The great baby-boomer retirement wave is upon us. According to Census Bureau data, 44% of boomers are at retirement age and millions more are soon to join them. By 2030, the largest generation to enter retirement will all be older than 65.
The general assumption is that boomers will have a comfortable retirement. Coasting on their accumulated wealth from three decades as America’s dominant economic force, boomers will sail off into their golden years to sip on margaritas on cruises and luxuriate in their well-appointed homes. After all, Federal Reserve data shows that while the 56 million Americans over 65 make up just 17% of the population, they hold more than half of America’s wealth — $96.4 trillion.
But there’s a flaw in the narrative of a sunny boomer retirement: A lot of older Americans are not set up for their later years. Yes, many members of the generation are loaded, but many more are not. Like every age cohort, there’s significant wealth inequality among retirees — and it’s gotten worse in the past decade. Despite holding more than half of the nation’s wealth, many boomers don’t have enough money to cover the costs of long-term care, and 43% of 55- to 64-year-olds had no retirement savings at all in 2022. That year, 30% of people over 65 were economically insecure, meaning they made less than $27,180 for a single person. And since younger boomers are less financially prepared for retirement than their older boomer siblings, the problem is bound to get worse.
As boomers continue to age out of the workforce, it’s going to put strain on the healthcare system, government programs, and the economy. That means more young people are going to be financially responsible for their parents, more government spending will be allocated to older folks, and economic growth could slow.
Boomers were out protesting against the direction the world was headed in decades before you were born. But because the internet told you they all voted for Reagan and Trump you think it’s okay to treat them all collectively as the cause of all your problems.
I’ve been relatively diplomatic in my replies to this thread so far, trying to get people to realize that there are individuals who fall under the “boomer” label that don’t fit with your mental image of money-grubbing conservatives who bled the planet dry for their own profit, despite the article itself pointing out the poverty many boomers are facing or the history of progressive social progress and protest among the boomer generation. But I’m exhausted, so you can either find the brain power to recognize that these are people, not a collective, or go fuck yourself because you’re an absolute imbecile.
I applaud you fighting back against the hive mind. I have been working on it as well when I have the energy to engage. Thanks for making this point.
Agreed. Blaming boomers for all our ills is the same as blaming all refugees for taking out jobs. Stupid, untrue, but believed by many.
Go to bed boomer.
I’m a millennial but nice try. Y’see, some people don’t need to be a part of a group to feel empathy for them. You’re just an angry person who has chosen your scapegoat to blame everything on and can’t handle anyone poking holes in your reductionist world view.
In fact, you sound an awful lot like a bigoted conservative.
Ok boomer.
Aw, little troll ran out of gas. Go have a nap and your binky and maybe you’ll be less cranky when you wake up from shitting your pants.
Imagine writing that comment while accusing someone else of being a troll.
Imagine thinking you know what the word “troll” means.
Go back to Reddit boomer troll.