LinkedIn-Interview

👋 Hi Theo thank you for taking the time to answer my questions on longevity and fintech . I got the impression you have been

🧐 thinking on the intersection of these two topics for quite some time . How did that come about ?

Money is the center of everything that we do – from the most basic : survival – to living and having access to different things . So the two are inherently linked . We have gained an extra 30 years of healthy living since the early 1900s . Yet , we have barely changed the way we approach money . And we can ' t make the best use of our extended time – with work and family and friends – if we don ' t take care of our finances and have a secure financial wellbeing . Hence the interest .

Interesting , thank you ! In which way do we need to change our approach to money regarding higher life expectancy ?

Haha . That ' s the easy one . As humans , we have been used to a very ridgid 3-stage life : Education . Work . Retirement . But when you have extra healthy living years , what do you do with that extra time ? Work extra 30 years continuously to support longer lifespan ? But what happens to education and learning ? We changed the way we work ( more gig work ). We have changed the way we retire ( or unretire ). We have changed the way we learn ( on the job learning + lifelong learning ). Moving from 3-stage life to multi-stage life allows us to shuffle all the life stages , and do things in different orders . Maybe learn and unlearn and relearn , with career breaks and job changes in between . And where does starting a family and caregiving fit into the new paradigm ? That will also mean changing how we accumulate and decumulate wealth .

When we change how we accumulate and decumulate wealth , do we need new tools ? Or can we make the existing ones work for us with a little tweaking ?

We need new mindsets and new tools altogether . Think about this : 39 % of the US workforce last year were gig workers . When we change how we earn , the way we save for short term and long term will change at the same time . In the U . S ., benefits are largely tied to employment . So gig workers often don ' t get a retirement plan nor do they get health benefits or paid time off . This is not a small change in our way of living – it ' s a fundamental shift which requires changes from both public and private sectors . Else , we risk leaving people behind .

Creating a new mindset sounds terribly difficult . Changing an existing even more . New tools seem to be the low hanging fruit . What should banks and fintechs do to address the issue ?

It ' s not an issue . It ' s an opportunity . An opportunity for banks and fintechs and credit unions to do better and to understand their customers as a person – and a family . Not as transactions .

Do you maybe have one or two examples for me , where fintechs or banks are doing better ?

And can fintechs or banks help people to live a longer life ?

Grab in South East Asia . That ' s one of my fav and most used examples . They aren ' t pure fintech per se . Started as a ride hailing company , but added different financial services for their drivers and microentrepreneurs because they saw that they have unmet needs ( i . e . unbanked and no means to save , invest , get insurance , or borrow ). And what ’ s fascinating is not just about having access to service , or having an account . It ’ s what that access enables : dreams and opportunities .

As for the last question – I wouldn ' t necessarily phrase it as " a fintech or bank helping people live a longer life ". Rather : live a better and more financially secure life – and that ' s yes . By virtue of being able to plan their finances better , not just for the present ( money management ), but for the future .

Theo , thank you very much for taking the time to answer all my questions and sharing them with me and my audience ! 🙏👋

Das Inteview führte Clas Beese Co-Founder von finletter und Fintech Week

LinkedIn-Interview

THEODORA LAU

EIN NEUES MIND- SET IM UMGANG MIT WOHLSTAND

Was machen wir eigentlich mit den Extra-Lebensjahren , die wir im letzten Jahrhundert hinzugewonnen haben und wie finanzieren wir sie ? Für diese GOLDILOCKS-Ausgabe hat Clas Beese Theodora Lau zum Chat gebeten . Die Autorin , Speakerin und Beraterin beschäftigt sich pausenlos mit Themen wie AI , Fintech und Longevity – meistens aus Sicht vergessener oder marginalisierter Zielgruppen .

👋 Hi Theo thank you for taking the time to answer my questions on longevity and fintech . I got the impression you have been

🧐 thinking on the intersection of these two topics for quite some time . How did that come about ?

Money is the center of everything that we do – from the most basic : survival – to living and having access to different things . So the two are inherently linked . We have gained an extra 30 years of healthy living since the early 1900s . Yet , we have barely changed the way we approach money . And we can ' t make the best use of our extended time – with work and family and friends – if we don ' t take care of our finances and have a secure financial wellbeing . Hence the interest .

Interesting , thank you ! In which way do we need to change our approach to money regarding higher life expectancy ?

Haha . That ' s the easy one . As humans , we have been used to a very ridgid 3-stage life : Education . Work . Retirement . But when you have extra healthy living years , what do you do with that extra time ? Work extra 30 years continuously to support longer lifespan ? But what happens to education and learning ? We changed the way we work ( more gig work ). We have changed the way we retire ( or unretire ). We have changed the way we learn ( on the job learning + lifelong learning ). Moving from 3-stage life to multi-stage life allows us to shuffle all the life stages , and do things in different orders . Maybe learn and unlearn and relearn , with career breaks and job changes in between . And where does starting a family and caregiving fit into the new paradigm ? That will also mean changing how we accumulate and decumulate wealth .

When we change how we accumulate and decumulate wealth , do we need new tools ? Or can we make the existing ones work for us with a little tweaking ?

We need new mindsets and new tools altogether . Think about this : 39 % of the US workforce last year were gig workers . When we change how we earn , the way we save for short term and long term will change at the same time . In the U . S ., benefits are largely tied to employment . So gig workers often don ' t get a retirement plan nor do they get health benefits or paid time off . This is not a small change in our way of living – it ' s a fundamental shift which requires changes from both public and private sectors . Else , we risk leaving people behind .

Creating a new mindset sounds terribly difficult . Changing an existing even more . New tools seem to be the low hanging fruit . What should banks and fintechs do to address the issue ?

It ' s not an issue . It ' s an opportunity . An opportunity for banks and fintechs and credit unions to do better and to understand their customers as a person – and a family . Not as transactions .

Do you maybe have one or two examples for me , where fintechs or banks are doing better ?

And can fintechs or banks help people to live a longer life ?

Grab in South East Asia . That ' s one of my fav and most used examples . They aren ' t pure fintech per se . Started as a ride hailing company , but added different financial services for their drivers and microentrepreneurs because they saw that they have unmet needs ( i . e . unbanked and no means to save , invest , get insurance , or borrow ). And what ’ s fascinating is not just about having access to service , or having an account . It ’ s what that access enables : dreams and opportunities .

As for the last question – I wouldn ' t necessarily phrase it as " a fintech or bank helping people live a longer life ". Rather : live a better and more financially secure life – and that ' s yes . By virtue of being able to plan their finances better , not just for the present ( money management ), but for the future .

Theo , thank you very much for taking the time to answer all my questions and sharing them with me and my audience ! 🙏👋

Das Inteview führte Clas Beese Co-Founder von finletter und Fintech Week