Baby boomer retirement...how is it different?

Baby Boomer Retirement...here we come

Get ready for baby boomer retirement...all 78 million of us...for us retirement will be different...Why?

For those born between 1946 and 1964, retirement will not be the same as it was for their folks.

I know, being born in 1945 and already retired for 18 years...I am the oldest boomer possible.

Never before has so much wealth and assets been concentrated in a group of people in the US.

We are also the folks who will experience the strain our generation will place on Medicare and Social Security.

Medicare and Social Security

No sense rehashing the obvious...both systems are in trouble. With the first boomers reaching 65 this year the bulging Medicare rolls will expand to the point of breaking.

The "health care reform" that removes $500 billion from Medicare could not be happening at a worse time...my doctor recently informed me he may close his practice as Medicare makes up 75% of his income.

Think I am not upset...I have had nothing but catastophic insurance for the last 18 years due to the cost of insurance premiums. Now that I'm on Medicare, I would like to have some confidence, that it's going to be there when I need health care.

More and more patients are going to overwhelm a system with fewer doctors.

I digress...the problem will not be solved soon or easily.

Baby boomer retirement will include work

Mainly due to poor savings habits and poor stock market performance...baby boomers are not flush with cash. Expecting to inherit a hunk of change won't work for most. The parents portfolio and low interest rates have affected their nest eggs as well.

In fact many boomers will be faced with caring for parents due to these realities. What to do?

For most boomers, they will be forced to work in retirement...just like yours truly as I write this...This is not what most had planned on or hoped for but reality is reality.

Our choices

We can moan and groan about the unfairness of it all...blame it on Washington...OK the pity party is over.

What will set our generation apart is our determenation to still enjoy retirement. It will mean working, some methods better than others, or retiring to lifestyles that cost less. IMHO I think retiring overseas will become more and more popular.

Whether it is working or spending less in retirement, or both, baby boomer retirement will occur...but with more planning required on our part.

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