Michael Clinton remembers college finals season prefer it was just a few years ago — because, for him, it was.

In 2021 the writer, Roar Forward founder and former president and publishing director of Hearst Magazines, obtained a second master’s degree in nonprofit management and philanthropy from Columbia University. He was 68 years old.

“Keep in mind that dream you used to have, where you didn’t go to class and it was finals time? I used to be having that dream frequently,” joked Clinton on the Beauty CEO summit.

Clinton is amongst a growing population of 50-plus consumers who’re committed to lifelong learning, experimenting, and, as Gen Z would say — living their best lives. Yet, despite this group’s increasing prevalence and spending power, industries across the board are failing to represent and cater to their lifestyles.

“Lots of the people who find themselves entering their 50s, 60s and 70s — they’re difficult all the things they were told concerning the second half of life. They’re starting recent careers, lifestyles, relationships — they’re on the front lines fighting ageism within the workplace, in promoting, in entertainment and culture,” Clinton said.

In 2022, Clinton founded Roar Forward as a membership and content platform (named after his book, “Roar,”) for consumers ages 50 and up, or as he calls them, “Re-Imagineers.” He said that in keeping with AARP, 35 percent of the U.S. population — roughly 117 million people — are over the age of fifty, and that in 2030, the primary Millennials will join this group.

“For the primary time in history, the 50-plus consumer goes to be the dominant consumer in the main developed countries,” said Clinton, adding that customers over the age of 55 hold 70 percent of the country’s wealth, or about $92 trillion.

“This market is becoming a recent growth market; if marketers aren’t talking to them in an authentic way that they’ll connect with, they’re going to miss this whole wave of consumers,” he said, noting that despite its recent strides in inclusivity, the wonder industry continues to be alienating Baby Boomer and Gen X consumers, amongst others.

“[The 50-plus consumer] is a large cohort, but only 5 percent of promoting is targeted toward them,” said Clinton, adding that the speed drops even lower when considering aging consumers of color and other marginalized groups. “It’s about adding in contemporary images of people who find themselves over 50.”

He went on to call the brand new longevity the “most vital social movement of our lives,” saying that a commitment from firms to understanding the nuances of the 50-plus consumer has the potential to reshape the way in which business is finished, from marketing to retail and beyond.

“Aging goes to affect everyone; I believe the stat is that if 25 percent of a bunch get behind the movement, it takes off,” said Clinton, who will mark his seventieth birthday next month by running a marathon within the Himalayas. “Do it — at 50, at 60, at 70 — be that person.”