[proxy_user]

There is a simple problem with the premise of this article. The baby boomers cannot afford to retire. They married late, had kids late, and bought houses late. Now they will have to keep working.

Well, at least we had our retirement when we in our twenties, and could enjoy it.

[Monty22]

And their 401k's recently went to vapor too. It's a mess.

[Myrddin]

There is a simple problem with the premise of this article. The baby boomers cannot afford to retire. They married late, had kids late, and bought houses late.

Agreed. The baby boomers found themselves in a new business paradigm. No more retirement with a company provided pension. That was painfully obvious around 1980. The boomers opted to deal with the problem using IRA, 401K or stock investments in hope of stashing enough money for retirement. Most of that nest egg was wiped out by fraudulent management at various large companies. Now, the boomers have no nest egg. Most will have to work until they die.

I'm turning 47 next week. My mortgage is paid off. I have about $10,000 of debt left between a single car loan and a credit card. Could I retire? No way. I'm still a long way from having enough investments in place to cover my basic living expenses without working. The only good news is that I wouldn't have to work very hard to cover the basics. I'm still putting kids through college too. My youngest son turned 16 today. Soon I'll have 3 attending college simultaneously. Ouch.

My father retired from the Navy after 27 1/2 years as a Commander. He was age 47. He hasn't had to work another day in his life. His Navy retirement pay was more than adequate to finish paying off his home mortgage, car payments and daily living expenses. Few baby boomers will ever have that kind of experience.

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

You are wrong. As a group, the baby boomers are very well off.

[VOA]

Well, at least we had our retirement when we in our twenties, and could enjoy it.

"Eat dessert first; you never know if you'll be around for the full meal."

I took that advice to heart...a bit...as I had nagging, bothersome, but
eventually non-fatal (drat!) health problems in my teens, 20s, and 30s. (Two of the
three made much worse by well-meaning but mis-directed M.D.s).

But I don't recommend the "eat dessert first" philosophy for society as a whole.
Although, once again it may have a more-than-expected salutory effect:
meeting workforce demands while the demographics of younger cohorts falter,
and people who live much longer than their grandparents don't just vegetate/decay at home.

[Ditto]

The baby boomers cannot afford to retire. They married late, had kids late, and bought houses late. Now they will have to keep working.

Not this one, and not most that I know.

[Ciexyz]

The baby boomers cannot afford to retire.

Say what?! I'm retired! (as of Oct. 31st of last year.) I can live on it, but why should I have to? Now's the time to go back into the work force to pick up some extra cash to add to my nest egg. Never know when you might need it.

I see with the increased number of Hispanics in the US, that bilingual employees earn more than those possessing only one language. For instance, my local bank is paying $1/hr extra for fluency in Spanish. So there's one positive change in the job market for those of us who studied español in school.