“Many professionals in the field of aging are preparing for a ‘boomer tsunami.’”
Did you realize that in 20 years, there’ll be three times as many 85-plus year olds around town? If you look at the number of baby boomers (those born between 1946 and 1964) and the increasing lifespan of the population in general, it’s going to be a fact, as reported by the Cleveland Jewish News in “Boomers should prepare for future today.”
With those kinds of population figures, the baby boomers will have tremendous social and health care needs. Despite all of the fantastic healthy diet plans and fitness regimens, only 21% of boomers exercise regularly, and 73% of men and 60% of women are overweight. There will also be one person in five who will suffer from dementia and 50% anticipate that they will need to work in their “retirement.” Shockingly, 31% have saved nothing and 45% will have a mortgage past the age of 60.
When President Johnson signed Medicare and Social Security into law in the 1960s, there were 27 workers in the workforce for every “retiree” age 65 or over, and the average lifespan was 69 years of age. The average benefits were collected for four years.
There are now seven workers for every person over 65, collecting benefits for 15 years on average, until they reach the age of 80. Fast-forward 20 years and there will only be two workers for every 65-plus-year-old and they’ll collect for 25 years to age 90.
You can easily see that our current government programs can’t continue to provide the benefits they have in the past. We’ll either have to wait until we’re much older to collect—or the benefits will have to be decreased or cut off, depending on income.
We’re all going to have to try to stay healthy and plan better for the future. That means that we should maximize our retirement savings and consider long-term care insurance, along with other estate planning strategies to help defray the cost of our very long-term needs.
These are important, immediate issues that require serious thought, planning, and financial support. Make sure that you’ll be ready for the “Boomer Tsunami.”
Reference: Cleveland Jewish News (November 9, 2016) “Boomers should prepare for future today”
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