Baby Boomers now officially eligible for Social Security - look out!
In case you haven’t heard, the first baby boomer is now eligible for Social Security. Kathleen Casey Kirshner turned 62 at one minute after midnight on January 1, 2008.
So what does this mean for the economy? The Wall Street Journal isn’t sure - is it a bad thing for all the boomers to take their pension money out of the stock market, or is it bad for these very productive people to be leaving the workforce?
At my husband’s very large company, there are many technical people who will be retiring over the next few years. They take with them a wealth of knowledge and experience. This company, to save money, has decided to cut back on training, so the newer workers aren’t getting trained. So, when all the trained people leave, how will the company be able to continue its productivity and innovation? At the college where I teach, almost half the faculty will be eligible for retirement within the next 10 years. (Of course, at colleges, you can work a little longer - we have several faculty members in their 70s.)
What is different now is the total volume of people who will be retiring within the next 10 years. According to MetLife, of the 76 million total boomers (currently ages 46-62), over 20 million boomers are over 50. We have more money to retire on than any generation in the past. We are healthier and more educated,and have a longer life expectancy than ever before. From what I see (in my small world), many people I know in their late 50’s and early 60’s are thinking about retirement, but the prospect of being retired for 25 or more years is not as attractive as it might first seem. I don’t want to outlive my retirement funds.
It is not a good idea to lump all baby boomers together, either. Younger boomers (Generation Jones), look and act very different from older boomers. And the effect of boomer retirements will be spread out over many years. So predictions of negative effects of boomer retirements and pension cash-outs on the stock market probably won’t come to pass. What do you think?
Tags: baby_boomer, baby_boomers, generation_jones, kathleen_casey, life_expectancy, metlife, pension_money, retirements, retirement_funds, social_security, stock_market, wall_street_journalRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Being A Boomer, Boomer Talk, Boomers nearing retirement
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