If you’ve read my book, The Grandparent Economy, you know that my interest in the lifestage is both personal and professional. I was raised by my paternal grandparents from infancy. It was something of a novelty in the late 50’s and early 60’s. Today that is a much different story. The origin of Grandparents’ Day In the 70’s, Marian McQuade was a champion of intergenerational relationships, urging young people to adopt a grandparent and to have older adults in their lives. Sh

I am very proud to have received this great review from the National Association of Realtors for my book, The Grandparent Economy: How Boomers Are Bridging the Generation Gap. Following is the blog: It seems everywhere you turn these days there’s some new diatribe against the generational focus of commentaries on society. It’s boomers attacking millennials attacking boomers… Heck, we even played an April Fool’s joke based on the trend a couple of weeks ago. As someone who’s a

Let’s face it. Psychologist Abraham Maslow never wanted to be a marketer. In his work Toward a Psychology of Being he describes the 13 personality attributes of the self-actualizing person. Often depicted as the top of the pyramid on the Hierarchy of Needs, “Self-actualization” is the realization of one’s full potential, with a focus outside of self. Maslow could not have known the power of his work in shaping our approach to understanding and communicating with older adults.

Empty nesters can put a lot of pressure on the holiday season. As former “helicopter parents,” we no longer have day-to-day involvement with (or control over) our adult children and many of us are joining the ranks of grandparents. Short of cutting out our tongues, there are many things we can do to ensure a fun, peaceful holiday visit to create memories for the entire family. Here are some of my tips from current Allstate blog post. How do you keep the lines of communication

Parents and grandparents alike know that “pit of the stomach” feeling when a child grabs the keys and drives away for the first time. It’s both exhilarating to share their freedom and frightening to consider all of the things that could happen when they are behind the wheel. A new study recently revealed that grandparents are increasingly paying for auto insurance for both children and grandchildren. A Bureau of Labor Statistics study shows that baby boomers spent $863 millio

Last week at the AARP Life@50+ event in Los Angeles, I was interviewed by Boomer Baby Radio‘s host Barbara Beach, where we chatted about my role as the new Publisher of GRAND Magazine – and a new grandparent! Listen here. Were you at AARP @50+ last week? What was your experience there? #AARP #grandmagazine #LoriBitter #grandparenting #BabyBoomers

The recent release of “The MetLife Report on American Grandparents,” by Peter Francese with MetLife Mature Market Institute, reveals the changing face of grandparents in the United States. It also provides a roadmap for companies with products and services for children. Increasingly, grandparents are helping young families financially navigate in this tough economic climate, paying for items essential to day-to-day life, and also looking forward to big-ticket items like tuiti

GRAND Magazine, the digital magazine for Grandparents and their families, relaunches with a new focus on first-time Grandparents. I am excited to announce my new role as Publisher of GRAND, as it is linked to my other exciting new role – as a first-time grandparent myself. I very much look forward to working with Christine Crosby, the Editorial Director, and Christine Bettencourt, Managing Editor, at GRAND Magazine. Christine Crosby was at the forefront by launching GRAND as