In the article, “Baby Boomers: Every Silver Lining Has a Touch of Grey,” the author, Paul Hyman, discusses Baby Boomers and statistics on retirement and spending. The oldest of the Baby Boomers (those that were born in 1946) turned 65 last year, a time where Americans generally retire. “A quarter of middle-class Americans are despondent about their savings causing them to delay retirement until they are at least 80 years old,” Hyman says. Reason being, Boomers aren’t in a hurry to retire, their views have changed from their earlier years.
“In North America alone, big cost spending climaxes at the age of 50,” says Kenneth Gronbach, author of “The Age Curve: How to Profit from the Coming Demographic Storm.” “This does not forshadow well for the large retail establishments concepts of limited selection at high prices,” he adds. Matt Thornhill has a more optimistic approach. “Most surveys these days report that Boomers do not plan on retiring any time soon. Boomers are not leaving their peak earning and spending years in the close future.” According to Hyman, the latest Census projections say that by 2022, the age 50 and up segment will be 122 million.
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Most Boomers see themselves working up to seven years more than they had proposed to work. Over half believe they will still have to work after that, since their values on their homes have been significantly reduced. This is due to equity decreasing by half since 2007. “Once the foreclosure issue is dealt with and fixed, the housing market will return with wrath and so will the missing equity. Boomers will begin to retire by the mass in 2015,” Gronbach