Since the beginning of Internet commerce up until a year or so ago, members of Generation X have led the way in buying things online with Millennials not far behind. Older generations, even as they warmed to the Internet, were not as trusting or as eager consumers online as the younger sets. Now, according to a new study by Forrester Research, Baby Boomers have become avid online shoppers and the biggest online spenders. 70% of younger Boomers (age 45-55) report having shopped online within the last 3 months, an all time high for their demographic and figure approaching that of… Read More
Categories: Baby Boomers, Downloadable MediaA new study by the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Housing Commission sees many Baby Boomers selling their homes as age, downsize, and retire. The study projects that Boomers will divest themselves of as many as 26 million housing units over the next 20 years. The problem is that the generation that should now be entering the market for homes, the Millennials, are not generally in a position to afford them. As we noted last week, a combination of high real estate values, lower real wages, tight credit, and high indebtedness is preventing many Millennials from realizing the dream of owning a… Read More
Categories: Baby Boomers, Home Ownership, Real EstateAs Baby Boomers retire and turn to their portfolios to support themselves, the returns on those investments are likely to diminish, Robert Arnott of Research Affiliates, LLC tells the Wall Street Journal. The large number of Boomers retiring at once will glut the market with the stocks and bonds they are trying to sell, reducing value. Meanwhile, the working population will have fewer resources to buy them and less interest in doing so than previous generations. The result: anemic returns. To make matters worse, the high proportion of retired population (once Boomers retire) to working population will increase the cost… Read More
Categories: Baby Boomers, WorkWells Fargo’s 7th annual retirement survey, released this month, shows that an increasing number of Americans are planning to work beyond the traditional retirement age of 65. Three quarters of those surveyed, across all age groups, said they expected to continue to work past 65. Half of those expect to work out of necessity. 25% said they expected to retire at 80. Baby Boomers are the most likely to feel compelled to work. Over half of Boomers expect to keep working into retirement because they have to. Another quarter expects to work past 65 because they want to. In contrast,… Read More
Categories: Baby Boomers, WorkMany Baby Boomers, even wealthy ones, have no intention of leaving an inheritance. Instead, they plan to use their fortunes on themselves. A new study by U.S. Trust shows that less than half of wealthy Boomers surveyed plan to leave an inheritance. About the same number have not even told their children what they are worth. This marks a sharp departure from attitudes among previous generations and comes as a shock to the financial planning industry. The results left the president of U.S. Trust sounding a little like a Millennial: “We were, like, ‘wow,’” said Keith Banks. Some Boomers surveyed… Read More
Categories: Baby Boomers, WorkAccording to the Pew Center’s latest look at social media, Baby Boomers and Matures are now the demographics driving explosive growth in social networking, while Millennials’ use of such sites has flattened. While social networking sites are still enormously popular among Millennials – 83% use them – growth in their popularity within the younger demographic has stalled, and even declined over the past year (from 86%). On the other hand, the growth in the use of social media among older generations has been as phenomenal as it was among Millennials just a few years ago. Over the past two years,… Read More
Categories: Baby Boomers, Generations, MaturesMillennials have had less disposable income in their 20s and 30s than the Boomers and Xers before them did, according to an analysis by AdAge. According to figures derived from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, both Millennials and Xers have spent more on housing, health care, and education when between the ages of 25-34 than the Boomers did at the same age. In the case of Millennials, those higher costs combined with a recessionary economy have curtailed their ability to spend on everything else. In 2010 dollars, Millennials (during ages 25-34) have spent $21 billion more on rent than Boomers… Read More
Categories: Baby Boomers, Blog, Generation Y / Millennials, Generations, Recession Economy