We Are NOT Going Quietly Into the Night!

If Ben Bernanke – the Federal Reserve Chairman – says it – then you know the impending retirement of the 78 million baby boomers in theUS is a real economic problem. Like many other economists -- Bernanke worries about Medicare and Social Security – programs he warns will be unsustainable when the boomer wave breaks over them.

But wait. Who says the boomers are actually going to retire? Survey after survey finds the bulk of boomers plans to keep on working -- many full time. The latest study -- from the Pew Research Center -- reports 77 percent of today’s workers will keep at it ---not just because they need the money but because they want the stimulation. And baby boomers are a huge, 40 percent slice of the current workforce.

They’re also a group which has famously spent its way through life. Which means little or no savings –when planners say to retire at 65 you’ll need enough money for at least another 18 years. At the boomer level of living – that’s a long time without a paycheck.

So get used to it Gen X, Y and Z. There won’t be much room at the top – until, perhaps, you hit the big 6-5.