Money in the Middle

Baby boomers pull up a chair on the front porch.  Enjoy the view.  Thanks to the recession, retirement for baby boomers is now not only a longer way off, but is probably going to look and feel different than you thought.

 A new study from Pew Research calls those baby boomers 50-64 the “threshold” generation and says they are the hardest hit by the current economy.  Funding for their retirement has evaporated:  Their 401 k’s down as much as 40%, housing values dissolved and health care costs continue to increase.

 “Working longer does not mean working forever…the goal should be to move the average retirement age from 63 to 66,”according to Alice Munnell and Steve Sass in “Working Longer: The solution to the Retirement Income Challenge.”

 The Pew Research also showed that the older generation is fairing better in this recession than the baby boomers.  Thanks to pension plans, Medicare and more conservative investments the recessions has generally not hit their lifestyle as dramatically as it has baby boomers.

 So if your view of retirement has changed, the good news is that working a few more years, waiting to take Social Security until your normal retirement age, paying off your debt and continuing to contribute to retirement plans can still lead you to the retirement lifestyle you want –maybe just a few years later.  We call it Retirement Reset and more boomers are catching on that by readjusting their expectations they can have a meaningful and productive retirement.

Baby Boomers Retirement Dreams Delayed