So Baby Boomer: Life Tips

Making the Retirement Nest Eggs Last

A typical Baby Boomer's retirement could last up to 30 years.

"Whether boomers are planning to shift into low gear or pursue an active retirement, our advice is to plan carefully because your investments may have to last for decades," said Craig Brimhall, vice president for retirement wealth strategies at American Express Financial Advisors in Minneapolis, MN.

"No other generation in history has ever had to plan for this long a retirement," Brimhall said. "Up to 30 years of income is what they're going to need to create from their savings."

The biggest retirement issue baby boomers face is longevity, as medical advances and healthier lifestyles extend their retirement lives for many decades.  That puts a demand on their investment portfolios to produce enough money to sustain them.

"Boomers who were once focused on saving for retirement should start thinking seriously about how they will preserve assets and generate income for retirement," said Brimhall.   "Unlike their parents, many of whom had employer-funded pensions, boomers will need to make investment decisions to create their own paycheck in retirement."

That means you'll have to pace yourself. If you take out too much money in the early years, you may outlive your money.

For Baby Boomer Retirement Tips, go to: http://home.att.net/~coachthee/Archives/babyboomerstoday.html

Source: Dallas Morning News

Retirement Dream Job Reality Check

Many people are planning on working into their 70s or even later and 16% plan to work for themselves or start their own business.  A 2004 AARP study shows that the proportion of self-employed workers rises with typical working age, peaking at 24% of working women
at age 66 and 38% of working men at age 65.  The numbers reflect that people are "doing this as a transition to retirement, or they tend to be working longer than those who are in wage-and-salary jobs," said Lynn Karoly, a senior economist with Rand and co-author of the AARP study.

The question Baby Boomers have about starting their own business is: "Do we really want to bet our house on it?"   

Helping people figure out what is the best use of their signature talents in a phased retirement can serve as a reality check before deciding what's next in their life's work.

Later-in-life career changers don't care about taking it easier and often work as hard or harder than they did in the jobs they left behind.   A recent Merrill Lynch retirement survey of more than 3,000 Baby Boomers reported that 83% intend to keep working....and....56% of them hope to do so in a new profession.

If you are seeking a new life direction, like a career change or becoming a free agent, we should talk.  Mid-life coaching conversations can help you clarify where you are and where you want to be---and how to get there.  Personal coaching plans normally cost $500 per month with a 3 month minimum and lower-cost limited personal coaching services are available for $200 a month.

How will you be spending the "best years of your life?"

For Baby Boomer Retirement Tips, go to:
http://home.att.net/~coachthee/Archives/babyboomerstoday.html 

John G. Agno, Certified Executive & Business Coach www.MentoringandCoaching.com 

Precious Memories

Seventy-seven percent of boomers said understanding their parents' values is very important, 65 percent said enacting their parents' last wishes is key and 34 percent felt receiving their parents' sentimental treasures is very important, according to a telephone and online survey of about 1,200 boomers, conducted for Allianz, the insurance company, by Harris Interactive.  For this study, Baby Boomers are those 40 to 59.

And 96 percent of boomers said their parents don't owe them an inheritance.  Just 10 percent of boomers said it was very important that their parents bequeath financial assets or real estate.  However, 73 percent said their parents' personal possessions are very important, and 91 percent said family stories are.

"People want to deal with the emotional values of what a legacy is, not just the financial values," said Mark Zesbaugh, chief executive officer of Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America.

Source: True Value, www.HoustonChronicle.com, August 21, 2005

Revolutionary Approach to Aging

From new paperbacks with larger type to bicycles that offer a more comfortable ride, Baby Boomers are powerfully affecting what is available for sale. 

Boomers are the largest spenders in history and their revolutionary approach to aging is providing a new dynamic in today's retail marketplace.  For example, Baby Boomers spend more online than average online users despite comparable incomes, according to a new study from Jupiter Research.  Jupiter surveyed 1,562 U.S. online users ages 40 to 59 years old for the study.  76% of Baby Boomers have made online purchases of products or services.

Historically, the American marketplace has been overwhelmingly youth-focused and disinterested in the 50-plus consumer, noted Ken Dychtwald, a gerontologist, psychologist and corporate consultant at Age Wave.  The thinking was that the 50-plus crowd was relatively small, frugal and already loyal to particular brands, he said. 

What makes boomers different from previous aging generations is that they still see themselves as "youthful, vibrant and excited about their futures," Dychtwald said.  "It's a marketer's dream," he added. "You've got an enormous demographic with money to spend and open to new experiences."

Source: David Kaplan, Houston Chronicle, August 21, 2005

Rediscover Romance at Passion Parties

Passion Parties provide mature women with a comfortable environment for learning about sensuality.

In relaxed, in-home settings, girlfriends, sisters and co-workers bond while receiving romance tips and product recommendations from Passion Parties Consultants.  Later, during one-on-one consultations, the women privately ask questions and obtain helpful suggestions about their intimate concerns.  Passion Parties products include: edibles, sensual touch, lingerie and passion toys.

Passion Parties® President Pat Davis provides romance tips for mature women re-entering the world of dating in Judsen Culbreth's new book, "The Boomers' Guide to Online Dating."  Davis gives advice to help women navigate the difficult process of re-exploring desire and building intimacy with a new lover.  To learn suggestions for enhancing passion, visit: www.passionparties.com.

To re-awaken the senses, Davis recommends that mature women use a topical gel that contains L-arginine, a natural amino acid proven to heighten arousal.

"I am a Baby Boomer," said the 63 year-old Davis. "I know it can be hard for a mature woman to express her romantic needs to her partner, especially if the relationship is new.  Passion Parties help women create a fun dialogue about sensuality with their lovers."

For more on living a life of passion, go to: www.LifeSignature.com 

Test for love: www.TestforLove.com

For what is this thing called love, go to: www.WhatisLove.info 

Female libido in limbo

Even we people from Mars know that women's sexuality is complex, affected more deeply than men's sex drive by mood, self-esteem and relationship issues.

  Although it is not easy to fix when it goes awry, Procter & Gamble Pharma and Personal Health's new Intrinsa patch promises to recharge the stalled sex drive of some women.  A study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, conducted by Dr. Glenn D. Braunstein of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and colleagues, found that women who used the patch for 24 weeks reported, on average, a 67 percent increase in their sexual desire, compared with a 48 percent increase in desire reported by women taking a placebo, or dummy patch.  It also boosted the number of "satisfying sexual encounters" from an average of three per month to five---slightly higher than the increase reported by women taking the placebo.

Perhaps, if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) doesn't approve the Intrinsa patch as quickly as the six months it took to approve Viagra for men in 1998,  Procter & Gamble might consider placing the placebo patch on the shelf to improve Baby Boomer couples' quality of life. 

For more on happiness and living a life of passion, go to: www.LifeSignature.com 

Test for love: www.TestforLove.com

For what is this thing called love, go to: www.WhatisLove.info 

Source: Melissa Ealy at The Los Angeles Times

Aging Eating and Dieting Habits

Baby Boomers have impacted Americans’ eating habits throughout their lives.

They’ve made their mark in the fast food boom of the 60’s, the fern bars of the 70’s, the microwave oven and take-out trends of the 80’s and 90’s and now the health movement.  This movement is being seen throughout the food market.  People in their 50s, the older boomers, are now worried about fat, salt, cholesterol and sugar more than people in their 40s, the younger boomers.

 These concerns may be a reflection of underlying medical conditions facing the aging Baby Boomer.  The NPD Group’s latest report -Profile of American Baby Boomers: Health, Diet and Consumption Behaviors and Attitudes - found that boomers in their 50s may be forced to change their eating and diet habits to address health and weight issues.   The report found that one-third of all boomers are overweight and about 30 percent are obese.  NPD (www.NPD.com) also tracked the diet rates for boomers and found that one in four (25%) boomers are on a diet.

Doing it in Kalamazoo

Kalamazoo plastic surgeons report that the number of cosmetic procedures done in the area has at least doubled during the past decade as Baby Boomers choose increasingly to part with their paychecks to fix physical defects.

"I don't think there's a stigma as much any more because people know a lot of people are doing it, especially with the extreme makeovers they're doing on TV,'' said Dr. Frank Newman, an aesthetic plastic surgeon with a 35-year-old private practice in Kalamazoo.  Newman said about 70 percent of the work he does is elective cosmetic work.

About 90 percent of plastic surgeon clients are middle-class women.  Baby Boomer men seem to be most interested in eyelid tucks and face lifts.  Many finance their procedures with low-interest credit cards or fixed-rate loans now available for such purposes.

Source: Kalamazoo Gazette, August 12, 2005

Expecting an inheritance?

Remember those bumper stickers you used to see on the back of big motor homes that said, "We're spending our children's inheritance?"  Well, they weren't a joke.

While 40 percent of the greatest generation thinks it's important to pass financial assets to children, most Baby Boomers have given up on an inheritance.

The trillions of dollars that experts predicted Baby Boomers were going to inherit just aren't materializing.  According to a AARP study, just 17 percent of boomers (people born from 1946 to 1964) have received an inheritance.  "Mom and Dad are living longer and consequently spending more," says John Gist, associate director of AARP's Public Policy Institute and coauthor of the study. 

In addition, many elderly are not saving as they used to and are spending more money on themselves for vacations and hobbies, reported the Christian Science Monitor.  Remarriage is also changing inheritances.

Other factors that take a chunk out of the amount of wealth passed along include expenses for health care and setbacks caused by economic downturns.  Only 4 percent of Boomers are counting on an inheritance -- mainly because increasing longevity and declining health of parents can eat away at any assets the parents might have saved, according to a Allianz American Legacies study.

With many people planning on working into their 70s or even later, 16% plan to work for themselves or start their own business.  A 2004 AARP study shows that the proportion of self-employed workers rises with typical working age, peaking at 24% of working women
at age 66 and 38% of working men at age 65.  The numbers reflect that people are "doing this as a transition to retirement, or they tend to be working longer than those who are in wage-and-salary jobs," said Lynn Karoly, a senior economist with Rand and co-author of the AARP study.

How will you be spending the "best years of your life?"

For Baby Boomer Retirement Tips, go to:
http://home.att.net/~coachthee/Archives/babyboomerstoday.html

Are You Saving for Retirement?

The U.S. personal saving rate marked an inglorious milestone in June, dropping to zero percent, the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis reported last week.  The zero-saving rate comes at a time when Baby Boomers are in their peak earnings years and presumably should be socking money away because they will start retiring in just six years.

The saving rate is personal savings expressed as a percentage of disposable personal income.   This rate has been falling for 20 years. It was 10.8 percent in 1984, 4.8 percent in 1994, 1.8 percent in 2004 and 0.4 percent in May 2005.

Because many Americans are saving something, this means a lot of Americans are spending more than they make, which should come as no surprise because consumer debt has been growing about twice as fast as personal income during the past five years, according to Federal Reserve data.

Drew Matus, a senior economist with Lehman Bros., says a falling saving rate in today's environment "makes some sense." Job and income growth is decent, home and stock prices are rising, and many Baby Boomers are expecting to inherit wealth.

"The problem really comes if this perfect scenario doesn't continue.  Let's say home price appreciation slows.  All of a sudden, that saving that was being generated without you having to work for it has to be replaced by taking money out of your income," he says.

And what will happen when the Baby Boomers who are counting on their homes and stocks for income in retirement try to sell?  Will they get what they hope?  Will they drive down prices?

Source: San Francisco Chronicle, August 7, 2005