Andy Sieg, head of Global Wealth and Retirement Solutions for Bank of America Merrill Lynch, will join President Barack Obama and a community of advocates, experts, local leaders, and older Americans today to discuss the changing landscape of longevity at the White House Conference on Aging. Held once per decade since the 1960s, the event is committed to identifying and advancing actions to improve the quality of life for our nation’s aging population, and looks ahead to issues that will shape the landscape for older Americans during the coming decade.

During the conference, Sieg will participate in a panel discussion on retirement security and longevity, moderated by U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Thomas Perez. Fellow panelists include Jean Chatzky, a financial journalist, author and motivational speaker; Vickie Elisa, board president for Mothers’ Voices Georgia; and Robin Diamonte, CIO of United Technologies Corporation.

“We’re in a new world of longer life, one that presents wonderful opportunities and new and emerging challenges,” said Sieg. “One such challenge is cognitive decline, which today affects one in six Americans and can beset families with little warning1. As our population ages and lives longer, Alzheimer’s and related diseases are becoming more prevalent, and their impact must be better understood and factored into later life planning for ourselves and our loved ones.”

To aid this understanding and planning, Bank of America Merrill Lynch will announce at the event the introduction of a groundbreaking longevity training program for human resources (HR) and benefit plan professionals. Developed in partnership with the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, the program is designed to drive greater awareness of the evolving needs of our aging population and their implications across all generations of the nation’s workforce.

In addition, Bank of America’s wealth management businesses have introduced new resources focused on helping clients prepare for increasing longevity and diseases associated with cognitive decline. The company’s expanding resources on these topics now include:

  • “Addressing Memory & Your Family,” a newly published whitepaper offering a step-by-step approach to building a plan that focuses on both the practical and emotional aspects of dealing with cognitive impairment.
  • A video panel discussion featuring experts from Bank of America discussing how cognitive decline is changing how Americans need to prepare for their future, as well as a personal account from Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Commercial Bank Executive Alister Bazaz, who shares his wife Cecile’s story of living with Alzheimer’s via video and an article.

While there are many chronic diseases that can be a disruptive force in one’s life, new research has found that, across all generations, people cite Alzheimer’s as the scariest disabling condition of later life – more than cancer, strokes, heart disease, diabetes and arthritis combined. Bank of America has partnered with many of the nation’s forward-thinking organizations and academic leaders on several initiatives to find a cure for this devastating disease and to raise further awareness of issues associated with longevity and aging, including:

  • Partnering with the Stanford Center on Longevity and MIT AgeLab on programs to raise awareness, share knowledge and develop joint projects to further efforts to develop treatments and find a cure for Alzheimer’s.
  • Serving as a founding member of the Global CEO Initiative on Alzheimer’s Disease, an organization dedicated to finding a cure for Alzheimer’s by 2025 and increasing public awareness of the disease.
  • Helping to found the Global Coalition on Aging, an organization aimed at reshaping how global leaders approach and prepare for the 21st century's profound shift in population aging.
  • Conducting ongoing research from Merrill Lynch (in partnership with Age Wave) and U.S. Trust focused on aging, longevity and health as part of a broader effort to better understand clients’ goals and concerns across seven life priorities, including finance, home, health, family, giving, work and leisure.

1 2015 Alzheimer’s Facts and Figures, Alzheimer’s Association, 2015.

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