Richie Rich

Feel like you’re a baby boomer with a target on your back? It’s real. The blame game is alive and well and boomers are once again (or should I say still) a target for the critics. The knives have come out along with the OpEds that declare we’ve effed the whole thing up…again.

The current argument is that boomers hold all the wealth in the U.S. and we won’t give it up yet. Forget for a moment the accusation that we won’t part with our spondulicks, and let’s explore the accusation that we’re rich.

If you’re a baby boomer, the question is simple but uncomfortable: are you “rich,” or are you just average? The answer depends on how you stack up against your peers—and the numbers show there’s a massive gap between the middle class and the elite.

In the aptly named Wealth Ladder, what rung are we on? According to an analysis of Federal Reserve data, the top 10% of boomers has a net worth just under $3 million. Experts say that’s the line between comfortable and rich. Meanwhile, the median net worth for boomers is far lower. Think somewhere between $364k and $410k. Or what you could call not rich. Also known as middle class.

Are we holding on to homes as our primary asset. Guilty. But can average baby boomers really be called rich? Don’t think so. You need at least $3 million to be in that class, and retiring with assets like that is far different than retiring when you’re worth $350k.

Don’t forget there’s a fairly large number of boomers who for a variety of reasons/setbacks have not managed to save more than $30,000 towards retirement, and are falsely hoping that social security will rescue if not sustain them.

To summarize, younger generations shouldn’t picture the vast majority of baby boomers pulling up the ladder to shortchange younger gens. We’ve got our own retirement issues to deal with and will eventually be passing along whatever assets remain.

When it comes to the battle of the gens, I wish everyone would appreciate my favorite fortune cookie saying: It’s nice to be important, but it’s important to be nice.

Jay Harrison is a writer and creative consultant for DesignConcept. His newest mystery novel, Rio Puerco Demise is available on Amazon. His first mystery novel, Head Above Water, is also available on Amazon. But that’s not all. You can also purchase the Best of BoomSpeak on Amazon.

Going for Broke

If you are one of those baby boomers who thought they had enough savings to retire on but now are scared of going broke….join the club. Boomers who considered themselves wealthy because they are sitting on six figures in savings are now thinking they may not have enough.

There was a time when retirees could spend 4 percent of their savings per annum without the risk of running out in the last 30 years of their lives. The new number according to the latest research – is down to 2.1 percent.

What happened? For one thing, we may live to upwards of 95 years old. Put that factor on top of rising housing, health and food costs and you have the perfect storm scenario that makes retirees resort to strategies that used to be reserved for not so rich boomers. Instead of enjoying their retirement funds, they are still squirreling away savings.

The general perception that boomers, who own half the nation’s wealth, are kicking back and having a ball, is not really the case. Federal Reserve data indicates fewer than half of all boomers have enough savings for retirement and 43 percent of 55 to 64-year olds had no savings at all in 2022.

Now you can understand why the new retirement plan is the no retirement plan. It also explains why so many boomers are coming out of retirement to go back to earning money to live on. Around 20 percent of Americans over 65 are employed. That’s about 11 million people, and they pull in about 7 percent of all wages and salaries paid by U.S. employers. Back in 1987, they made up only 2 percent.

Spending below your means may be the new lifestyle of the “I thought we were wealthy” crowd. If you’re feeling sorry for yourself, spare some sympathy for Gen Xers who are worrying about financial insecurity right now, never mind worrying about retirement woes ahead.

But, as Buddha advised, “Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.” Or as many fathers said to their sons, “Get a job!”

Jay Harrison is a writer and creative consultant for DesignConcept. His newest mystery novel, Rio Puerco Demise is available on Amazon. His first mystery novel, Head Above Water, is also available on Amazon. But that’s not all. You can also purchase the Best of BoomSpeak on Amazon.

The Signs

Here’s a new game. You know you’re old when ______ (fill in the blank…you know, the blank).

When asked what was something about aging that no one warned you about (or maybe they did and you forgot) baby boomers have a lot to say.

“The slow loss of everything, your abilities, your health, your friends, relatives, places you loved, etc. Just the eroding away of everything.”

Ouch.

“The invisibility.”

Ouch again.

“Aches and pains don’t go away in a day. Sometimes it takes a week.”

Ouch. Ouch. Really, that hurts.

” …eventually you will end up in that CVS aisle you always skipped because it didn’t pertain to you.”

“How fast time goes by. I was 21 yesterday. Now I’m 69. Time went by way too quickly.”

“All the napping! I’ve never needed so many naps…”

“When you hear a song or band from your youth that you absolutely hated because they were so cheesy and god-awful bad, but now when you hear it.. it brings back smiles and memories…. that’s the cleansing power of nostalgia!”

“How precious time will feel. Every moment matters to me now and I have no patience for squandering it. I consider myself very laid back but if there is anything that will trigger me, it’s someone wasting my time. Feels like they’re stealing my most precious resource.”

“As a male. The crazy ear and nose hairs that grow.”

“I wish they had warned me that it’s OKAY ‘not to do anything’ when you retire. My husband and I have been retired about two years now, and it’s been wonderful. But we’re not jetting around the world. We are just relaxing, enjoying being home. And that’s okay, it doesn’t mean we have a worse life now.”

“That I would feel this great. And content. And so much more in love with my SO, decade after decade…that for all the travail I’ve had a wonderful life.”

It might be a useful exercise for boomers to sit down and write a brief declaration of what’s right about this time in their life. Be it closeness to a mate, a sense of having lived a productive life, or the ability to look back on your good works. It may also be helpful to shelve the complaints and focus on what turned out right.

That being said, not every boomer is in a happy place right now, and no amount of buffing is going to make their lot any better.

Count yourself lucky if that’s not you.

Jay Harrison is a writer and creative consultant for DesignConcept. His newest mystery novel, Rio Puerco Demise is available on Amazon. His first mystery novel, Head Above Water, is also available on Amazon. But that’s not all. You can also purchase the Best of BoomSpeak on Amazon.

Anna Log

It’s just a little disturbing to realize that baby boomers are the last living generation to know a world without social media. There was no way for us to leave the house and have someone be able to contact us. The notion that someone could call us on a small communication instrument was not even in our minds. Following each other on Facebook or TikTok as seemingly everyone does now was not on our radar in 1965. We were still using landlines and if you called someone and the line was busy (just the term sounds so old school), you had to try again later. Try explaining this experience to a GenZer and you get the blankest of blank looks. Answering machines were the height of our technology and did not come into popular use until the mid-eighties.

If we did get into trouble while out and about, it was important to know your home phone number because that was the only way we were going to get help. It also meant we had to knock on someone’s door or go into a place of business to ask if we might use their phone. We were not low-tech – we were no-tech!

And yet…we survived. Some would say we thrived. It’s safe to assume that every generation looks back on their youth with a fondness and nostalgia for those simpler times. But when you tell Gen Xers and Millennials about making mix tapes or Sadie Hawkins dances, they think our simpler times were some very sweet times.

And they were, but not totally devoid of angst. Teen years in particular could be brutal but compared to the way adolescents are tortured on social media now, we escaped with minimal psychic damage. Our mistakes were not posted online for all to see (and live on forever). We were not obsessed about who was following us on social media. We had actual friends. We did things together. In person. Sometimes we did stupid things but we survived. In fact, we made it to the point where we’ve dived into the technology that younger generations take for granted. I could have used Microsoft Copilot to write this BoomSpeak post, but I’m saving AI for a day when I’ve lost all reasoning. Hope I’m still sentient.

Jay Harrison is a writer and creative consultant for DesignConcept. His newest mystery novel, Rio Puerco Demise is available on Amazon. His first mystery novel, Head Above Water, is also available on Amazon. But that’s not all. You can also purchase the Best of BoomSpeak on Amazon.

 

Driveway Moment

I’m sitting in the car that is parked in my driveway because I don’t want to go inside my house – at least not yet. Because when I walk through that door I have to be an adult who worries about my spouse (who thinks I take our marriage for granted), about my grown children (who won’t leave home), and about my parents (who may soon need to go into a home), and about planning for retirement (a train that has long since left the station).

Driving home from work I was able to find respite from all these wonderful topics, but now that I’m in the driveway, the only thing between me and the boogey man is the sanctity of my car. It may be old and have over 150,000 miles on it, but the seats still smell leathery and I am comfortable behind the wheel. I know everything about this car. The new tires on the back, each of the disc brake rotors I’ve had replaced, the new radiator hoses, it’s all documented in my mind. Really, when I think about it, I realize I have replaced 50-60% of the car by now. But the sound system is still A-1 so I can listen to some soothing classical music while working up the courage to leave the comfort of my “cabin.” Might as well put the seat in the reclining position to see if that will lessen the throbbing sensation in my frontal lobe. That’s working. I can already feel my heart rate slowing down, my hands have stopped clenching, and the damp brow is drying off.

I feel transported to a better place – a place where no demands are made of me. When I’m hungry, food appears. When I’m drowsy, a soft bed is there for me. Everyone speaks softly and we are gentle with one another. The sense is that everyone is solicitous without verging on obsequious. This is good – very good.

A loud rapping noise on my window shatters the reverie into a thousand tiny pieces. My son is staring at me through the fogged up window and mouthing some words. I’m confused – I don’t know what he’s trying to tell me. He makes a motion that I should lower the window, and I comply.

“Can you move your car so I can get mine out?”

No hello. No how are you. Doesn’t ask if I’m okay. Just stands there looking idiotic wearing a backward ballcap, waiting for me to move on, so that he can move on.

Fine. Until tomorrow then. This driveway moment is over.

(From the Best of BoomSpeak, 2017)

Jay Harrison is a writer and creative consultant for DesignConcept. His newest mystery novel, Rio Puerco Demise is available on Amazon. His first mystery novel, Head Above Water, is also available on Amazon. But that’s not all. You can also purchase the Best of BoomSpeak on Amazon.

Dead Reckoning

Boomers once gave their kids the sex talk. Now it’s time for them to speak frankly about dying.

Baby boomers who have children may remember with fondness or embarrassment having the “sex talk” with their offspring. They were more embarrassed than you were, but you got through it and life moved on.

Speaking of life, the roles may be reversed now. Well, not the roles actually. More like the final assignments. It might be time for boomers to let their children know exactly what they have in mind for the final disposition. That is, what do you want your kids to with you when you’re gone. So that would be the “death talk” as opposed to the “sex talk.”

It’s time to recognize the next boom for the baby boomers, and that would be the illness, dependency and death boom, and that is NOT in the distant future. It’s a good time to communicate with the offspring/caretakers exactly how you want to go out of this world.

Just like the sex talk, it should be the time for candor as opposed to squirming. Sit the kids/caretakers down, take a big breath and tell them straight up what to do if/when you slide into dementia and how you want to be buried, cremated or rebooted. Do you have a plot for the time when you’ve lost the plot? If you’re going the ecologically sound cremation route, where do you want the ashes flung?

Do you know what a DNR is? It stands for Do Not Resuscitate and if you are near death’s door in a hospital, your near and dears ought to know that is the acronym you prefer. Gen Xers and Millennials have enough aggro in their lives right now, so it would be so kind of boomers to spell out exactly what we want in sickness and in death.

Thinking about the unthinkable kind of sucks. Leaving your offspring or designated caretakers in the dark about what to do when you go dark sucks even more. It’s time to get over it and do what baby boomers have always done – marched to a different drum. Let everyone know that when the “beat doesn’t go on,” here’s the plan. As soldiers going into battle were told, “goodbye and good luck.”

Jay Harrison is a writer and creative consultant for DesignConcept. His newest mystery novel, Rio Puerco Demise is available on Amazon. His first mystery novel, Head Above Water, is also available on Amazon. But that’s not all. You can also purchase the Best of BoomSpeak on Amazon.

Enuf with the AI

If you do any sort of email blasts and/or marketing, you are most likely getting inundated with entreaties to use A.I. to create your message. Really. Really?? How does that work? Does A.I. know what I want to say? Will A.I. read my mind? Can A.I. write an essay or fiction that somehow represents what is in my brain?

Here’s some samples of what A.I. promises:

Constant Contact’s new AI Content Generator leverages artificial intelligence to automate the copy drafting process for marketing campaigns.
Get instant ideas, create emails and social posts in seconds, and have all your messages written for you.

Beat writer’s block for good.  Plug in a few words and get fully written content — all with the tone you want.

I’m tempted to take them up on it just to see what an A.I. robot would come up with, but the downside is it could be brilliant, albeit way off topic. So just for the hell of it, I asked ChatGPT to give me a blog post about the trials of being a baby boomer. Result? Decent. It combed the internet and discussed how we’ve gone from stability to uncertainty and struggle to keep up with relentless technology as well as ageism in the workplace.

So yes, by absorbing anything ever written about baby boomers, it produced a darn good summary of the challenges we face. By the way, it did it in about 20 seconds which was equally impressive.

But – a huge caveat here – it wasn’t what I was thinking. It wasn’t my viewpoint. It wasn’t the work of my brain. It was a mechanized harvest of what thousands of people on the internet and elsewhere had written on the topic. And don’t forget, some of us consider much of this harvesting to be theft. If you create any type of art, you must already be aware that A.I. may steal it.

If that wasn’t sad enough for me, I’m writing this on the same day that the New York Times ran an op-ed about the suicidal young woman who used a ChatGPT A.I. therapist called Harry. It did not end well.

A.I. most likely has a brilliant future ahead, but it will be of no use to me when it comes to producing BoomSpeak, writing original content, or featuring other baby boomer authors. We may have to add a line to our submission requirements stating that A.I. produced work cannot and will not be accepted.

As Walter Cronkite used to say, “And that’s the way it is.”

Jay Harrison is a writer and creative consultant for DesignConcept. His newest mystery novel, Rio Puerco Demise is available on Amazon. His first mystery novel, Head Above Water, is also available on Amazon. But that’s not all. You can also purchase the Best of BoomSpeak on Amazon.