Heres the million, or lets say, billion-dollarquestion: What is aging well and how do you do it? Whats the secret elixir?

There are expert presentations on a TedTalk playlist: How toMake You Feel Good About Getting Older.And there are droves of self-help books, exercise regimes, healthy diet gurusand lines of cosmetics that this query has spawned.

Thats where Marc Freedman, founder and chief executive ofEncore.org and the author of How to Live Forever: The Enduring Power of Connecting the Generations, comes in.

Freedman is one of those experts on thelongevity revolution who makes you stop and listen. Really listen. Trust me onthis. In his latest book, out in paperback this week, he explores longevity,youth, purpose and happiness, and the role older people can play in giving backto the next generation.

Hes not a disciple of retirement. As he told me in an interview: All too often, individuals are left to their own devices when it comes to finding a new sense of purpose in a postretirement period that could be as long as the middle years in duration. Many feel like they are all alone in navigating the new terrain, practically and emotionally.

Learning to age well requires anemotional shift. More yesterdays than tomorrows has a way of adding an urgencyto this stage of life. Time is more precious. Freedman says. Questions ofpurpose and legacy are more prominent. That can sound depressing, but for manypeople it is a powerful source of motivation for making the most of thisperiod.

I spoke with Freedman about hisbook, How to Live Forever, and his views of aging well. The highlights of ourconversation are below and have been edited and condensed.

We now have more people over 60 in this country than under18. How can we make an aging society work?

America is becoming a much more multigenerational society,with five generations alive at the same time. This is no temporary blip; its apermanent shift. Some see this transformation producing a zero-sum battlebetween old and young over scarce resources, but this dystopian scenario runscounter to much of human history.

Actually, theres good reason for optimism. Anthropologists now believe it was the role of grandmothers caring for young children (and allowing mothers to gather more food) that served as the turning point in our becoming human beings in the first place. And developmental psychologists studying both ends of the age spectrum today are discovering that the needs and assets of younger and older people fit together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Just ask any grandparent.

Nows the time to build on these inherent and complementaryassets. Lets find new ways to bring the generations together to forge bonds,find joint purpose, and bridge divides. Intergenerational connection could be adefining feature of American resilience in the 21st century.

How has the pandemic affected the generational divide?

Lets face it, a powerful message to our generation I saythis as a 62-year-old has been stay home, stay safe and stay out of theway. That message has reinforced ageism and the age segregation that has grownso rampant in American society. Its driven a wedge between generations, withinfamilies and in communities.

At the same time, by separating us, the pandemic hasawakened a deeper appreciation for our essential interdependence across age andled to calls for the creativity that will be needed to bring young and oldtogether again when its over.

You call for dramatic innovation in the ways we bringgenerations together. What are you seeing in the past few years that excitesyou?

Were going to need to be as creative in bringing people together across age as weve been in splitting them apart, an imperative all the more urgent in the context of COVIDs toll. The good news is that innovation is already under way.

I recounted many examples of innovative practices in Howto Live Forever, but Im even more heartened by the wave of innovation Ivewitnessed since the book was first published two years ago. One of my favoriteexamples is Nuns and Nones,originated by a group of young changemakers, spiritually-inclined butreligiously unaffiliated (the nones), who sought out older Women Religiousall over the country (the nuns) for guidance about living a good life andleaving the world better than we found it.

Nuns and Nones also underscores how much of the push towardgenerational connection and collaboration is coming from young people. Youngsocial entrepreneurs are behind Nesterly, a homesharingplatform that brings homeowners with room to spare together with collegestudents who need affordable rents; Big & Mini, acommunity thats reducing isolation by helping to create intergenerationalfriendships; and Mon Ami, an app thats beingused by governments and nonprofits to mobilize large-scale volunteer efforts.

And there are so many more. I encourage folks to take a lookat our 15 new Gen2Gen Innovation Fellows.The work theyre doing gives me confidence about our future.

How can individuals age-integrate their own lives, even inthe pandemic?

It all comes down to a pair of priorities: proximity andpurpose. Hows that for alliteration!

By proximity, I mean finding ways to encounter individuals of different ages and generations, whether in the course of daily life or even via Zoom. To resist the scourge of age segregation.And by purpose, Im talking about the need to make these intergenerational connections in ways that reinforce common, shared interests that animate our lives.

We could go a long way to finding proximity and purpose inthis country, for example, by creating intergenerational service programs aimedat connecting youngers and olders to use their complementary skills to solvelocal problems like contact tracing, feeding the hungry, educating children,and rebuilding after disasters.

But theres one more way to age-integrate that anyone can doright now, no infrastructure needed. In a word, listen. One of my mentors, inhis 80s at the time, once told me its a lot more important to be interestedthan to be interesting. Its certainly one of the keys to bridgingdifference, across age as well as many other divides.

Does it matter that we now have the oldest president in thenations history?

Its a striking paradox: Just as were pushing more and moreolder people to the sidelines during this time of pandemic increasing notonly loneliness but its close cousin, purposelessness weve also witnessedthe leadership of so many older men and women.

The nearly 80-year-old Dr. Anthony Fauci has served as a voice of calm reason and deep knowledge throughout the battle with COVID. Elder icons like the late Congressman John Lewis and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg continued their lifes work to build an equitable society with deep passion to the very end. And now we have the oldest president-elect in American history.

Some express legitimate concerns about a gerontocracy holding on to power at the expense of younger people. All the more reason that our elder leaders, starting with the new president, should take this moment to call the generations to common purpose, to ask old and young alike to roll up their sleeves to create a stronger, more cohesive society together, and to make the most of the multigenerational moment already washing over us.

Thanks for your time, Marc. My personal favorite takeaway. Its a lot more important to be interested than to be interesting.

Kerry Hannonisa leading expert and strategist on work and jobs, entrepreneurship, personalfinance and retirement. Kerry is the author of more than a dozen books,includingGreat Pajama Jobs: Your Complete Guide to Working From Home,Never Too Old To Get Rich: The Entrepreneurs Guide To Startinga Business Mid-Life,Great Jobs for Everyone 50+,andMoney Confidence.Her on Twitter@kerryhannon

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What is the secret to aging well? - MarketWatch