The Affluent Post-Retirement Lifestyle of the 'Immortals'

Key Insight

In high-end resort communities like Aspen, a distinct group of retired, superfit older men, dubbed 'Immortals,' pursue extreme physical challenges. These individuals, typically under 5 feet 10 inches and around 95 pounds of muscle, are known for their ferocious speeds while hiking or skiing with wrist and ankle weights. Having achieved early success, some started their first paper route at 6 and made their first million by 22, they view retirement as a 'fitness jihad,' embracing activities like windsurfing at 70 and K2 expeditions at 75, often taking Cialis at 90.

This phase, termed 'pluto-adolescence,' allows these highly ambitious men, flush with money and time, to make a profession out of youthful pursuits. Despite lacking youthful energy levels, they experience intense, brief bursts of vitality. Their lives are characterized by extreme affluence and indulgence, exemplified by some having 3 homes, 6 cars, 4 mistresses, and 5 charter schools. They strategize about energy shakes, veggie-centric cuisine, and bone-marrow preservation at their resort homes.

Socially, these men gather in packs, exhibiting a 'masculine photosynthesis'—an ability to convert sunlight into self-admiration. This leads to a 'compound egotism,' creating a self-reinforcing vortex of smugness. While capable of being loving grandfathers in other contexts, within these groups, they transform into 'geriatric gangstas,' boasting and swaggering with rising male hysteria. They often forget everything but their 'erections,' a condition described as 'millionaire titan Alzheimer's,' and endure activities like tapas dinners they dislike but attend due to a 'primordial New Urbanist force.'