be arranged throughout the year, and they also love to listen to the parents in the live broadcast room. Looking at the online article, I prefer a million-word long article;watched short dramas, and was reluctant to let go of even meal time. Every day, I can hear my mother's mobile phone alternately transmitting classic quotations from the president and all kinds of bloody incidents. Last month, when I checked the consumption records, I spent thousands of yuan just to recharge.
Because my mother is obsessed with chopping hands in the live broadcast room, there are so many express deliveries at home that you can pile up a small mountain. I have to go to the courier station twice a day to get all the things she buys on Douyin back.
Two days ago, I found out that she was worried that she would be complained about buying too many things, and she would take the express delivery and secretly dismantle it downstairs, just like me who secretly ate it downstairs after buying spicy noodles. 
Like me, my mom has a social circle online.
Douyin and Kuaishou followed elderly bloggers who shared square dancing skills. On Xiaohongshu, my mother loves to watch vlogs of older bloggers' lives. In the mobile phone, there are also several social exclusive apps for the elderly, such as "Beauty Chapter", "Jelly Bean" and "Red Pine". 
Every week, my mom also likes to go out with old friends, or meet friends with literature, or exchange talents, or exercise and fitness, or travel together. Photography, foreign languages, dubbing shows, cruises, public welfare, cycling, ......There are a lot of popular games that I haven't played before, and my mom and old friends can play flowers. 
My mother's retirement life is also too colorful, and it is completely different from the lonely and boring life of the elderly in my impression in the past. Why do the elderly nowadays want to open up and enjoy life?
Why do the elderly want to open it?There have always been a lot of elderly people in China, but why are the old people in the past reluctant to spend money to live a good life?Because most of them have experienced the era of material scarcity, the frugal idea of breaking a penny in half and spending it has been deeply imprinted in the soul, even if the living environment is better now, and there are savings, but they are still reluctant to spend money to be good for themselves. Merchants have not yet lived in an era of affluence and have imagined the needs of the elderly.
Why is it that the old man suddenly sees it now?In fact, it is because the elderly group is divided into two waves, and the previous wave of elderly people has not changed, they are still thrifty and do not consume if they can. The other wave is the new, more energetic and more consumer demand of the younger elderly.
How did this wave of elderly people who love consumption appear?It all started back in 1962. Since that year, China has seen its biggest baby boom, with an average of 25 million births per year. As a result, starting in 2022, there are suddenly more than 20 million retirees. It is estimated that by 2035, China's elderly population aged 60 and above will account for more than 30% of the total population. Our society will shift from being "youth-centric" to "age-centric".
This group of post-60s "new old people" has a relatively good background and personal experience, and they are more open-minded in concept and more willing to enjoy life.
When they were young, they caught up with the resumption of the college entrance examination, reform and opening up, and had a relatively high level of education, and when they became adults, they caught up with China's industrialization, modernization, and informatization, as well as the improvement of nutrition and medical standards. As a result, the income and consumption levels of the "new elderly" have also increased significantly, their minds are more open, their knowledge horizons are broader, and they are more eager to enjoy life after retirement.
When the "new elderly" retire, their children are often already married, and they no longer need to worry too much about the elderly, and can even feed their parents. The newly retired old people have plenty of money and time, so they naturally have to try everything they haven't played while their bodies are still strong.
Last year, most people had to stay at home and had nowhere to spend on masks. This year is good, the pent-up demand finally has a chance to be released, and the "new old people" have begun to be active in various fields, their needs are seen, and life is envied.
What do these trendy, consumer-loving elderly people care about the most when they consume?
"Old leeks" are really easy to cut?The consumption of the "new elderly", like the young people, also values the sense of subjectivity of "my consumption is my decision". However, the order in which their consumption needs are displayed is exactly the opposite of that of young people.
Young people first have rigid consumption and then flexible consumption, while the elderly initially generate elastic consumption demand. They realize that they have the desire to enjoy life, and they also have enough time and resources, and many things that they did when they were young and did not have money or time to do can now be done, and they can "do what they want". After the age of 60, it is not "the rest of your life", but "new life".
After the elastic consumption demand, there is the demand to "recover and maintain youthful vitality". Although the mentality is still young, it is inevitable that the elderly will realize that their physical condition is not as good as before. They want to repair their functions and suppress aging, but they don't want to be classified as "old people who are clearly arranged". The elderly who reported a while ago complained that "young people's clothing is diverse, but the elderly clothing is similar in style and generally old-fashioned", which is a typical manifestation of this demand.
The last stage of consumption of the new elderly is rigid demand. They face up to aging and get along with aging, which gives rise to rigid needs such as elderly care, assistive devices, and care.
With the increase in consumer demand, consumption routines have also begun to circle the elderly. Although many elderly people have crossed the digital divide, they are still "Internet novices", and the Internet has used the idea of deceiving young people in the past, combined with the characteristics of the elderly, and once again grasped the elderly. Some platforms place a large number of advertisements on major apps, and attract people to the pit with gimmicks such as "1 yuan insurance" and "online classes can make money". But as long as you scan the code to learn Xi, it will be turned on by default to automatic renewal, and many elderly people do not find themselves ** until the money is deducted.
The anchors on Douyin Kuaishou who talk about the shortcomings of parents also have routines. Dozens of accounts form a matrixThe story told by each account is related, which is equivalent to a character having n accounts, and a story having more than a dozen characters.
Many warm-hearted elderly people take the story seriously after listening to it, and want to give advice to the anchor, leaving messages, comments, and microphones. But these "helps" are all **,Only fans who tip a certain amount can be eligible for co-hosting. It is not a small amount of money to reward one account after another.
Many "elderly performance troupes" and "model teams" organize the elderly to go out to play competitions at their own expense, which is also to realize the circle of money. Low-cost tour groups, when they arrive in the local area, will guide consumption to "hit the **" ......If you want to solve these problems, you need the elderly themselves to improve their screening ability + children to care more about the elderly + the joint efforts of strict investigation and standardization.
The vision and boundaries of retirement life of the "new elderly" group have expanded from the simple pursuit of providing for the elderly, relying on the elderly, and providing medical care for the elderly, to having fun, learning, and doing something for the elderly. For them, age is not a problem, as long as they are in good health and have a good mentality, they can start a new life anytime and anywhere