I’m an entrepreneur focused on helping people afford to age and access great quality care. I was employee #2 at Livepeer, and left to start a senior housing startup after navigating care for my grandparents and learning about how depressing and expensive the options are. I have been thinking about how to utilize token models to help people afford to age. I’ve written in depth about this topic here.

The concept of social security arose in 1935 after the great depression. The crash sent elderly people into poverty. Countries across the world created an automated deduction from pay checks to fund a “social insurance program designed to pay retired workers after they turned 65.” Economists estimated based on population growth rates, interest rates and inflation, how much money should be taken out and how it should be invested. They were wrong about their estimations. The US government Social security is set to run out by 2034. But, we’re not the only one’s who have underestimated funding needed:

1. The Population increased after the Depression then Decreased

   The number of people over 65 is doubling from 44M today to 89M by 2050. 70% of these people will need long term care, relying on Social Security to fund their needs. In parallel, the birth rate is slowing down and the population rate is decreasing, meaning there is less revenue to collect from younger generations.

2. Life Expectancy Increasing

   Life expectancy in 2050 will be 94 years old, compared with 79 in 2000.

3. Interest Rates Changed

   The Social Security trust funds are invested entirely in U.S. Treasury securities. By the end of 2020, the trust funds had accumulated $2.9 trillion worth of Treasury securities, earning an average interest rate of 2.5 percent during that year. That does not NEARLY keep up with the cost of care.

4. The percentage of people with chronic conditions is increasing

5. Expense of senior goods are increasing more than overall inflation

How the F***** will we afford to age?

In 2031, the first boomers will turn 85. 70% will need what’s called long term care, which is help with activities of daily living such as bathing, going to the bathroom, medication adherence. 24/7 long term care costs about $20,000 per month at home. No products exist to prepare our system to cover the costs of long term care, which not covered by Medicaid, Medicare, or the Affordable Care Act. Less than 50% of boomers retire with less than $100K.

Today, here are the options for receiving care:

• Family: 95% of family caregivers end up quitting their jobs

• Medicare: Based on 3-day hospitalization, you get days 0–20 at 100%, Days 20–100 you are covered after spending $105/day, and after day 100 you get NOTHING.

• Medicaid: spend down required to be eligible. You are able to access specific types of long term care, traditionally institutional. The types of places that this coverage afford are places you do not want to go.

• Personal Savings: annuities, riders, immediate need annuity, non-insurance products, home care insurance.

• People are starting to use reverse mortgages to finance LTC.

• Long term care insurance or other annuities. I’ve written at length about why this is an opportunity to innovate.

1. Crypto asset class will continues to grow

2. America will see a population decline

3. The cost of care will increase at a faster rate

4. Yield of crypto > yield of Treasury Bonds

5. Taxes will increase

A Senior Citizen Dividend

City Coins demonstrated that collaboration between citizens and cities is key for cities to be competitive. To be competitive as a city, you need to create an edge offering to attract builders and wealthy people who are relocating across the nation. Must offer global in scope offerings. Cities are no longer confined to physical places. People are thinking of starting families and creating community. The next version of the city gives people control over their amenities.

1. Start with a City

2. Pool capital and earn a yield on it with high-yield bearing crypto assets

3. Send seniors a debit card and have them sign up online with SSN, enter in bills, we take the difference and send to them. Partner with local aging NGOs for enrollment. Track spending and identify ways of lowering costs through discounts, acquisition of key providers.

Rewards for Healthy Choices

We can use science to incentivize and reward healthy lifestyles because the healthier the member base is, the more money available in the pool in case of need of care. Sleep, community, and healthy diet have all been scientifically shown to prevent or delay the onset of dementia and alzheimers. Therefore, members receiving dividends may be gifted a wearable, and earn Token for healthy behaviors like 8 hours of sleep, sugar free streaks on NOOM, and joining local community events. Our app, launching in 2023, will integrate health data and show you how you are tracking towards a long, healthy life. You’ll earn token and be able to access benefits.

Yield Bearing NFT

An NFT built on MiamiCoin earns a yield and will be gifted to students in Miami to able to claim tokens on their behalf. Partnering with Aging Providers, NGOs and help stack/stake on the behalf of seniors might help them earn additional income to afford care. If we can park it in a tax efficient vehicle given its use case, this would help us support our elders.

Mutual Co-Op

Long term, we envision a global co-op that wants to put our fate in our own hands, not those of the government in order to find a better way to age safely. The mutual is designed by members, for members to afford to live long lives without worrying about whether their money will run out. The co-op gives security to members by connecting them with 1) a team who will invest the assets in crypto (token innovation) 2) packaged in tax-efficient products (finance innovation) 3) in a transparent way (product innovation).

Summary

America needs to find a way to cover the 89 million people over 65 over the next 25 years, who will need long term care assistance and can’t afford it on their own. Allocating funds into yield bearing crypto assets and pools is the only thing that today can be structured to help people afford to care at the speed in which we need to come up with funds. Using technology, better underwriting, and a different approach to investing the capital, these products might be able to handle the silver tsunami coming our way. Having operated an assisted living facility, I have a clear sense of where incentives are misaligned and how we can use token models to bend the cost curve of care.