Just 100 years ago, 32 was old

WHAT’S ON DECK

• Tell Me More: 63 million Americans are caregivers, up 50% in a decade

• Troublemaker Spotlight: Tiffany Aliche, Author and Financial Guru

• Inside Track: Leaders on the move

• Dear FQ: Workplace friends are the key to career growth

• Poll the Pack: The workplace policy that best helps a team succeed

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TELL ME MORE

The weight of caregiving

In 1900, the global life expectancy was 32 years old (!!). Today, it has more than doubled at 73.5 years. And in high-income countries, the expectancy reaches 84 years. While this is positive news, it brings with it challenges for families, communities, and economies.

There is a gap between our lifespan, how long we live, and healthspan, how long we live well with mental acuity and the absence of physical impairments. According to the Population Reference Bureau, by 2050, the number of adults aged 65 and older is going to rise 42%. That’s 82 million people, of which millions will spend their later years dealing with chronic illness, dementia, and financial difficulties, problems that all require care.

This responsibility typically falls on their children, who are a part of “the sandwich generation.” They tend to be middle-aged adults who find themselves sandwiched between taking care of their own children, or providing financial support to adult children, and also their parents. This causes them to be squeezed financially, emotionally, and physically.

The majority of the sandwich generation providing this dual care? Shocker: women. A report from the University of Phoenix found that 51% of moms in this age group are leaving their paying jobs for this invisible labor. In addition, over half of these moms are in a single income household, with 52% of their paychecks going toward the cost of care. 

Providing care for a family member experiencing cognitive decline is even more challenging. Globally, 50 million people are living with dementia and by 2050, that number is expected to grow to 152 million. As dementia progresses, the amount of caregiving needed becomes extensive. When a loved one can no longer be cared for at home, caregivers are faced with the impossible decision to move them to a facility for professional round-the-clock care.

This often causes feelings of guilt for the caregiver. Emma Heming Willis is showing us the quiet, heart-wrenching strength that caregivers carry. She recently made headlines about managing her husband Bruce Willis’s progressive frontotemporal dementia (FTD) disease, an early-onset form of dementia affecting about 50,000–60,000 Americans. She made the painful but necessary choice to move him into a one-story home close to their family home that is tailored to his care needs. FTD requires a calm and serene environment, and this move has given Bruce stability, while also allowing their teen daughters to simply be kids again. "They can have playdates and sleepovers again and not have to walk around tiptoeing," Emma shared.

Emma’s openness displays the strength it takes to care for someone else while also protecting your family’s well-being. "It's heartbreaking to me. But this is how we were able to support our whole family, and it has opened up Bruce's world."

If you know a caregiver, here are ways that you can show up for them:

• Listen, validate, and provide emotional support.

• Offer ways you can help, like running errands or chores around the house.

• Take over for a few hours. Caregiving is exhausting and this will give them some time to recharge.

• Stay connected!

A 2025 study from AARP shows that 63 million Americans are family caregivers, a 50% increase from 2015. Caregiving is love. It’s sacrifice. It’s resilience. But too often, it’s met with judgment instead of understanding. Caregivers are the backbone of our society. In turn, we need to make sure that we take care of them too.

It is never too early to think about how therapy could help your kids in the long run. SheKnows Trending News Editor Delilah Gray was only 7 when she started; read her story here. If this thought scares you, the teen-parenting editors at SheKnows have resources to help you start that conversation here; to help your kids understand the high value of this form of self-investment. While you’re at it, sign up for the SheKnows Parenting newsletter to learn more about high-yield parenting, and how to raise actually resilient adults in this day and age.

TROUBLEMAKER SPOTLIGHT

Tiffany Aliche, Financial Educator and Author

Tiffany Aliche, otherwise known as The Budgetnista, is a financial guru you need to know. Her book, Get Good with Money, is a New York Times bestseller and she has helped over 2 million women save, properly manage their money, and pay off debt. A former teacher, in 2019, she helped get The Budgetnista Law passed, making financial education for middle schoolers mandatory in New Jersey. She is also a NAACP nominee and the first Black woman to grace the cover of Money Magazine solo.

FQ: What’s the worst career advice you’ve gotten?

Very early on, my dad gave me some not so great advice: In order to get a job, take whatever is safe and whatever they offer. I was crying about it, and my mom came into my room and said, “I love your dad, but don’t listen to him.” She told me to do what I want to do, and as long as I worked hard at it, I’d succeed. 

That realization was a pivotal moment: I don't have to take what the world gives me; I can take what I want from the world.

What’s the best piece of non-obvious career advice you’ve gotten?

When I first started the Budgetnista, people would not book me, even to speak for free. One day, I was angry for not booking a free speaking engagement and I said, “If I was Oprah, they would book me. They would find the money and book me no matter what.” And that’s because Oprah has illustrated her value and the return for them is obvious. So I wondered, “How do I illustrate my ‘Oprah’? How do I not only do the damn thing, but let the world know I'm doing it?” 

Women do great stuff, but so often don’t brag about it. It's not enough to do good things. Put it out there so everyone knows. Don’t be demure in business. That has been my guiding light. I have a book that's a New York Times bestseller and I tell people all the time. So now the price is different, the respect is different, the connection is different.

What was a “heartbeat moment” for you in your career?

After college, my parents, who were born and raised in Nigeria, took me there for the first time. That experience shifted everything: I realized I wanted to build a life based not on how it looked from the outside, but on how it truly felt. In Africa, everything was simplified. I didn’t know, for example, that a village is your family; I thought it was just a town. But there was this deep sense of care and belonging. You couldn’t walk anywhere without someone looking out for you, because if you were in the village, you were family.

That perspective changed how I saw my own path. It showed me that I could show up authentically in corporate America. More importantly, I realized I wanted to live a life of service: To do meaningful work, to help people, and to make good money too. That was the beginning of me figuring it all out.

Who is one person you’d love to give flowers to from your career that influenced your journey?

My ‘work mom’ at my first internship. She looked after me because I was this young girl in a corporate environment. At the end of the third year of my internship, I was graduating college and they made me an offer. It was $50,000, which was big money back then. There was also a school that offered me $39,000 to be a teacher. Even though I found the internship uninspiring, I decided to take the $50,000. 

She called me into her office and said, “You hate working here. Do you think that gets better? You have the opportunity to do something that brings you joy. If you take this job, you’d be a fool to do so, and I'd be a fool not to tell you.” It was such a pivotal moment because had she not said that, I would have taken that job. I wouldn’t be a teacher and I wouldn’t have started the Budgetnista. I was able to bloom as a teacher. It taught me how to speak in front of an audience. Teaching changed the whole trajectory of my life.

Where have you caused trouble?

When I first started The Budgetnista, Facebook analytics showed me that 99% of my audience were women, and mostly Black women.

A friend invited me to a financial conference to pitch investors. I made a media kit, with the cover filled with the beautiful faces of my community. Brand after brand flipped through it with disinterest. Meanwhile, those same companies were fawning over a friend with far fewer followers. I couldn’t help but wonder: Was it because my audience was Black women? I was furious, and when I get mad, I get to work.

I launched my own challenge and funded it myself. At its peak, 200,000 people signed up. Suddenly, those same banks wanted to work together. I started The Budgetnista to serve people who don’t otherwise have access. That’s how I cause good trouble. I built a movement because they told me ‘no’, and for me, ‘no’ always means ‘hell yes’.

Want to nominate a “Troublemaker” you admire? You can do so here.

INSIDE TRACK

Leaders on the move

• Jill Kramer has been named Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at Mastercard. She brings her strategic vision to a global platform, including a mission to advance opportunities for women and girls around the world.

• Stephanie Danzi has been promoted to Chief Marketing Officer of Evergreen and Emerging Brands at Match Group after starting as a graphic design intern at Tinder in college and climbing the ladder to SVP of Global Marketing.

• Bridget Winston has joined PatientNow as Chief Revenue Officer, leading revenue across sales, onboarding, customer success, and support. With nearly two decades in high-growth tech, she’s shaping the future of medspa software.

• Mindy Atwood West takes the helm as CEO of Murphy USA, capping off nearly three decades of leadership within the company and becoming one of just 55 women currently leading a Fortune 500 company.

• Najoh Tita-Reid is now Chief Growth Officer at Mars Petcare, where she’ll continue to drive innovation and impact across one of the world’s largest pet care companies.

In her words: Najoh Tita-Reid shares with FQ readers 
“When my husband and I chose to raise our children outside the U.S., every logical argument told us to stay put. And yet, something deeper in my heart said, ‘Go.’ Sometimes the most meaningful opportunities for our children and ourselves live just beyond what feels safe. Following your heart, even when logic protests, can create a life far bigger than the one you imagined.”

DEAR FQ

Your burning career questions answered

Hunter Grace of The Female Quotient weighs in:

While the line between colleagues and friends is often blurred, workplaces know that connection helps build trust and collaboration. But we understand that can make you feel like a Shy Shiloh (yes, I made that up) in a sea of Chatty Cathys. 

That’s why it’s important for workplaces to create multiple avenues for connection, from team celebrations to one-on-one check-ins, allowing people the space to engage in ways that feel authentic to them. It’s also important to remember that a personal connection can go a long way. A global LinkedIn study showed that 46% of people with a work friend found that it positively impacted their emotional well being, job satisfaction, and career growth. 

Start small: Offer assistance to a co-worker when things get busy or learn a few simple facts about their personal life. Knowing them on a deeper level than someone you pass in the hallway or just see in a tiny box on Zoom can make things less transactional. 

Try reframing it: Connection at work isn’t about forcing friendship. It’s about creating space where people feel seen and respected as whole humans, not just co-workers. It can help take the pressure off and make your day-to-day a bit more fun. Win-win.

P.S. Got a burning career question? Serve it up here to Dear FQ to score advice from a powerhouse leader in our network.

POLL THE PACK

The key to improving team performance is…drum roll…flexibility!

Flexibility really is the name of the game. An overwhelming 70% of employees say a flexible schedule is the #1 thing that boosts team performance. No surprise there; when people can work in the way that actually fits their lives, the whole team wins.

The other big one? Clear and honest communication. It might not grab headlines the way flexibility does, but it’s what keeps trust strong and everyone rowing in the same direction, especially in hybrid and global teams.

And let’s not forget the foundation: Mental health resources, paid parental leave, and the benefits that support us as whole humans. They might not show up as “top performance drivers” on a survey, but we know that well-being and personal responsibilities have everything to do with how we show up at work.

Bottom line: When people feel supported, trusted, and respected, performance follows.

Audrey Hepburn said it best: As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands. One for helping yourself, the other for helping others.

Xo,

The FQ

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