Recent News
The Purpose and Promise of Longer Lives
April 3rd, 2024 | Buck Institute Podcast
Renowned Stanford psychologist Laura Carstensen speaks with Gordon about the experience of aging, in the past and in the future, and why changes in culture must accompany changes in health-span so we can flourish as a society.
Aging with purpose: Why meaningful engagement with society matters
Oct 23rd, 2023 | McKinsey Health Institute
A McKinsey Health Institute analysis shows older adults are happier and healthier when they engage more in society—and helping them do so could benefit the economy.
How to redesign your life for a century innings?
Oct 3rd, 2023 | Wisdom Circle
In 2018, the Stanford Center on Longevity launched an initiative called The New Map of Life. The headline for the initiative simply read, “The 100-year-life is here, and we are not ready.”
100 Years to Thrive: Designing a Wealthier Life
Sept 14th, 2023 | Commonwealth Club
Feel like you are always running out of time? What would you do differently with an extra 25 years of longevity to build a fulfilled life? In this talk, Dr. Laura Carstensen and Mark T. Johnsen will touch on the multiple facets of building a wealthier life with increased life spans.
Rosh Hashana Can Change Your Life (Even if You’re Not Jewish)
Sept 13th, 2023 | NYT
Research shows that thinking about endings and beginnings helps people make decisions about their future that bring them more happiness.
Are You Prepared for a 60-Year Career?
Sept 13th, 2023 | WSJ
As Americans live longer, healthier lives, the traditional 40-year career will become a thing of the past. Our three-part series explores how to navigate a longer career and what it could mean for the future of work and your finances. This first episode examines what exactly a 60-year career might entail and how you can start mentally preparing yourself for one.
A New Map for Financial Longevity Planning
Sept 11th, 2023 | Morning Star
Every investor ages, so we invited Laura Carstensen to the stage during MICUS2023 to share her longevity research. As the founder of the Stanford Center for Longevity, she provided a bird’s-eye view of the new blueprint we need to better support century-long lives.
The Best Years of Your Life
June 27th, 2023 | Hidden Brain
Aging isn’t just a biological process. Our outlooks and emotions also change as we age, often in ways that boost our well-being. Psychologist Laura Carstensen unpacks the science behind this surprising finding and shares what all of us can learn from older people.
“We Have 30 Extra Years”: A New Way of Thinking About Aging
April 27th, 2023 | Stanford Business
People around the world are living, working, and learning longer. Get ready to upgrade your old ideas about longevity.
Here Comes the 60-year Career
February 12th, 2023 | WSJ
As people live longer, healthier lives, the traditional 40-year career will become a thing of the past.
Experts on changing attitudes about work and aging
October 26th, 2022 | The Washington Post
The Washington Post Live met with Jason Furman, former economic advisor to President Obama, and Laura Carstensen, founding director of Stanford’s Center on Longevity, about the opportunities and challenges of an aging workforce and the impact on the national economy.
8 Everyday Health and Wellness Habits Linked With a Longer Life
September 16th, 2022 | Everyday Health
The average life expectancy in the United States is on a historic decline. Here are research-backed habits you can do every day to help improve your likelihood of living a long, healthy life.
Food Rx: A Longevity Expert Shares What She Eats in a Day
September 14th, 2022 | Everyday Health
The founding director of the Stanford Center on Longevity talks about intermittent fasting, the Mediterranean diet, and having wine with her dinner. Read more about her food diary here.
4 Important Things We Get Wrong About Aging, According to a Longevity Expert
August 2nd, 2022 | Prevention
Aging brings surprising benefits, according to Stanford longevity expert Laura Carstensen, Ph.D. It’s time to debunk aging myths, rethink our routines, and reinvent the future.
The Sad Fact of Reminiscing About Good Times
Juner 22nd, 2022 | UCLA Anderson Review
To reminisce is to reach into our memory bank and gift ourselves the emotional upside of remembering a happy time. Yet there seems to be an unintended consequence.
5 Ways to Prepare for a Longer Life
March 17th, 2022 | Stanford Magazine
Today's youth likely have decades of “extra” time coming to them. Psychologist Laura Carstensen wants them to spread those years out.
The Future of Work Apparently Means 60 years of Employment
December 14th, 2021 | CNBC
Stanford Professor Laura Carstensen joins The News with Shepard Smith to report on the future of work, when people will almost certainly work longer than we do today.
The Future of Work Is a 60-Year Career
December 14th, 2021 | The Atlantic
Humans may soon live to be 100, which likely means more years on the job. That could be a good thing, if we take the opportunity to redesign work.
CBS Sunday Morning: Forever Young--Searching for the Fountain of Youth
November 29th, 2021 | CBS Sunday Morning
Stanford Center on Longevity’s Laura Carstensen explains why people are living longer and how it affects future planning.
As We Live Longer, How Should Life Change? There Is a Blueprint.
November 23rd, 2021 | The New York Times
The New Map of Life” reimagines education, careers, cities and life transitions for lives that span a century (or more).
Contemplating Death: A Secret for Happiness
October 31st, 2021 | How God Works Podcast
Join Dave and his guests, psychologist Laura Carstensen and Catholic priest James Martin, as they talk about why thinking about death can be a useful exercise for improving your life at any time, not just in the midst of a pandemic.
Charting a New Map of Life
October 27th, 2021 | APS
A conversation between Jennifer L. Eberhardt and Laura L. Carstensen about lengthening life expectancies, recasting the built environment, and rethinking social norms.
6 Planning Points to Help Clients Live Long and Prosper: Morningstar
September 22nd, 2021 | ThinkAdivisor
Stanford Center on Longevity’s Laura Carstensen explains why people are living longer and how it affects future planning.
Podcast: Laura Carstensen: 'I'm Suggesting We Change the Way We Work'
September 15th, 2021 | Morningstar
Americans don't just need to work longer, they need to work differently, according to a noted longevity researcher.
Children caregiving for aging parents feel anger, stress, frustration
July 8th, 2021 | USA Today
Furious at your parents for aging? You're not alone. It's a stressful transition when adult children begin to see their parents less as capable caregivers and more as those needing care themselves.
Your Messaging to Older Adults is Outdated
July 2nd, 2021 | Harvard Business Review
Given a rapidly aging population, effective messaging to older people holds national importance for public health as well as marketing of goods and services. However, market segmentation based on age has become futile. To better reach older populations, the authors recommend three strategies.
How to — and How Not to — Message Older Americans
April 21st, 2021 | UCLA Anderson Review
People over 50 don’t respond to nudges and pitches in the way their kids and grandkids do, but researchers say decades of findings can help fine-tune messaging.
Why Science Says Your Best Years Are Yet To Come
April 2nd, 2021 | WBUR
New studies show that even in the midst of a pandemic that disproportionately took older lives, people over 50 were generally mentally better off. We hear why science says your best years could be yet to come.
Why Older People Managed to Stay Happier Through the Pandemic
March 12th, 2021 | The New York Times
New research from Stanford University over the last year show that the ability to cope improves with age.
Worried About Agism? Where You Live Matters.
Feb 1st, 2021 | Wall Street Journal
A recent study, authored by our Hannah Giasson, found that implicit bias—a subconscious negative attitude—against older people was most prevalent in the Northeast and Southeast. And age bias might affect how older people are treated in the pandemic.
Death With Dignity: How I Helped My Dad Die
Jan 27th, 2021 | Bloomberg
“His body wrecked by ALS, my father insisted that his death, like his life, was his to control.” Journalist Esme' Deprez tells her personal story of caring for her father near the end of his life, featuring comments from Dr. Carstensen.
Despite Covid-19, Older People Are Still Happier
Dec 11th, 2020 | Wall Street Journal
Aging usually brings greater calm and contentment. New research shows that’s still true in 2020, even though there is more coronavirus risk for the elderly.
The Foreseeable Future
Dec 1st, 2020 | Stanford Magazine
“Making predictions about 2021 seems downright foolhardy. We did it anyway.”
Check out Dr. Carstensen’s excerpt with her predictions for 2021. #8. You’ll get even closer to your loved ones. Emotionally, that is.
During Covid-19, There Are Advantages to Being Older
Nov 16th, 2020 | Wall Street Journal
Despite the health risks, age can make people more resilient. Research shows that past experience with difficult times is part of the reason older people seem to be coping well during the pandemic.
How Covid-19 Will Change Aging and Retirement
Nov 15th, 2020 | Wall Street Journal
As the pandemic wreaks havoc on our mental and physical health, it is also quietly reshaping how Americans will face retirement and old age in the years to come. Among other things, expect more aging in place and a wave of innovation to help make that happen
Older People are Doing Alright
OCT 27 2020 | Stanford News
Despite being most at risk when contracting COVID-19, older adults reported feeling calm more often than younger people, and were less likely to report negative emotions like anxiety compared to people their junior, according to a recent study by Stanford psychologist Laura Carstensen.
Prepare For This Unexpected Retirement Risk
OCT 22 2020 | FORBES
Pre-retirees face several potential risks during retirement that require their focused attention and planning, such as outliving their money, stock market crashes, inflation, and the high cost of medical bills. Now the COVID pandemic has exposed another risk for you to consider—the negative consequences of isolation in your later years.
No Grumpy Old Men in the World of Chimps
OCT 22 2020 | THE NEW YORK TIMES
Older male chimps follow a pattern that researchers also see in humans, preferring to have positive relationships with a few good friends.
Pandemic reveals inequities among aging populations
OCT 02 2020 | PALO ALTO ONLINE
The U.S. is behind many other countries in its response to seniors during the pandemic, according to an international panel of scholars from Stanford University, Columbia University, the London Business School and the National University of Singapore, which the Stanford Center on Longevity convened virtually on Sept. 17.
This Stanford Scientist Can Make You Feel And Think Younger: Interview With Dr. Laura Carstensen
JUL 13 2020 | FORBES
Have you ever wondered about aging and how to stop it? Would you like to do something about it? Regardless of where you are in life it is worthwhile learning about the field of geroscience and staying atop of the news and recent developments.
We need a major redesign of life
NOV 29 2019 | WASHINGTON POST
As longevity has surged, culture hasn't kept up. In this article, Laura Carstensen breaks down why we need to re-write the traditional, linear life path (education→work/family→retirement) into more fluid routes.
Enjoying the Rest of Your Life
NOV 13 2019 | SQUEEZING THE ORANGE
Professor Dan Cable and comedian Akin Omobitan break down one of our lab's most important papers: The Influence of a Sense of Time on Human Development. They cover how our goals, preferences, and cognitives processes change as our perception of the remaining time in our life shrinks or grows.
Learning As We Age with Laura Carstensen
AUG 18 2019 | SCHOOL'S IN
Do brain-training exercises really work to strengthen memory and learning as we get older? Guest Laura Carstensen, Director of the Stanford Center on Longevity and Stanford professor of Public Policy, weighs in on the conversation.
Grow old with me, the best is yet to be...
OCT 24 2018 | CHARLTON COUNTY HERALD
Our society has struggled with the terminology of aging -- seniors, senior citizens, elders and golden agers are examples of labels that often come across as belittling. But the connotations of the language we use does not line up with reality; research shows that people blossom again as they age.
Does happiness get harder as we get older? One man's journey through his mid-life slump
OCT 18 2018 | NEWSWEEK
After aging out of a years-long period of ennui in his 40’s, writer Jonathan Rauch turned to empirical research to explain why he inexplicably grew out of his overwhelming dissatisfaction of a successful life. His book, “The Happiness Curve; Why Life Gets Better After 50”, takes a deep dive into...
The truth about money with Ric Edelman
SEP 30 2018 | WLS 890AM
With life expectancy doubling over the past 150 years, the world is now faced with the challenge of ensuring happiness and meaning in individuals far later in life than in previous times. Our current "map of life" is becoming increasingly outdated, and Dr. Laura Carstensen, the founding director of...
Adam Grant says the work day should end at 3 pm
SEP 19 2018 | QUARTZ AT WORK
In a fast-paced and evolving world, some are beginning to question the norms of the American work day, especially its daily duration. A growing movement among industries is leading many to reconsider how work can be completed in a productive manner with the emergence of technologies and other...
Forget 'senior citizen' - Aging baby boomers search for better term
AUG 28 2018 | WALL STREET JOURNAL AND THE AUSTRALIAN
Baby Boomers, as well as older americans classified as 'senior citizens,' are struggling to find a well-connotated term for their age group. The terms being used currently don't sit well with them, as they attempt to maintain their independence and individuality in the later stages of their lives....