baby boomers | Boomer 55+ Places to Live and Retire

Where Will The Baby Boomers Live?

An update on where will the baby boomer live in retirement. This is being answered everyday right now. Here is our take.

So where will be baby boomers live as they retire? That is the question that is being answered right now as 10,000 boomers a day turn age 65 like I did this year.

I spend a lot of time reading everything I can about the very same thing. Plus I am living this myself and see my friends moving for retirement. Here is my take.

Where Will The Boomers Live in Retirement?

The options are several but let’s just consider these:

1. move to an active adult community in another state
2. move to an active adult community in your own state
3. move to suitable home in another state
4. move to a suitable home in your state
5. stay where you are living now

From the way it looks now, the majority will stay in their own homes for many reasons, not the least of which is affordability. They make make some changing to their homes to make them more liveable as they ended up aging in place. This is option 5 above.

The next sizable tier, those who can afford it, may just move in a more suitable home in their own state. This is option 4. They may move from a large home to a ranch with a basement or a townhouse with master on the main and same level living areas. This may be to a location right in their current neighborhood because they like living there but just want a more suitable home for their retirement living. They may move a little closer to their children (grandchildren) and I see this happening quite a bit.

Some but a smaller group will elect to move to one of the 55+ places in their current neighborhood or one of the active adult communities on the edge of their metro area. This is option 2. I am seeing more of these 55+ communities being build in the suburbs where people are living now and I think this will become more popular as time goes on. These boomer communities will be smaller because of the land acquisition cost than those large Del Webb type active adult communities on the outer edges of metros.

A very few will move retire to the exciting city living and even fewer currently are moving to a true small town for retirement unless it is in one of the active adult communities.

Some will relocate to other states especially Florida, Arizona, Nevada, North Carolina, Georgia, South Carolina and Texas and other 55+ places.

Very few will move overseas for affordable retirement living, places like Costa Rica or South America. Some will move into their second homes which may be vacation or seasonal homes, but not many.

So as I see it this is what is happening right now answering the question where will the baby boomers live in retirement.

Originally posted 2013-10-23 22:41:58.

Cruising for Boomers

Baby boomers are replacing seniors on cruise ships as the cruising experience changes to suit their taste and they get more free time to travel. More and more my fellow cruise passengers are around my age 63. Ten years ago the cruisers were a lot older than me.

As boomers retire they have more time to take a cruise but most of the boomers I talked with on a recent cruise are repeat cruisers. The cruise lines have plenty of ships and would like to keep boomers cruising and attract new boomer cruisers. To do so they are making changes in the cruise experience that are attractive to boomers.

As a frequent cruiser here are some of the changes I have noticed.

1. More Casual Dining – The buffet is more like traditional dining with drink waiters, white table cloths and a more settled feeling like in the formal dining. Same food is severed as in the formal dining room. But the big change is in the 24 hour international cafe in the piazza in the center ship that serves pastries, sandwiches and salads, soup for and quick but tasty lunch. Alongside the cafe is the gourmet coffee shop. Boomers like casual and fast.

2. More Learning Opportunities – Classes at Sea with lectures on several subjects from experienced people. On a recent cruise we had a naturalist giving lectures each day on volcanoes, sea mapping and types of ocean waves. Also a former U-2 pilot had a lot of interest in his talks about military intelligence history. A cultural presentation by a museum director was given.

3. More Active – On the ship the dance classes were well attended as well as Zumba and other exercise classes. The Olympics drew a good crowd trying out a different activity each day. Then there were yoga, massages and a walking club.

4. Boomer Entertainment – Street entertainment in the center ship Piazza was nice. Movies under the stars and countless other activities. The comdey was geared more toward boomers I noticed.

5. Active Off Ship Excursions – Hikes in the rain forest, snorkel trips, helicopter tours, and ATV riding were some of the move active ones.

Interesting that learning and staying active is becoming a mainstay of cruising just as with the active adult communities. You have heard the idea of just retiring to a cruise ship; well that may not be such a far fetch idea after all.

Originally posted 2011-11-02 16:51:36.

Rick Bava Interview – Baby Boomers

I just listened to my friend Rick Bava’s interview with Hollis Chapman on Blog Talk Radio. I encourage you to take a listen. Rick wrote the book In Search of The Baby Boomer Generation.

Here is my email to Rick about the interview: Rick, I got up early this morning and just enjoyed listening to your interview with Hollis Chapman. I will start sharing on our social media so others can enjoy it also. May do a blog post about it.

It was relevant and introspective which made it interesting. You are a great speaker as well as writer.

I like that it was comprehensive yet the best part for me was that you addressed the current challenges of baby boomers and commented on our way forward, because I believe that is what we are mindful of currently and really what people want to hear more about.

Both you and Hollis made good points about boomers transitioning to something they want to do to make a little money and on their terms hopefully while giving back a little. This gives their life a sense of purpose. The importance of social security really hits home when you are in your 60’s as you pointed out and yes we started the working from home trend some time ago. I became self employed working from home way back in 1992 and loved it after working for the big corporations in office complexes.

I especially liked your emphasis on boomers family connections. Many of us older boomers no longer have living parents but we are, as you say, reconnecting with siblings with family outings and holidays and either on social media, texting and old fashioned phone calls. Many siblings are having some health problems and that rallies the remaining family together. Past disputes don’t seem to matter so much anymore. Let bygones be bygones.

Finally the future of baby boomers section of the interview had me jotting down notes because it was spot on relevant. Everything you mentioned could be a topic of it’s own. Preparing ourselves for the future as you pointed out includes return to family and taking care of living parents, spending time with grandchildren, reconnecting with siblings as pointed out. You mentioned connecting with college friends. My college roommate from back in 1969-70 called me out of the blue last week and we had a great time sharing memories.

Also included in that category of preparing ourselves for the future would be getting our affairs in order. Updating or doing a last will and living will is something I see happening. Downsizing and getting rid of stuff you no longer need and getting your housing age friendly are something I see us boomers have been doing.

Thanks for much for doing this interview and sharing. I am also glad to learn of Hollis podcast and will take a listen to some of his other shows.

We will be in touch.
Robert Fowler
Retirement Media Inc.
BoomerPlaces.com

Originally posted 2020-10-22 07:28:11.

Boomers are Seniors. Really?

Boomers Becoming Seniors

Back when I started retiring at age 58 I bristled at being called a senior. I didn’t mind taking a senior discount but please don’t call me a senior, especially a senior citizen. I even called the major’s office and suggest they named the new center “Active Adult Center” rather than just a “Senior Center” and they agreed and did that. I protested on facebook that boomers would never be seniors, we are just different, and need a new name or simply call us Boomers.

Fast forward 6 years to today and I have changed my mind about that. Getting ready to turn 65 in a few months, I now accept that being called a senior is not too bad. I still don’t think the “senior citizen” applies too well to the baby boomer generation. I love to ask for the “senior discount” every chance I get. If senior means being over the age of 55 or 60, then so be it. So a baby boomer forever but now a new title, that of “Senior”. They even renamed the center to “Senior Adult Center” and that’s OK with me.

I had written an article Senior Communities Here Come the Boomers about how it’s starting to change to accommodate incoming baby boomers and someone commented: Boomers are Seniors. I agree, even though Boomer Seniors are not the same as the Senior Citizens of the older generations. So I think the article was correct, that there will be some changes in retirement communities to accommodate our baby boomer needs and wants as we become Seniors. On another post I made the same type point that Boomers are Replacing Seniors on Cruises and cruises are becoming less formal and more to the boomers taste.

Senior Citizen Age

According to Wikipedia, the age for the status of “Senior Citizen” is the age which one qualifies for government social security benefits, that traditionally being age 65. They also say “Senior Citizen” is a polite term for an “elderly person”. Also if you are retired, you might be a “senior citizen”. In my book, let’s just take it one step at a time and stay with “senior” for a while before getting into “senior citizen” or “elderly person”. Not ready for those quite yet.

Boomers Are Seniors

In marketing you see a real mixture of the terms boomers and seniors. Interestingly AARP’s web site title includes the term “Baby Boomers” but nothing at all about “Seniors”. AARP membership is open to age 50. Some other marketing materials including web sites use terms like “older persons”, “the retired”, and “mature” but commonly use both “boomers and seniors” just to have the bases covered and not to target just one age demographic. In truth, there is not one solid senior generation anymore, but several groups including us older so-called leading edge boomers, seniors from the silent generation who grew up in the 40’s and 50’s and the boomers’ parents, the so-called Greatest Generation.

Conclusion

At the end of the day this labeling seems to be the domain of the marketing types as they try to reach us boomers becoming seniors and supply what we are looking for. The way a product is labelled does matter and can help us determine if it’s what we are looking for. But there is no longer a big enough difference between the terms boomers and seniors to make a difference but that is not the point. The point is that this whole process will be changing and will be disruptive and who knows what the final outcome will be. There will be changes made to accommodate the boomers becoming seniors. When will boomers retire, where will they retire to and in what type of retirement housing will we live in? No one knows for certain yet, but it will not the same for the boomers now becoming seniors as it has been for other older groups. Nor should it be. The boomer generation has changed everything else along the way, now it our time to define senior living.

Update: Now at age 67 it makes even less difference. The name boomers has held up pretty good but some of the establishment still calls us seniors. Whatever. 🙂

Originally posted 2014-10-08 13:03:46.

Energy Drinks and Caffeine For Baby Boomers

Seniors have always had some magic tonic to boost energy levels. I know of one senior lady a couple of decades ago who just loved her “jogging in a jug” she called it.

From the times of the traveling medicine shows until today there has been something to boost energy and spirits.

For many to get going and keep going it’s a few cups of coffee during the day. Cans of Coke or sipping iced tea to keeps others going. Then there are native herbal remedies and Chinese tonics.

These days, there are options in how baby boomers get their caffeine so take a look at these. Continue reading “Energy Drinks and Caffeine For Baby Boomers”

Originally posted 2018-09-06 08:16:32.

Baby Boomer Triad: Age 65, 40th Anniversary, Retirement

Boomer triad – A special occurrence where a boomer is celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary, turning age 65 and becoming fully retired all in the same year.

All of a sudden while planning a cruise to celebrate our 40th anniversary it occurred to me. This year besides the big anniversary, I am turning age 65 and am fully retired (except for my retirement job which I am not counting). Wow, that is just special, a sort of boomer triad, hitting the 40th anniversary in the same year you turn 65 and also retire.

Then I noticed something else. Three other couples I have met this year also have a 40th anniversary this year. One couple from the senior center, one from an upcoming cruise and one from our dance club. What are the chances of that. Apparently pretty good. Since I am near the leading edge of older boomers having been born in 1948 there are a lot of us. We know that. Also I got married at age 25 and that was the average age to get married back in 1973. So it makes sense there are a lot of couples celebrating their 40th anniversary in 2013. Some of us may even make it another 10 years and celebrate our 75th birthday and 50th anniversary in 2023. That would be something. I remember my grandparents celebrating their 75th anniversary but they got married very early. We would have to live to 100 to celebrate our 75th anniversary.

Turning age 65 means you can officially retire and it is expected. No more early retirement, just retirement. The full retirement date for our age group for social security benefits is age 66, but you can start receiving the SS benefits as early as age 62. However the big thing is at age 65 you can get on Medicare. That is big because if you retire before age 65, then you will have trouble getting or paying for private health insurance. At 65 it comes together so you can get both Medicare and Social Security allowing many more people to actually retire.

Speaking of retirement, it is happening regardless of the financial press stories saying people can’t retire. Yes we boomers can retire. I have observed that retirement is a transition that takes most people 3 to 5 years to really feel retired. Yes, there is consulting and part time jobs that linger longer than we expect sometimes. There is learning how to retire and what retirement means for us. You will find your way and be happily retired.

Any way those celebrating the baby boomer triad this year, take a moment to reflect on our accomplishments and futures and then let’s party like it 2013! Take a cruise, a special vacation, a weekend away or something to mark this special time. With all the negative vibes in the world today, let’s forget them for awhile and focus on our special accomplishment.

Originally posted 2013-03-03 08:56:43.