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For decades, those people born right after WWII have been tagged as 'Baby Boomers'. The US Census defines a Baby Boomer is 'someone born during the demographic birth boom between 1946 and 1964'.
This group includes roughly 80 million people with amazing purchasing power.
Many people, especially advertisers, consider this body to be a consistent one; nevertheless doing so is really a mistake. Traditionally the cluster has been considered to be composed of revolutionaries, as evidenced by the time of the 60s (e.g., free love, peace-niks and war protesters), but many constituents are actually very conventional in their principles and style of living.
People born in this time period are quite different in many respects: many (but not all) have children; some are grandparents and/or 'empty-nesters;' others are never married, caring for an elderly parent, separated, gay, or belong to extended or alternate lifestyle families. Some are actively employed, some are retired, others giving significant thought to quitting work.
Transformers Alter Everything They Contact
There is however, one ingrained feature that has tagged this group - they're transformers. Because of the size of this group, and relative wealth, they've had a transformative effect upon life and economy in the U. S. spanning the past six decades. In fact, author Doug Owram labeled them 'a shockwave,' and author Landon Jones has described them as 'the pig in the python'.
This group has impacted nearly everything as they've moved through their teen years, early maturity, their roles, the economy, etc. - and there isn't any cause to infer that they've stopped their transformative actions on our society.
I'm betting that the latest sphere to be impacted by this group is retirement.
I remember when I was a youngster, I believed anyone aged 50, or more, was 'old' but now, demographers consider fifty to be the beginning of Early Middle Age, and argue that Old Age doesn't begin until age 75. Now, Americans at age fifty will probably live thirty five more years, and so, be 'retired' for twenty years or more - so what are they going to do with all that leisure time?
During previous years, the time of retirement was usually comparatively brief and identified by poor health, little money, and few choices; however, for this bunch of nearly 80 million US people, those inhibitions no longer fit. In their 30's, they bragged about 'never growing old,' and now, it's up to them to deliver on that claim.
What are they intending to do with an additional 20 or 30 years of active aging? Modern diet and medical care have considerably extended that period when people stay healthy and active (for instance, my mother is in her 90s, resides alone, and still drives her own automobile).
How Retirement Is Being Changed
Are the 'Boomers' going to be content to drag out the rocking chair, kick back on their balcony, and observe the world pass them by? I suspect not!
In general, members of this generation are on the path to self-actualization (as Maslow exploited the term):
- Most of them have a lot of things they need to accomplish yet in their lives.
- Considering they will have 20-30 years of time to fill, they will be interested in a wide variety of leisure activities (e.g, travel, golf, at-home entertainment).
- As a result of all this time, they also wish to stay fit enough to enjoy that time - so they are going to be extremely curious about services and products that can help them remain healthy and strong.
- A lot of them will actually 'reinvent' themselves - beginning that career or position they've always dreamed about, but had to put off because of relationship or other duties.
- A lot of Boomers will begin their own businesses, and the internet supplies them with many opportunities they've never had previously.
- Training, acquiring knowledge and things that will provide them with time freedom will be high priorities for this group of affluent americans.
How will you apply that time across work and play? Are there hopes that you have postponed for many years but wish to accomplish in the course of your 'retirement'?
If you're one of those folks desiring to start your own, think about beginning an affiliate or other internet business - but be advised that the problem with most online businesses is that their coaching tends to be superficial. Sadly, you will need more training than they generally furnish. One very good starting place for gaining the skills that you will need is to sign up for the Online Success for Beginners class.
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