Baby Boomer Issues: Health, Money And Retirement

As the Baby Boomer generation continues to grow older, their primary concerns have shifted to their health, money and retirement. The days of idly wondering where their next vacation should be and whether their bonus check will be as much as they deserve are quietly passing. Today, Baby Boomer issues are mostly about concerns with maintaining their dwindling health and having enough money to live comfortably through their twilight years.

Health Concerns For Baby Boomers

As people grow older, they often experience problems with their health. Their bodies grow more fragile and susceptible to diseases and bacteria. In addition, many people 50 years of age and older are reporting health problems that were not experienced by people in their same age group long ago.

This problem is exacerbated by rising health care costs. As the Boomer generation begins to require more medical care, the cost of that medical care continues to increase. Health issues and their ability to cope with them and find the proper medical support is a major concern for Baby Boomers.

Money And Retirement Concerns For Baby Boomers

Along with rising health care costs, Baby Boomers also worry about money and retirement. During the last several years of their careers before retiring, people usually enjoy salaries and bonuses that are larger than at any other point in their career. As a result, money is rarely a major concern.

However, many people fail to save that money. Instead, they spend it on vacations, their families and in the pursuit of living fun and fulfilling lives. This can lead to a rude awakening when they retire. Because they have not saved much money during their career, a lot of people discover that they do not have enough money to live comfortably during their retirement years.

When they retire, they no longer earn a salary. They no longer receive bonus checks. Instead, they are forced to live off the income that can be generated by the investments they have made throughout their lives. Unfortunately, many have not invested any money that can generate this income.

Other Baby Boomer issues complicate this money problem. People live longer lives today. When a Baby Boomer retires, he can expect to live many years in retirement. In the past, a 65-year old man could expect to live approximately 10 years in retirement before passing away. The financial requirements of living comfortably for these 10 years were manageable for most people.

Today, financial planners use a life expectancy of 90 to 95 years. That is, when a person retires at 65 years of age, he can expect to live up to 30 years in retirement. With dwindling health, rising health care costs and a lack of savings to generate a fixed income, the financial requirements of living 30 years in retirement are out of reach for many people.

These health, money and retirement concerns will grow as more of the Baby Boomer generation moves into retirement. Some will choose to work part-time jobs to keep active, stay healthy and generate supplemental income. Others will require the aid of family and friends. Still others may require more help than is available to them. As the Baby Boomer issues are beginning to emerge the Boomers will experience the issues that have been quietly gaining momentum for years, their health, money and retirement concerns will continue to grow.