As a member of the first generation in history to reach retirement age with the relative certainty that you will be around for another 20 to 30 years, Boomers have more money and more time to spend it in than any other demographic, which means your buying decisions have more influence than you may realize.
According to Matt Thornhill and John Martin, founders of the research-based Boomer Project and authors of “Boomer Consumer,” your generation has extended ‘Middle Age’ to last “practically a lifetime” and you won’t even start to see yourself as officially turning old until you’re at least 80.1
While other news headlines might be filled with dire economic and political uncertainty, here are seven reasons you can feel good about your chances for enjoying a long and healthy retirement.
1. If you suffer a heart attack today, your chances of surviving are much better than they were just a few decades ago. In 1970, nearly 40 percent of senior heart attack victims who made it to the hospital never left, but today the Harvard Medical School says that number is now well below 10 percent.2
2. You have more choices than your parents and grandparents did. As a member of one of the largest population segments in history, your buying decisions drive the economy, and as a generation, you have broken more rules, changed more laws and done more good than any generation that came before you. As a result, life insurance companies are listening to your needs.
3. There are more ways today to guarantee an income than ever before, with pension-like benefits that actually give you more than the traditional, defined pension benefits of yesteryear. For example, it used to be that any money left over in your pension benefit was turned over to the insurance company that funded the benefit. Not so anymore. Today’s newer annuities allow you to keep your money in the family, so you can leave a larger legacy to your loved ones.
4. You are savvy and pretty up to speed with the latest trends. According to a recent study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 80 percent of Boomers search and find information online, the same percentage as young adults. You might be a senior citizen, but you know how to use a computer and get access to the facts.
5. You are also needed. More Boomer’s today are out in the community, volunteering their time at a rate higher than that of any other generation prior.3 Mentoring grandkids, climbing mountains, and starting second careers are just some of the things you and your friends might be doing.
6. You don’t have to stay in the stock market in order to enjoy a good retirement. That’s right – you don’t have to lose money in order to gain a guaranteed income. This is what we call the Happy Factor, and studies have shown that people who have some sort of guaranteed element to their portfolio get more of this happy factor once they retire. There is a way to access marked-linked gains without market devastation, a way to get a consistent, reliable income, and a way to do more with what you already have.
7. You don’t have to retire alone. Getting good financial advice is also easier today than it used to be, and you can get your very own free consultation today. No pressure here, folks, just some more good news. Our trained advisors are always ready and happy to assist you with what may very well be the biggest decision of your life.
1Thornhill, Matt & John Martin. “Boomer Consumer.” Linx Books. 2007
2http://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/surviving-a-heart-attack-a-success-story
3Croker, Richard. “The Boomer Century.” Springboard Press. 2007.
