Buzzzz

In a recent BuzzFeed post, people shared their “Oh no, I’m old” moments and the results, as you would expect, were very hilarious/revealing/depressing. The worst one was the 42-year-old man who broke his hip in his sleep. Then he broke it again while doing the PT to heal and had to get  hip replacement surgery. If you’re age 70 and over, allow me to remind you he is only 42.

My age realization is when you are filling out personal information online and get to the drop-down menu for the year you were born. Watching the years fly by as you scroll ever deeper down in order to reach your birth year is discouraging.

Another 42-year-old stated that he knew he was old when he watched a music award show and had no idea who any of the nominees were. Dua Lipa had him stumped but I’ve seen photos of her on Instagram and I would say if you’ve seen only one photo of her in concert, you would not forget the name.

One poster vividly remembered Y2K. Then he realized that the year 2000 was closer to the year 1979 than 2023. I remember that many normally intelligent people thought the world as we knew it was going to end. Not.

Someone posted that he AND his father have noticed that they recognize more of the celebrities who died than the ones currently on the red carpet.

Then there was someone who admitted that they had a long and interesting conversation with someone in the grocery store – about mops. Probably not embarrassed about it either.

An obstetric nurse realized she helped to deliver one of her co-workers. That’s almost as bad as overhearing the person in line in front of you give their birthdate as 2006.

One contributor shared that he has thrown out his back getting something out of the refrigerator. And emptying the dishwasher. And sneezing. And removing the dog’s leash.

The topper would have to be the poster who said he went to his high school reunion and was gobsmacked that there were a whole bunch of old people there.

That’s a feeling that any of us can get when we’re in an airport gate waiting area or a doctors office waiting room. Guess we better get used to it and maybe take a long look in the mirror.

Jay Harrison is a writer and creative consultant for DesignConcept. You can also visit his author page here. 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.

Show Them the Mon

How many times have you read that a large percentage of baby boomers (as in more than 20 per cent) have exactly zero savings for retirement? I know I’ve seen that figure quoted in numerous articles. So, it may come as a surprise that, according to Fortune magazine, the average boomer has a worth of $1.2 million! That means a large chunk, perhaps 80 per cent of boomers, have been socking away the savings for retirement and to pass along to their offspring.

What’s going to happen to most of that dough? Good news for millennials…they are looking at a $68 trillion windfall by the year 2030. Some are calling it the greatest wealth transfer of modern times. Their current worth averages only $100,000. Millennials will end up being five times wealthier than they are today.

Sadly, much of the inherited wealth will end up in the hands of millennials who are relatively well-off. If you’re a struggling millennial, it’s likely that your boomer parents have struggled as well. The parents may run out of savings and be counting on their children for help, in which case there is no wealth transfer, but rather it may become a wealth drain for millennials.

Try to imagine you’re a millennial who has been through two recessions in your lifetime and grappled with trying to save for a home purchase, college expense for your children, and a retirement fund. Then you inherit a piece of that $68 trillion and your fortune(s) literally changes overnight. Experts warn that failure to fix the Social Security Trust fund before 2033 could put a major damper on this wealth transfer, so even millennials with well-off parents might be wise to not rely on a big payday falling into their laps.

What effect will this wealth transfer have on the lucky recipients? Will it change their outlook on life? Alter their ideals? No one knows or can predict the outcome. We boomers may not live long enough to see how it all turns out. Just one more outcome that’s beyond our grasp. Too bad. I just hate not knowing how the movie ends.

Jay Harrison is a writer and creative consultant for DesignConcept. You can also visit his author page here. 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.