The future is female, MIT expert says

As we live longer, women over 50 will have more power than ever before.

If you’re a woman with a bit of life experience, you already know you’re the boss.

You’re more likely to drive health care decisions in your family, control household spending, care for millennials and elders, start a business and initiate a divorce. You have the longevity advantage over men.

In other words, you rule.

But does the world know it? Older women can sometimes feel like they’re invisible to workplaces and businesses, but they're actually the trailblazers others should be watching, says Joseph F. Coughlin, director of the AgeLab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and author of the new book, “The Longevity Economy: Unlocking the World’s Fastest-Growing, Most Misunderstood Market: As people get older, the future is female, he argues, with women better prepared for life after middle age than their male peers.