To be an aging consumer in a youth culture means facing several challenges, including maintaining self-esteem in the face of negative media portrayals, redefining the meaning of being sexually active, coping with vulnerability, planning for retirement and investing for the final years. Despite tremendous differences and contradictions among aging consumers, many policymakers take a narrow, single-minded approach to issues of consumer welfare and public policy, which fails to address the wide variation among members of this group.