Occupy Retirement! Baby Boomers Retiring; Glum, Happy

By Susan Klopfer,

Speaker and Author

Baby Boomers reaching retirement age.

DO YOU HEAR a growing rumble in the distance? Chalk it up to the coming the Baby Boomer Express, an enormous number of older folks in this country getting ready to retire. Just three years ago, Boomers began turning 65, took their IRAs and pensions (if they had them), and started quitting their jobs and drawing social security en masse.

Who are these boomer-people, and why are they scaring so many politicians and younger folks?

Add 65 years to January 1st, 1946 and you come up with January 1st, 2011 -- the moment when the first Baby Boomers started reaching retirement age. According to a report by the Pew Research Institute, on that very day, today, and for every day for the next 19 years, 10,000 baby boomers will reach age 65.

What Are Boomers and Where Did They Come From?

So who invented the term Baby Boomers, and how are these Boomers shaping the world to come?

When World War II ended, and after U.S. troops came home, they quickly settled down and started having babies. You have seen the classic advertisements and sit-coms: slender moms wearing aprons and tending to their young children, while dad and his briefcase are on the job. You know, hat June and Ward Cleaver look...

Boomers really have already changed America through every stage of their lives - education, family planning, employment - and now, Baby Boomers are Coming of Retirement Age, and making a bigger impact than ever before.

Here are several statistical facts from the U.C. Census Bureau to consider - facts that scare politicians and make younger people true believers in the power of the Boomer generation:

·         Some 78 million people were born between 1946 and 1964, which is defined as the Baby Boomer era, the largest in American history.

·         In 1957, alone, 4.3 million babies were born in the U.S. This is more than any year before or since.

·         In 1965, 36% of the U.S. population was under 18 years of age; today 18% is under 18.

Here is still more to consider from the U.S. Census Department and other research organizations:

·         The first boomers turned 60 on January 1, 2006. (D'Vera Cohn and Paul Taylor)

·         Every 7 seconds an American turns 50 -- more than 12,500 people every day. (U.S. Census)

·         As of 2009, 48 is the largest age group in the United States. (U.S. Census)

·         By 2015, those who are 50 and older will represent nearly half, or 45% of the U.S. population. (Cohn and Taylor)

·         By 2030, the 65-plus population will double to about 71.5 million, and by 2050 will grow to 86.7 million people. (U.S. Census)

·         Of the 72 million family households in the U.S., 34 million of them are baby boomer households. (MetLife Mature Market Institute)

·         A 50-year-old female can expect to live 82.5 years; a male 78.5 years. (The National Center for Health Statistics)

At first, this may seem like a lot of raw numbers and statistics to make much sense of, but what do these numbers really tell us, and what do Boomers think and want?

First of all, and perhaps even most important, is that the United States is seriously about to change regarding its composition. For now, just 13% of Americans are 65 years and older. But by 2030, only 18 years away from now, when all members of the Boomer generation have reached that age, fully 18% of the U.S. will be 65 years and older, according to Pew Research Center population projections.

(Even if it appears that we are talking about old folks, let me clarify - I am a 64-year-old Boomer, born in 1948, and like most of my cohorts, I believe that old age does not even start until age 72, a fact backed up by Pew. While about half of us might say we feel younger than our actual age, fully 61% of Boomers are feeling more spry than their age might imply. Most Boomers, in fact, feel nine years younger than their true age.)

Things Are Seldom What They Seem

While the stereotyped image of a happy retired man on his way to the fishing stream or joyful retired grandparents on a jaunt to Disney World with grandchildren, this age group comes to mind when the word "retirement" appears, in fact, this age group is not as upbeat as one might think - even if most don't feel particularly old for their age.

"Baby Boomers are more downbeat than other age groups about the trajectory of their own lives and about the direction of the nation as a whole," report D'Vera Cohn and Paul Taylor, for Pew Research Center.

In fact, just two years ago (2010), Pew researchers found Baby Boomers to be a "pretty glum" group of folks. Some 80 percent said they were dissatisfaction with "the way things are going in the country today, compared with 60% of those ages 18 to 29 (Millennials), 69% of those ages 30 to 45 (Generation Xers) and 76% of those ages 65 and older (the Silent and Greatest Generations), according to an additional 20120 Pew Research Center survey.

Boomers Both Gloomy and Hopeful

"Some of this pessimism is related to life cycle -- for most people, middle age is the most demanding and stressful time of life," report Cohn and Taylor, citing psychological research (Stone, Arthur A. et al, "A snapshot of the age distribution of psychological well-being in the United States," PNAS, June 1, 2010, Vol. 107, No. 22.).

Yet, it was Baby Boomers, who in the 1960s expressed high hopes for remaking society, while spending most of their adulthood "trailing other age cohorts in overall life satisfaction." (We wanted desperately to change the status quo, but this never happened.)

More Cohn and Taylor findings about Boomers helps others understand who they are - and what they want. These stats particularly stand out --

·         Baby Boomers are more accepting of changes in American culture than adults ages 65 and older, though generally less tolerant than the young.

·         Regarding personal finances, economic security and retirement expectations, Boomers feel more damaged by the Great Recession than do older adults.

·         Late-comers to high tech, Boomers are beginning to close the Internet and social media gap with younger generations. Fully half of the younger Boomers (ages 46-55) now use social networks and than half (55%) of older Boomers (ages 56-64) now watch online video.

·         Like most U.S. citizens, Boomers have done some partisan switching in recent years, and narrowly favored Barack Obama for president in 200.

·         In their core political attitudes about the role of government, they're more conservative than younger adults and more liberal than older adults, according to a comprehensive 2010 Pew Research report.

·         But, a new Pew Research survey finds Boomers oppose legislations that would take a bite out of their own pocketbooks...some 63% (compared with 58% of all adults) oppose raising the age for qualifying for full Social Security benefits.

WHEN RELIGION COMES INTO the picture, Boomers appear to be less religious that people over 65, but more religious than younger adults. Less than half (43%) say the a "strong" members of their religion - higher than younger adults and lower than older folks. Less than half (40%) say they attend religious services once a week. Some 13% report having no religious affiliation, again - less than younger people but more than older adults.

*****

For myself, as I have quietly moved into this over-60 group, I have been thinking a lot, recently about the quality of the rest of my days, the consequences of the decisions I have made and a legacy - even if it is unassuming, and am reminded of a quote by the philosopher Nietzsche, "The consequences of our actions take hold of us, quite indifferent to our claim that meanwhile we have improved."

We still have time to make a difference, to improve the world; if our own gloom will not overtake us. I only hope that our last years are filled once again with hope matched by action. Let us get going, and Occupy Retirement!

*****

Susan Klopfer, author and speaker, writes and speaks on civil rights and diversity. Her newest  books, Who Killed Emmett Till?" "Where Rebels Roost: Mississippi Civil Rights Revisited" and "The Emmett Till Book" are now in print and are carried in most online bookstores including Amazon, Barnes & Noble and in eBook versions on iBooks and Smashwords. "Where Rebels Roost" focuses on the Mississippi Delta, with stories about Emmett Till, Fannie Lou Hamer, Aaron Henry, Amzie Moore and many other civil rights foot soldiers. These books emphasize unsolved murders of Delta blacks from mid 1950s on. She is also the author of eBook, Cash In On Diversity, written especially for businesses and their employees.  Klopfer is an award-winning journalist and former acquisitions and development editor for Prentice-Hall. Her computer book, "Abort, Retry, Fail!" was an alternate selection by the Book of-the-Month Club.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Susan_Klopfer

*****

To arrange for Susan Klopfer to speak to your organization on retirement topics, contact her at http://susanklopfer.com

Baby Boomers: Explore Pew Research Surveys and Reports

Below are hyperlinks to Pew Research Center publications from recent years that include data specifically about Baby Boomers.

Social Behaviors and Values

• The Decline of Marriage and Rise of New Families: Survey of attitudes on whether marriage is becoming obsolete; single mothers, same-sex couples and other non-traditional arrangements; importance of family; what's best for children.
• The Return of the Multi-Generational Family Household: Share living in multi-generational households.
• Forty Years After Woodstock, A Gentler Generation Gap: Views on the generation gap, musical preferences, knowledge about Woodstock festival.
• Growing Old in America: Expectations vs. Reality: Views by age group on what constitutes old age and the signs of old age; do you feel younger or older than your real age; has life turned out better or worse than expected; happiness.
• As Marriage and Parenthood Drift Apart, Public Is Concerned about Social Impact: Views about divorce, civil unions, premarital sex, purpose and importance of marriage, children and marriage; profile of parents and divorced adults.
• Public Support for Legalizing Medical Marijuana: Support for legalization of medical marijuana is as high among Boomers as among younger adults, and higher than among older adults.

Economy and Personal Finances

• How the Great Recession Has Changed Life in America: Impact of recession on current finances, financial behavior and employment; views on personal financial future and national economy's future.
• Most Middle-Aged Adults are Rethinking Retirement Plans: Impact of recession on retirement plans of adults ages 50 to 64, which includes most Baby Boomers.
• Different Age Groups, Different Recessions: Recession-related changes in spending and behavior, investment losses, investment confidence.
• Luxury or Necessity: How the generations differ on what is a luxury or necessity, including such possessions as cell phones and televisions.
• Inside the Middle Class: Views on personal finances, class, quality of life, comparisons with past and projection into future, personal financial problems, priorities in life, job satisfaction.

Expat Retirement Works Best When Differences Understood and Appreciated

Ready to retire and want to become an expat?

 After working nearly eight months months to get a special “pensionada” visa, scouting out the correct pet carriers to bring along her dog and cat, holding umpteen garage sales and finally selling her mission-style bungalow at a small profit – to retire in Paraguay as an expat – Bess G. flew off to retirement paradise.

By the end of three months, Bess returned home.

This native Californian never was quite sure how to tell others why her move did not work out, but accepts she made mistakes. Some days wishes she could take it all back -- her current dilemma is finding a new, affordable retirement solution. For the rest of her life, she will be living in a small apartment, she rationalizes.

Packing your bags, finding pet carriers, and leaving for a romantic spot in Belize, Spain, Paraguay, Uruguay, Ecuador, Ireland or elsewhere may sound quite exciting at first. After all, the notion of living the rest of one's life near the ocean or next to snow-capped mountains with new places to visit and new people to meet, is what captured Bess’s imagination in the first place.

While there are numerous stories of individual expat success (and failure), especially on retirement blogs and magazines, there there seems to be few formal expat studies revolving around retirees.

It may help, though, to pay attention to what some corporations have learned about placing workers in new countries -- turning their employees and often their families into expatriates.

One human resource manager believes that it takes a special person to make necessary adjustments, and that when business expatriates fail to adjust to a new county, they have often been selected by managers “in a knee-jerk reaction” to fill a new or unexpected vacancy on foreign soil, and failure is more typical than not.

Sharon Lobel in "Global Leadership Competencies: Managing to a Different Drumbeat" (Human Resource Management, Spring 1990) asserts that managers tend to choose the most technically competent candidates “even though the qualities that made candidates a success domestically won't necessarily make them a success internationally.”

With Lobel’s observations in mind, it is not surprising that a high expatriate failure rate has existed for many corporations. While studies of failure rates vary, it appears that between 16 percent and 40 percent of personnel generally return early, with aborted assignments occurring as often as 70 percent of the time in developing countries, she finds.

So, if talented, educated employees cannot make it in out-of-country assignment, it is not surprising that a number of retirees trying to become expats end up returning home, most likely angry and not understanding why they could not succeed (or simply blaming their failure on the country and its “weird” citizens).

One answer to expat failure comes from the field of anthropology – ethnocentrism – a word explaining why people from one culture often have a difficult time adjusting to a new one. This word comes from the belief in the superiority of one person over another, stemming from a variety of sources.

You may have seen ethnocentrism in action, or felt it. Some expats who have a strong awareness of it say they are embarrassed when a new retiree moves into their community and begins showing signs of superiority to the local people.

 Are you certain you have “better manners” than a poor person or someone from Mexico? Do some people who speak with an “accent” have “poor” English skills? Are your children “smarter” because they had a better (more expensive) education? Is American medicine automatically "better" than what is locally practiced?... 

For anyone answering “yes” to any of these questions, this probably signals that becoming an expat might be difficult, and here is why:

Ethnocentrism usually starts with the belief of superiority in one's personal ethnic group; it can also develop from racial or religious differences. Conscious or not, people who are ethnocentric think that they are smarter, better, even superior than others for reasons based solely on their background and heritage, a practice clearly related to problems of both racism and prejudice.

Those who have been educated to recognize problems associated with ethnocentrism, would likely find it easier to relocate and live among people who are “different,” recognizing that ethnocentrism takes place nearly everywhere and everyday on local and political levels, and that it gets in the way of really knowing and understanding people from other groups.

Unfortunately, many Americans are not very familiar with this term, or that since the beginning of this country’s conception, the United States has often thought of itself as more powerful, more economically sound, and just generally "better" than other nations. 

When traveling to other countries, unless one is very cautious, ethnocentrism often appears as “looking down” on people of other cultures or behaving in a superior way. Shouting in one’s own language, rather than taking time to learn the hosting country’s language, is only one example.

Ethnocentrism can be expressed through nonverbal signals that are automatic to the person sending them, such as standing too close or too far away from a person, waggling a finger at someone while speaking too loudly or interrupting conversation while using a know-it-all expression, or not taking into any consideration the communication mores or practices of the hosting country.

(Still questioning ethnocentrism? Consider that European ethnocentrism is still practiced today in schools where history courses typically focus on the history of the United States and Europe, largely ignoring other parts of the world.)

The person who is a successful expat typically knows that despite cultural differences, we are all still human. There is no critical difference between a Parguay citizen and a citizen of Thailand, and so forth. To survive as a stranger in a strange land – a visitor in a new land – requires education and enough personal depth to avoid unfair prejudices that result from ethnocentrism.

Dr. Ben van den Anker of Australia, a cross cultural consultant, advises “While it is tempting to daydream that all we’ll need to do is find a nice little cottage on a sunny beach somewhere and our lives will be complete, [social] research suggests that expats are happiest when they go out of their way to be part of the local community and also find an activity that they love.”

Perhaps now that Bess is back home, with time on her hands, she might consider trying again to become an expat, this time taking Dr. van den Anker’s advice for making out-of-country living successful: 

“All it takes is some understanding and appreciation of unfamiliar cultures and people who have something of worth to offer.”

If she does try becoming an expat once more, not only will Bess lower her retirement expenses, she could experience something unique that comes from moving into a new and different culture--learning to appreciate others in a new way and freedom from  the defines of ethnocentrism.
*****
To arrange for Susan Klopfer to speak to your organization on retirement topics, contact her at http://susanklopfer.com