NEW TRICKS FOR LIVING PAST 96

By Daniel Kadlec

LIFE AFTER WORK

Do you eat enough dairy? I evidently do not and could extend my life by six months with a few chunks of cheese or some yogurt each day. Such are the benefits of calcium, as prescribed to me on the new boomer-centric website Eons.com

"It's a little gimmicky," concedes Dr. Thomas Perls, whose longevity calculator is the source of that advice and the centerpiece of Eons. "But it's really hard to motivate people. The hope is that this gets them thinking about their longevity and the impact that day-to-day behavior has on how long you live."

Eons is the brainchild of Jeff Taylor, the man who founded the popular job-search site Monster.com Taylor, 45, is a rough-edged former DJ who sold Monster in 1995 before it blossomed--for just $900,000. He nevertheless made millions as Monster's CEO before cutting ties last year. Now he's focused on his new creation.

Eons targets the 50-plus crowd, which is growing by nearly 8,000 people a day. The website's guiding principle is simple: "Living to the age of 100 is a reachable goal." Eons, a free website, is designed to help you get there, Taylor says, "while living the biggest life possible." The site dispenses lots of advice on money, love, fun and wellness. It has brainteaser games to help ward off dementia, a goals page to help you think big and community pages to help you meet others.

But the longevity calculator is what has given the website traction. Despite my shortcomings, according to the calculator, I'll make it to the ripe old age of 96 (I turn 50 this year)--maybe even to 97, if I eat more cheese.

Impressed? Don't be. It turns out that living to 96 is a typical finding for boomers. "People see that and just can't believe it," says Dr. Perls. "They are amazed to see that they will live 20 years longer than their great-grandparents and with less illness at the end of their life."

It's about time someone found a way to drive that point home. Even AARP, the mother of all aging lobbies, and Wall Street, with its interest in advising folks on how to make their money last, have had trouble articulating how the longer, healthier lives of boomers will change the game. There's something sobering about a 10-minute quiz that finds your life, at 50, is barely half over. Do I have enough savings? Should I work longer? Start a business? How can I make my next 50 years count?

Eons has some problems. It's hamstrung by Taylor's noncompete agreement with Monster, which means the job pages aren't as helpful as they might be. AARP.com has better information on employment for older workers.) And experts in the aging field say Eons doesn't have enough about community service, an increasing preoccupation with retirees.

Boomer Project, an online newsletter that tracks marketing strategies, is even more critical. It points out that boomers use the Web for research, not community, and that they rarely respond to age-specific messages. "Boomers track time with how they feel," it concludes. "Age is incidental."

But Taylor is convinced he's got it right. He's on the downslide to 50 and has given his life at this stage a lot of thought. "My mom just turned 70," he says. "Both she and Dad have been great mentors, living a full life. I want success in my business but also in my life." If you share the same yearning, Eons may help you sort it out.

Kadlec's latest book is The Power Years: A User's Guide to the Rest of Your Life