Helping Baby Boomers Understand the Always-Connected Generation

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My blog for US News & World this week is titled How to Communicate with Younger Colleagues and takes a look at the challenges faced by Baby Boomers as they learn to interact effectively with younger friends and co-workers.

Social media and the constant connectivity afforded by smart phones and mobile devices has changed the way people behave. Last minute changes to plans are the norm despite the frustration it causes. Practices such as texting while driving continue to consider the safety of others less important than maintaining that 24/7 connectivity to friends.

Baby boomers who are a bit behind the social technology curve for this growing always-available culture will need to learn how to effectively cope with the “connected masses” around them. If not they face frustrating times ahead.

Read more on How to Communicate with Younger Colleagues. 

Senior Citizens are Responsible for their own Retirement

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Baby boomers moving into retirement have a long road ahead. With average lifespans increasing to beyond 80 years, advances in science improving our quality of life, and  as members of a group whose career has typically been that of knowledge workers as opposed to physical laborers, we can expect 30 to 40 years of quality living after reaching the prescribed retirement age of 65. And not just living like breathing in and out but living like engaging, enjoying and experiencing a new chapter with new opportunity.

With these additional years awaiting us, senior citizens need to plan and prepare more than ever if they hope to live fulfilling and exciting retirement lives. Each of us must address financial requirements, health issues, living arrangements, and what we will do to keep busy and engaged as retirees.

It is important to begin planning now while we have time to make adjustments and identify potential problems before they occur. And it is important that we realize it is up to us individually to provide for our retirement and the lifestyle we hope to live.

Senior citizens should not count on others. The ratio of working-age citizens between 15-64 is decreasing across the world. By 2050 the ratio in the US will drop from 5:1 to 3:1 while in Japan it will drop to 1:1. Fewer working citizens to subsidize the needs for seniors makes it increasingly important for us to take care of ourselves.

We need to realistically evaluate our situation. We need to determine what kind of retirement we want and we need to accurately calculate what it will take to get us there based on our own resources. If we cannot get where we hope, we need to make changes now to help us get there or we need to readjust expectations to reflect reality.

This week’s blog in US News & World The Importance of Being Self-Reliant in Retirement takes a deeper look into this topic. As long as we plan and prepare, as long as we accurately evaluate our situation and as long as we are willing to personally take those actions required to get there rather than relying on the government or others, we can hope to experience that fulfilling retirement we deserve.

Enjoy…

 

Big Changes as Retiring Baby Boomer Numbers Explode

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Baby boomers entering retirement age are changing the world as we know it an order of magnitude at a time. 75 million strong, affluent, successful, and driven this wave will impact everything from healthcare to housing, from transportation to taxes. This aging phenomenon is a global occurrence forcing each country to figure out how to deal with increasing ratios of senior citizens to actively employed workers.

The writing is on the wall and we are ever bombarded with warnings of the pending impact. How many articles have you read quoting the 10,000 baby boomers who will reach age 65 each day for the next 20 years? That is a lot of gray!

The numbers are truly mind boggling as the current 40 million senior citizens will grow to 89 million in 2050. The shifting demand created by boomers will impact the supply of limited resources in all aspects of daily life.

What to do?

My blog for the week at US News & World The Baby Boomer Number Game attempts to shed some light on some major areas of concern and discuss how the changing demographics will impact us all. Enjoy and don’t let the numbers scare you too much.