JOHN CAMPBELL: In 2017, What Next started a national conversation. We need to come up with some big plans, and we need to do that now. We asked you what you wanted for the future of New Zealand in 20 years ` the technology, the economy, the environment, and how we live. Should we continue with Plan A ` keep doing what we're doing, making small changes? Or do we need some big new ideas ` a Plan B? The answer was loud and clear. Overwhelmingly, we're a Plan B country ` at least, as reflected in the more than 200,000 votes that we have received. Now we're going to look at Plan B in action. We'll meet New Zealanders with big radical ideas ` people who are passionate, innovative and maybe just the right amount of crazy. Hemp will be mainstream if we make it mainstream. They're showing us a path to future-proof New Zealand. So what does a Plan B look like? Over four episodes, four different visions for our future. We'll address the most important issues facing New Zealand in the next 20 years. (MAJESTIC MUSIC) www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2019 Carolyn Robinson discovers how we get the environment in good shape for the future; Nigel Latta asks if there's a way the economy can be fair for everyone; Miriama Kamo examines the impact of AI and technology on the next generation; and Jehan Casinader explores how science could extend and improve our lives. (DRAMATIC DRUMBEAT) (DYNAMIC SYNTH MUSIC) JEHAN CASINADER: In 2017, we asked whether you'd like to live to 130, and the vote was split right down the middle. In this episode, we want to find out if that's possible. The first person who lives to 1000 years old may already be born. ROBOT: Have you taken your... I'll meet some robots that could look after me in my old age, and Winston Peters, who says the pension doesn't come cheap. ...seriously ungrateful sod. (LAUGHS) You're now telling me you don't wanna pay. Hey. Thank you. At 29, I have a pretty easy life ` working, flatting, having fun. Do you guys reckon you'll ever be able to retire? Old age seems a long way off. When I think about it, it scares me, to be honest. I don't want to lose control over the way I live my life, so I have big questions about my future. Am I going to have to work until I cark it? Will I be able to stop the ageing process? And will I have people to look after me or will the robots do that job? First, I want to know what my body will feel like in my twilight years. This science-based outfit is turning me into an 80-year-old. So, I think I start with this. Back pain is on the cards, and these weights will make it hard for me to move. Welcome to old age. There's so much to look forward to (!) As I get older, I'll lose muscle strength and my eyesight. This is diabetes. Glaucoma. If this is my future, I don't want to be around for it. (EXHALES) I'm actually exhausted just from putting it on. Kiwis are living longer than ever. Our lifespans increase by three years every decade. I don't think most people understand just how rapidly the world is changing, how rapidly our prospects are changing, how rapidly mortality is falling and life expectancy's growing, and what that means, not only for their own lives, but for the lives of the population at large. We're not well equipped to deal with that. Our social system, our education system, our transport, our housing are all designed for a relatively young population. The world's gonna be different tomorrow. (COMPUTER BEEPS) (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC) Dressed as an 80-year-old, I can't even use my computer. (GROANS) After just 30 minutes, I've had a guts full. Can I take this off now? The whole thing. I would like to be dead by 80, because I feel that after 80, it's not going to be a good time. I suspect you won't feel like that when you get to be 60. (BOTH LAUGH) OK. I think living longer scares people if they think that's going to mean living longer in poor circumstances ` Sick of this. old age, associated with restriction and limitation. But that's not necessarily the case. There are lots of examples of old age that's associated with achievement, with performance, with accomplishment and fulfilment. I think we should think of old age in that fashion. (STATIC CRACKLES) The average lifespan in New Zealand is an incredible 81 years, but there's a catch ` our healthspan, how long we stay healthy, on average only lasts till we're 70. That means there's 11 years where things gradually get worse. This is the bit we all dread ` the slow decline. But scientists reckon it doesn't have to be that bad. They're pretty excited about stem cells. These human cells can morph into other cells. By injecting them into our bodies, we may be able to repair or even re-grow damaged or worn out organs. I'm very excited about stem cells, have been for a few years now. I believe it's the next wave of medicine. It's a cellular based medicine. I think it's the future. It is about 'heal thyself.' At the moment, the clinical application of stem cells is very much in its basic form. It's a one-size-fits-all at the moment. This is really taking us into the future. It gives us the opportunity to perhaps get to the real crux basis of diseases at a cellular level, and that's never been done before. Stem cell therapy is at the frontier of medicine, and it's controversial, but this sort of treatment could keep us healthier for longer. Stem cell therapy, in particular the embryonic stem cells, are taking us to a direction where we're gonna see treatments for a lot of diseases or disorders of ageing, for which there currently is very little available option. In particular, if you think about some of the brain disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, so this means that you're going to be able to potentially stall or even reverse the symptoms of some of these diseases and increase people's ability to live well for a longer period of time. I believe we will find a cure for ageing. I was present at a stem cell conference a few years ago, where a keynote speaker, who's a world research` top researcher in stem cells, he made the statement, 'The first person who lives to 1000 years old may already be born.' But no matter how long we live, at some point we'll all end up six feet under. In Katikati, people are preparing for death by building their own coffins. The philosophy behind the club is to open up the discussion about death and dying. It's a taboo subject, however, this creates a forum where it can be brought up, and if you belong to the Coffin Club, then you've got a vehicle for conversation as well, because, 'Hey, I belong to the Coffin Club.' 'What?!' (LAUGHS) (STAIRS CREAK) (CURIOUS CHIME MUSIC) Right, well this is where we keep a lot of the coffins. Right. This particular one is mine. OK. Can` Can I have a look? Yep, sure. (TISSUE PAPER RUSTLES) Right. Oh, wow. Now, this one` This is your favourite? I like it. I like old motorbikes, but I couldn't find the material, so this is good. Is this a bit morbid? Not at all. Not for me, it's not. And this is where it will stay for hopefully a few more years? Oh, yes. Yes, and then they just throw me in it, send me off to the crem. Death is a pretty awkward topic, but perhaps by talking about it, we'll face up to the reality of growing old. We've had people who've been reluctant to come along, and actually have come through the doors, and... then once they actually start talking about death and dying, and making their own coffin and doing that sort of thing, you can see a huge transformation. Do you think younger people in their 20s or 30s should be building coffins? Absolutely, and we have members who are in the younger age group. Well, I differ with John, because I really don't think they would, personally. I think it's something that older people have to consider. I think when you're 30, you've got far more important things to think about than dying. While I was at the Coffin Club, one woman told me some things that really worried me. VOICEOVER: It's our do-it-all concealer. Instant Age Rewind Concealer from Maybelline New York. Our iconic cushioned tip does it all - erase dark circles, shape and contour. Instant Age Rewind Concealer. Only from Maybelline New York. * (LAUGHS) At the Coffin Club in Katikati, I met Jopie, a lovely woman who's reached the end of her tether. Well, I'm 87 and I've had a little stroke, and I very much feel like I don't want to be here any more. I would love to go now, before I disable` get disabled and get suffering and get lonely and... I think it's better to go before that, because what is the point of me being here, and soaking up t-t-the money that` that it costs to keep a person alive? What's the point? That's` That's quite upsetting to hear. It's` It's not upsetting, it's` I'm going to die anyway, so why not die now, instead of in three or four years' time, after a lot of suffering? (COFFIN CLUB CHATTERS) I would love to have done to me what they do to sick dogs and cats ` give me an injection so that I go to sleep and not wake up. That would be the best way. I hate the fact that Jopie feels like her time is up, but she's pretty adamant. We all just cost the community a lot of money, and it's you young people who pay in your taxes. Old people say 'oh, the government should do this' and 'the government should do that', but the government is you people, your taxes, and why should they be spent on useless things like an older person who is no use any more? (LAUGHS) It's true that the government has a limited pool of money, and we're spending more and more of it on our elderly. Maybe technology can help? You can already buy systems that monitor an older person in their own home, 24 hours a day. In its simplest form, it just looks and listens and watches you. Motion sensors around the house track their movements, and the data is analysed for unusual patterns. So it's continually evolving that pattern, and it's continually learning about you. We also monitor things like the fridge ` how many times do you open the fridge? That's an indicator of how you're eating. So we can see the pattern, by room type, of where they are. So you can see here, the blue is where they're asleep, the green dots are where they've used the bathroom, the orange is where they're in the living room and where they're having meals. If this technology notices a big change ` you've gone into the bathroom and you haven't come out for an hour, it will fire off an alert. Absolutely, it does. What's the problem with the way we're doing things at the moment? I'm lucky I have my grandmother alive. She has people come and visit her twice a day, so there's 23 hours a day when my grandmother potentially is on her own, and AI has an ability to manage that time when there is no one else around and provide that halo of support and care. Where will this technology take us? Ultimately, the bottom end of it, it's data. It's big data, and it being if we can link all that together and aggregate it together, we can then be more understanding of who we are. The simple thing is it's gonna let us live longer, independently, because it will allow us to have a big sister, cos I don't wanna call it 'Big Brother,' a big sister watching us and taking care of us in a virtual world. Emergency call. Emergency call. AI: Emergency alarm. (ALARM SOUNDS) A virtual world that will bring us robots, just like this one. It's called iRobi. iRobi's a robot for healthcare. She reminds to take my medication, she reminds me when to do exercises. ROBOT: Would you like to exercise or check your progress? And then there is the measurements of your pulse and your blood count. Well done. Your blood oxygen is 93, and your pulse rate is 68. I'll miss her when she goes. She's been like a sister to me. (ROBOT CREAKS) People are living longer with more chronic illnesses, and so we need a way to help people to manage those chronic illnesses. Ageing is a big cost, because if people move into long-term care, it costs a lot of money, and people don't actually want to move into rest homes, they'd rather stay at home, and so if we can give people technology that can help them to manage their health at home, then that is gonna improve quality of life for people, as well as reduce healthcare costs for the health system. ROBOT: My record says you took... What we found with the robot studies is that people were more likely to comply with what the robot asked them to do, or a reminder to take their medication, than just an iPad, because an iPad, you don't wanna please, but a little robot, you want to listen to. It's like I wanna cuddle her, but I can't because she's metal. When she looks at you and the little eyes go up, and when you do the programme, she moves like a human, and it's warm feeling that you've got somebody in your home still. One of the more interesting things are these emotional bonds that people form with robots, and one of the things that I'm interested in is what are the factors that increase those emotional bonds, and what are the factors that reduce those bonds. So how can we make the robots more likeable and perhaps help people to trust the robots more? And so if you've got a close relationship or a bond with your robot, then hopefully that can help improve your health as well. iRobis were designed to help elderly people stay healthy, but researchers also want to know if they can reduce loneliness. Loneliness is a killer. So the research has found that if you are lonely, you've got 40% more chance of an early death. That's how serious it is. But why do we need robots at all? Surely it's way better to have human contact? Caregiving is actually quite a low paid job and people don't actually want to do that, in terms of being a paid formal caregiver. And in terms of people living at home, often their families are living a long way away and they don't have time to visit often, so you might go and see an older person once a week or twice a week, but they're living by themselves for the rest of the time and they really need some companionship. Well, she's going to go this afternoon, so I'll be sad to see her when she goes. I won't give her a party to her when she goes, but I'll think about her. (LAUGHS) If I don't want to be looked after by robots in my old age, who can I turn to? And some politicians reckon the future won't be so bad after all. I mean, why have you got such little hope here? VOICEOVER: Hey, Auckland, which of the Youi 40 ways to save would work best for where you live? Grey Lynn, close to the city, is where Ava lives, so number 1 of 40 - "Don't drive to work" - could be best for her. Do a car insurance quote at youi.co.nz. * We don't have enough young people to look after our ageing population, and if we don't want robot seals to keep us company, where do we turn? Rau Hoskins is an architect, and he reckons the answer lies in our past, when many generations lived under the same roof. Most Maori families are between 70 and 100 years of living quite communal lives ` living in a pa situation, living in a marae situation. And so it's within living memory that they've lived quite close together ` shared their food resources, engaged in communal gardening, gone out fishing, shared the catch. In our culture, older people are often seen as a burden. Why is that? It's not a Maori thing, not a Pacific thing. Most other cultures value their older people. It's Pakeha society that's got to have a hard look at itself and say, 'Well, hey, guys, you know, three, four generations ago in villages, we were involved with our older people. 'They were valued.' Even within Maori society now, who've traditionally looked after their old people, there are many people that I talked to and say, well, you know, 'We'd really love to have Koro and Nan living with us, 'but we don't have the ability to provide in-house care. Their needs are too great for us.' So I think there's still a desire to look after extended generations, but our physical housing stock doesn't really allow for it, and sometimes our busy lifestyles also don't allow for fulfilling responsibilities ` cultural responsibilities ` that we have. Rau and his whanau are having a go at multi-generational living. He helped his kids buy the house next door, and a gap in the fence allows his mokopuna to roam between the houses. The biggest benefit of having an inter-generational housing situation is the older people are engaged. They live meaningful lives, they're connecting with their own family, they're connecting with family events and they're physically active. We really do need to step back and explore how we can stitch back our wider families together, in ways which are meaningful and beneficial to all of us. Some Pakeha also see the benefits of multi-generational living. Karen Blake lives in Kaukapakapa, in a purpose-built house with her partner and her mum and dad. You know, we've got a beautiful home and that's been enabled because we've pooled two sets of assets, and there's an economy of scale when there's four people sharing resources, and I think that it's not just about how much money we have to save for our own superannuation, but how do we need to live differently, so that we can use the resources that we've got more effectively. (ALL LAUGH) Get the chainsaw, ride up... Have there been any unexpected benefits? Well, right at the beginning I said that I didn't want any more projects, but, you know, since we've been here, there's been lots of projects to do and many more to be done, so it's been really good for me, both from a physical point of view and a mental point of view, so it's helped keep me on top of my game. This is the first multi-generational house that architect Diana Blake has designed. It has two separate wings, one for each couple, and a shared living space living space in the middle. There hasn't been in my, you know, career` been a demand at all for it. I've done the granny flats, and that's pretty much all. The granny flat idea is shove Mum or Dad out separate, they can cook for themselves. That's not embracing them into the family dynamic, so this way they are part of it ` they can help prepare meals, they can still do their's separate, but they've got that contact, you know, all day, with the families living with them. To me, there's been great spinoffs around the companionship of this ` knowing that if I was to depart the world first, that Bob wasn't going to be on his own, in a house, trying to establish a life on his own, and the same with me. Yeah, and we try and think of it a little bit more broadly, that it's just about having some backup and support no matter what happens in our lives, so it's just about us working as a collective. I'm not looking after Mum and Dad by any stretch of the imagination. I mean, they're pretty dynamic, amazing people. (LAUGHS) Sharing a house does make financial sense, especially because we're heading for a crisis if we keep the retirement age at 65. Can we afford it? Well, we can't. If we've got less and less people in the workforce, right, and more and more people in retirement, no, of course we can't afford it. The population pyramid is turning into a population barrel. We used to have loads of young people at the bottom, paying for the smaller number of old people at the top, but now, with increased superannuation and health costs, we have less money to pay for our older citizens. But not according to Winston Peters, creator of the SuperGold card and crusader for the elderly. You're against raising the superannuation age. Can you tell me why? Because the alarmists make a certain proposition out that we can't afford it. It requires us to examine the facts behind that sort of view, and the facts don't back them up. It is affordable, and it's affordable way into the future. We're living longer biologically, why wouldn't we adjust the retirement age, the superannuation age? Because there are a whole lot of people, because of the nature of their work, are not gonna live longer, and they can't hang on till 65. Their bodies are broken in the work that they do. Then there are people with disability who are not gonna be able to make it to 65, or feel like they can carry on working after 65, and then there are a whole lot of Pasifika people and Maori people, whose average age will not make it, and so they'll never qualify for the taxes they paid. Why don't we means test it so that the people who actually need that support... Well, I tell you why we don't means test it. ...can receive it? It's because it sends all the wrong signals. If you save, you won't get it; if you don't save, you will. We have the most affordable retirement programme in the world. So we know that in just 20 years, we are going to triple the amount that we are spending on superannuation. How will our country afford that? Well, that's not true either. Where are you going to find an extra $25 billion a year in 20 years' time? In the same ways we found the same incremental rise in the last 25 years. I mean, why have you got such little hope here? Well, I believe the research. And right now` And right now` I believe the research. All the research backs me up, not you guys. So is your proposition that that everyone is wrong here and Winston Peters is right? No, that's not my proposition` Because you are out of` It is not my proposition. The mass majority of people in this country, if you went out and asked them, are lined up behind my argument. Because that's self-serving. It's self-serving for an adult who's nearing retirement age... (LAUGHS) ...to wanna be able to get the pension at 65. Japan's talking about raising their age over time to 75 years. Australia's already started, the UK's already started. We need to get underway. Well, we once moved the age over a period of time from 60 to 65. We gave fair warning of that, and we made it a slow process, and there may be a time in the future where we'll do that. If we don't take action, for me, the worst-case scenario is all our young people take off overseas, where there are better conditions, better prospects for them to have a... (SIGHS) a life where they can actually succeed, and not carry the burden of... of bad policy. (LAUGHS) This is bad policy? Doing nothing is bad policy. Doing nothing is the worst possible policy. It's my generation that's going to have to pay and pick up this massive tax burden to pay for your generation and the generation after you, for their pension,... Oh, so that's the proposition? ...and we can't afford it. That is my proposition. Well who do you think paid for your country, and built every modern institution right now? Your mum and dad did and your grandparents did, and they got that all ready for you, and you seriously ungrateful sod,... (LAUGHS) ...you're now telling me you don't wanna pay. You've grown up in conditions beyond your parents', grandparents' wildest dream. Winston agreed with me on one thing ` Kiwis are living longer. That means some of us may need to find new careers and less physical jobs as we age, like Tony ` he used to be a chef. Hospitality can be very challenging on your body. It's also very unsociable. You work unsociable hours. Everyone else is having fun and you're there busy, then they go home, and it could be any old time in the morning. OK ` toru, wha. One. Two... Six years ago, I decided to come to Auckland to help take care of my parents, and I was asked to do some paving at a kindergarten. The head teacher there saw... just saw how I interacted with children and suggested I should become a teacher. I thought about it for a day or two and I thought, 'Well, if you actually get paid to do this, I'll become a teacher.' Javindu, can you help? (EXCLAIMS) If I think of myself as a balloon, and I start feeding it with air, I'm feeding it with experiences, and I just keep making it bigger and bigger. Why tie the knot at 65? Have you seen what happens to a balloon when you just sit it there? It goes wrinkly and saggy. (LAUGHS) Not for me. Toe` Toes. Toes, yeah. Employers, a lot of them don't seem to want to employ people, because they're old. Some tend to think that we've got nothing to add, whereas we've got a lot to add, and an environment with a diverse range of ages, I think, is a good thing. It gives different perspectives. Tony's right. Older people have lots to offer, but they often struggle to find jobs. ...coming into Wise Ones. How are you? Good. Have a seat. Wise Ones is a new recruitment agency that helps people over 55 to find work. Could you find a job for an 80-year-old? We have. You know, they're out there working at the moment, you know, in their 70s or 80s. We've got people out there temping for us, we've got people out there doing short-term contracts, they're working in finance positions, they're working in hospitality roles ` they are active, they're loving it, they're giving back to society and they're contributing. So, essentially we're set up for the 50-, 55-plus age bracket... Society probably looks at an older worker as 60-plus. My view, that's still pretty young. I think that we've got many years ahead of us, so I'd love to be able to change that a lot. I think that as we progress and as we're living longer and people are working longer, that that age will change. So tell me a little bit about what you've done in the last... Three-quarters of Kiwis think there's prejudice from their employers because of their age. They come with a preconception that they are maybe fixed in their ways, that they are at the end of their career, potentially that they're not so tech savvy as the younger generation. Well, it's very much all about you, about the candidate... Nearly a quarter of people over 65 are still working, and that number will grow. We need to accept the fact that there is going to be more and more people ageing and more and more people wanting to work, and so corporates and businesses need to adapt, and change the way that they think. You know, that mature market brings in diversity of thought, they bring in experience, they bring in a skillset that potentially the younger person doesn't have, and so it's just a really good balance. I think I'll be OK with working past 65, but I'll only be able to do that if we close the gap between our healthspan and our lifespan. * If we're going to live to 130, we'll need to keep our bodies in top shape. There's no air left, though. Um... I don't know what else to do. Like, I feel like I'm bringing as much air in, and after about three seconds, there's no air left in my lungs. I'm 29, but there are some tests that can estimate my biological age ` how old parts of my body really are. There's a little box there that says 'lung age ` 58 years'. Yeah, so that's... from those numbers, it takes some of those numbers to estimate your lung age. It's only an estimation, but that's what it comes out as. The Dunedin Study has been running tests just like this for 45 year. We have been described by others now as the most in-depth study of human development conducted ever, anywhere in the world. This famous study has tracked and measured every detail of more than a thousand Kiwis, since they were born in 1972, and they've found out quite a lot about why we seem older or younger than our actual age. So you think of the human body as being made up of many parts, think of it akin to a car ` all those parts in a car will age more rapidly if you treat the car roughly and don't look after it, same with the human body. There is a genetic component to almost everything in life. It is not deterministic; in other words, the genes sort of set the range of possible outcomes, but they don't determine what actually happens, and so we all have different genetic endowment when we start off life ` it's really the luck of the draw in terms of what you get from your parents, but what we do during our life and the exposures we... that occur to us are strongly influential in terms of how, among other things, how fast we age. I wonder, can the Dunedin Study tell us the best way to stay young? At age 38, some people were biologically 38 years old. The youngest person looked like they were 28 years old, in terms of their biology. On the other side, the oldest person looked like they were 61. If you are living a high-stress life, poor sleep, poor diet, too much booze ` whatever it is, if you modify all those factors, you will be in much better shape. It's kinda straight-forward stuff at one level, and I know people want more from the science, they want some sort of special angle that will give them a leg up. Well, the science has been valuable because it's shown that these are the valid approaches, these are the right ones, and again we're back to what Grandma would have told you, to some degree. This car was made the same year I was, and it's been through the wars. So they've taken the engine out, it's got a leaking rear main, whatever that means, taken the crankshaft out, renewed the bearings, renewed the main seal. It's quite a lot of work here. The car still drives well because it's been looked after. I'd like to think of a human as a vehicle. We are like a car. As our parts deteriorate over time, we can replace some of them. So for example, I could replace the engine just like I could replace my heart if it was deteriorating. The downside is, in this vehicle, we can't replace the brain. So the supercomputer can't be replaced, and that's what we need to look after the most. I guess one of the blessings, being in a Western country like New Zealand, is that we have a great healthcare system, so great that people are living longer and better, and they're outliving, you know, heart attacks, and these type of conditions that would normally cause someone's life to shorten, but one of the downsides to having a really, really long lifespan, is that these conditions that tend to affect a more vulnerable brain, such as dementia, tend to creep up on us. So by 2050, the projected population of people in New Zealand with dementia is going to triple to around 170,000 to 180,000 people. Now, that's huge. That's` You know, at the moment, we're living with approximately 60,000 people with dementia, and we haven't got the resources necessarily to be able to prepare us for that. I thought you were gonna make coffee. I'm making coffee. So dementia is an umbrella term, given to a whole range of diseases that affect your ability to think well, to remember things, to carry out really basic daily tasks. Alzheimer's disease is an example of a condition that causes dementia. Do you know who that person is? It's probably me. Oh. What can I do, from this age onwards, to try and keep my brain in good shape? The exact things you would do for your heart. So stay away from cigarettes; stay away from drugs ` bad drugs, not the good drugs; stay away from high-cholesterol and high-fat foods; stay away from high salt; keep up the exercise ` exercise brings good oxygen and good glucose to the brain; keep yourself socially stimulated; see new things on a daily basis ` do that Sudoku puzzle, you know, read those novels, don't just sit and vegetate in front of a TV ` that's something that's really common nowadays. Get your mind working. So those are best ways to try and starve off dementia and any brain disorder for that matter. I think if you look at countries like Japan, they're currently in crisis. They have a shortage of space, and what we actually need to care for people who are elderly is space. We need larger retirement villages. We're going to need one-stop-shop care facilities that have, for example, a nurse, a doctor on standby, but at the same time, a social aspect, so people can hang out and interact with one another. We're gonna have to start developing those now, perhaps villages, in order to prepare ourselves for this expansion in growth in the future. That's what's happening in Rotorua, where they've built New Zealand's first dementia-friendly village, where people with the disease can live well and safely. Two demi plies in second, and stretch... Research has shown that the very best way to prevent brain disease is to keep moving. ...slide that heel... Elaine took up ballet at the age of 72. Got to think of every single part of your body. When you put your arm out, for instance, you just don't put it out like that. You put it out like that. You have it rounded and you have your hand` you have your thumb in, and you can feel all this here. I want you just to... Dancing is proven to slow down and even reverse the effects of ageing in the brain by building new neural connections. That's too hard. That's a bit hard. That's so hard. (LAUGHS) I love it. I love the whole thing ` the music, the body, everything. And also, the brain` makes the brain work, doesn't it? Anything that mixes memory and movement, like yoga or tai chi, will help, but if we're living longer, I reckon there's one more thing that will make a huge difference. Give dry skin the elbow. New Age Perfect Intense Nutrition - nourishing cream enriched with precious New Zealand manuka honey, that repairs dry skin. It's about feeling comfortable in your skin. New Age Perfect Intense Nutrition from L'Oreal Paris. Because you're worth it. * When I get old, I hope I don't feel as bad as I did in that age suit, and I hope I don't feel like Jopie. I would love to have done to me what they do to sick dogs and cats ` give me an injection, so that I go to sleep and not wake up. And I don't want to be looked after by robots, so what can I hope for? (UPLIFTING MUSIC) I guess old age could allow me to choose how and where to spend my time. I guess my lifestyle is one of freedom. I'm not beholden to anybody in any sense. I am very fortunate. I've been doing this since I retired at the end of 2014. I... have travelled New Zealand. Literally. Brian is a retired maths teacher. He's done the sums, and he can tour the country living off his pension. One works for 40-odd years, then all of a sudden, one doesn't, so there's issues of lifestyle ` paying for lifestyle ` health issues start to raise their ugly heads. Do you move into town or do you move into a retirement village? And for me, that wasn't it. I just simply did not want to do that. And so when I decided to retire, I decided that I would retire to living in a bus, and that's what I do; I live in a motorhome. (DOOR SLAMS) What do you get out of it? Oh, the freedom, the ability to travel, the meeting of people, the excitement of exploring, getting out of my comfort zone. But I'm curious, what's it like to live out your days on your lonesome? When I first started this exercise, I was quite happy to travel, stay at many places and keep on the move. As I have been doing it for a number of years now, I'm finding that I'm travelling less, and that I'm hanging in and around Auckland, because my grandchildren are there. WOMAN: Say hi to Poppa. Hi, Poppa. Hi, Poppa. Family and grandchildren are very important. Friends are very important, and I guess this is, for me, a function of me growing older. So a good retirement is about connection. Maybe we can connect with a robot, but I keep coming back to the idea of people living together. Selena lives under one roof with three generations. So, who lives here? I'll start with me and my husband, all our four oldest daughters, my son LeBron, my daughter Jet'aime, my son Saber, my daughter Ice, my daughter L'amour and my youngest son, Cain. Yes! Yes! Show me your tricks, Cain! (EXCLAIMS) My oldest living grandchild is Blason. My granddaughter is Atarah. My mum, Malama, my dad, Jerry, and my brother, Jerry Jr. It's our choice as a family, myself and my husband, and it's` my parent's had a choice as well. They didn't have to live with us, but we asked them to, and we moved into a house that enabled us to do that. Selina wants to look after her parents. Yeah, I guess some people look at it as a responsibility or a burden. In the Samoan culture, taking care of our elders when they're sick or when we know that their time is coming to an end in this part of their journey is an honour. Just because they're retired now and they're not working in the workforce, doesn't mean that that's the end of their ability to contribute. It does a lot of good. I play with my grandchildren. I think it does a lot for our health ` makes us mentally happy, alert. A few years ago, when we went to Samoa, and I'd cry every day. I missed them, my grandchildren. OK, it's OK. I try not to cry. Here, in this place, there's no such thing as being lonely. Do you want one? Get a fork. I feel sorry for those that are being taken to these homes and no relatives around, no grandchildren around. I reckon this is the kind of life that every elderly person deserves. The success of this kind of household depends on the attitudes and the values of people that live in it. My husband might want to do something, but then he won't, because my parents are here, so people might see that as restrictive, he sees it more as respectful, because it's about making it work and knowing that we actually enjoy this and we get a lot out of it. I wouldn't be trying to romanticise it if I thought that everyone could live that way, but I think there's an important role there for our aged population. They're an important part of our society. Maybe we need to look after them a bit better. I still don't want to live to 130, but chances are, I'll live past 100. Maybe stem cells will replace my worn out parts. Maybe we'll have a cure for dementia. I don't think my friends and I will get to retire at 65, cos we won't be able to afford it, but at least robots will allow us to live at home for longer. Maybe there's another solution ` we'll turn to our families. Our parents will help, our kids will help, and our friends are kind of like the family we get to choose. I mean, who says you can't go flatting in your old age? And if none of those things work out, I guess I'll make friends with the robots.