Here at Senior-Clique.com, we have developed an all-inclusive, one-stop-shopping, if you will, on-line community based website.  We have it all; news and current events, email, easy access to housing directories, safety tips for seniors, ideas for saving money and retirement, Medicare information, health concerns, and the list goes on and on.....  However, we have taken a different approach in the services we provide to our members.

During the early development stages of this site, we came to the understanding that all people - young, old, rich, or poor have a commonality in that we all desire to possess a sense of belonging.  It is this human instinct that drives us to categorize people as either different than ourselves or similar. 

We all find comfort in having some sense of familiarity, or in this instance, an internet home-base upon which to build.  Keeping that principle in mind, it is vitally important to recognize that seniors socialize predominately with other seniors.  (Those peers that evoke a sense of familiarity within themselves that they can relate to). 

According to the American Council on education, the 65 and older population in the United States is projected to grow by 147 percent between 2000 and 2050. By comparison, the population as a whole would have increased by only 49 percent over the same period (Administration on Aging, 2006). 

That will be almost 25% of the population and does not include the 55 – 64 year-olds who are starting to pay closer attention to the senior/retiree lifestyle and issues.  The potential for growth in this market is nothing short of explosive.

Seniors are swiftly converting into the consumer majority.

You should know that people join Senior-Clique.com for the same reasons they move to a retirement community; for a sense of belonging, a feeling of safety, and the ability to maintain social contact with their peer group.  As with any service, it is all about building trust, respect, and providing a sense of safety. 

How are we building trust, respect, and a sense of safety at Senior-Clique.com?
We are going out and talking to leaders of different retirement communities, senior centers, nursing homes, and businesses.  We believe that in order to understand what seniors need and want, we have to meet them in those areas that they congregate and also on a personal level.

The reception we have experienced in our initial meetings with seniors and business associates has been nothing short of inspiring.  While visiting a senior center in Tucson, AZ, we were explaining to one the residents our vision and mission for Senior-Clique.com.  Imagine our surprise when he replied “Isn’t it about time?”  (That is our website slogan)!  Picture his surprise when we handed him our business card with the slogan on it! 

This is just one way that we show seniors and retirees that they are respected.  We listen to what they want (i.e. discounted services and simple directions on how to navigate the site) and need. Then we figure out how to give it to them (i.e. Senior-Clique.com Discount Cards and enlarged description pop-ups when holding your cursor over a selection possibility).

Furthermore, in our discussion with seniors concerning the internet and the lack of information regarding the services that they need or topics related to their lives, when asked, they simply say they are overwhelmed by all of the data and navigation expertise required to perform any kind of in depth search. 

What better way to offer them a sense of security online than to provide a member home-base with email, photo storage, search capabilities, news, politics, games, gardening, medical information on those ailments prevalent in senior society such as Diabetes, Heart Disease, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, or Cancer? 

You can chat, join forums, purchase movie tickets, receive discounted services and merchandise – your options as a Senior-Clique.com member are limitless AND this can all be done from the security of your own home.  We are THE only website currently targeting the senior/retiree community in this fashion. 

Everything out there right now offers seniors small fragments of the archetypal information that they are looking for. 

The key to our success is in making access to this information as simplistic as possible by providing a “gateway” that is a click or two away, versus you spending hours trying to find information and getting lost in the process due to a limited understanding of internet navigation. 

We provide Senior-Clique.com members with convenient and timely access to information, as well as the safety of not having to stray too far from “home.”  (Additionally, in order to build that “sense of safety” with our members, we are in the process of obtaining BBB seals for both the main website and will also do so for our two charities).

We invite you to join us in altering the perception of aging by the general population as some sort of drawback or imperfection to that of a time in life of new discovery with limitless potential. 

As children of Baby Boomer parents we were appalled and shocked to find the lack of readily accessible information related to senior issues and lifestyles in an all-inclusive format online.  Nowhere could we find a comprehensive community based website that catered to seniors and retirees.   Hence the adage “Isn’t it about time…”

Our vision for Senior-Clique.com is to see it become not only an all-inclusive online website for seniors and retirees, but to give all of you, who have given so much of yourselves, a place to once again have a sense of community and a feeling of being  connected, whether that be with your peers locally or with those from around the globe. 

We highly encourage and look forward to you sharing your experiences and knowledge with us so that we may pass it along to others in the community.  Additionally, if you would like to see a particular topic addressed on this site, please do not hesitate to submit your ideas Here. 
 

We welcome you to Senior-Clique.com and feel privileged to have you as a

 Member of Our “Clique”

Did you know...

People 65 years and over: 12.6% of total US population 

(male 15,858,477; female 21,991,195)
2007 =  37,849,672

This is without those aged 55 to 64 – who based on life issues would fall into our demographic market.

• According to the American Council on education, the 65 and older population in the United States is projected to grow by 147 percent between 2000 and 2050. By comparison, the population as a whole would have increased by only 49 percent over the same period (Administration on Aging, 2006).
• That will be almost 25% of the population and that is not including the 55 – 64 year olds who are starting to pay closer attention to the senior/retiree lifestyle and issues.
• All across the world, there are currently 495 million people aged 65 and over (U.S. Census Bureau, 2007).
• Starting in 2012, 10,000 Americans will turn 65 every day (U.S. Census Bureau, 2003).
• By 2030, there will be about 71.5 million people aged 65 and older, almost twice their number in 2005 (The Administration on Aging, 2006).
• Twenty percent of the U.S. population (71 million people) will be 65 or older in 2030 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2003).
• By 2050, an estimated 86.7 million people aged 65 and older will reside in the United States (U.S. Census Bureau, 2007).
• About 9 million people aged 65 and older are military veterans (The Administration on Aging, 2006).
• The baby boom cohorts are more racially and ethnically diverse than previous cohorts, and those born during 1956-1964, are substantially more diverse than individuals born from 1946 to 1955 (Hughes and O'Rand, 2004).
• Nearly 76 percent of the boomer generation intend to keep working during the traditional retirement years (The New Retirement Survey, 2005).
• By 2014, 41 percent of adults aged 55 and older will still be in the workplace (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2007).
• Adults aged 50 and older, regardless of age, gender, income, or education, are most likely to use books, magazines, and journals to acquire new information (AARP Survey on Lifelong Learning, 2000).
• Just under one-third of men born between the years 1946 and 1955 (early boomers) and a little over one-fourth of women have earned baccalaureate degrees (Hughes and O'Rand, 2004).
• In 2004, 8 percent of Hispanics, of any race, aged 65 and older, had earned at least a bachelor's degree in the United States (Federal Interagency Forum on Aging Related Statistics, 2006).
•  In 2004, 11 percent of blacks aged 65 and older, had earned at least a bachelor's degree in the United States (Federal Interagency Forum on Aging Related Statistics, 2006).
• In 2004, 20 percent of non-Hispanic whites aged 65 and older had earned at least a bachelor's degree in the United States (Federal Interagency Forum on Aging Related Statistics, 2006).