[Jagjit Singh Mazloom]
It’s 1996 and do you know where your retirement is? If you are one of the more than 76 million Baby Boomers, it’s a question to which you may not have an answer, This is the year that the first boomers tum 50 but, unfortunately, as they enter their final full decade of working life, many members of this maturing generation also face an uncertain financial future.
In the last few years, the rate of retirement savings has declined. It was off 8% from 1993 to 1994 and down a total of 34% over a three year period. According to a 1994 Princeton Survey Research Report, Concerns of Adults in Their Retirement Years, the overwhelming majority of men and women ages 45 to 59 are unprepared for a financially comfortable retirement. In fact, 85% of those surveyed anticipate that they will not have enough to retire at all or will have just enough to get by. BOOMERS BEAR MORE FINANCIAL BURDENS traditionally, previous generations have found the 50s to be their peak earning years: a time when you are paid well for your knowledge and experience, and your children are growing, if not grown. It’s also a time when you are old enough to choose wisely, yet young enough to still enjoy the choices you make. However, times have changed, and today’s Baby Boomers bar the greatest financial concerns of any generation in history. According to the Princeton survey:
* 28% respondents have a child under 18, and most of these are either saving for college or already helping to foot rapidly escalating college bills:
* 47% have provided financial assistance to a family member during the past five years;
* 70% have a parent still living who may require financial support.
These concerns are valid. Perhaps that’s all the more reason why Boomers need to take steps to protect their financial security, and prepare for their retirement years. Fortunately, there is time still accomplish this but it’s running our rapidly. When one only has 1015 years left in the workforce, each additional year or delay makes it all the more difficult to win the “catch up” game.
Article extracted from this publication >> October 23, 1996
