Baby Boomers born between 1946 and 1964 are facing a retirement crisis of significant proportions. They are the first generation to set foot on the retirement tightrope without the benefit of a pension safety net. What lies beneath is a bed of nails known as living on Social Security.

The Rumor Has It

It’s no rumor, it’s a fact: Baby Boomers are not prepared for retirement. They blame the Great Recession and spotty employment and needy children. Instead of panic-selling in the 2020 crash, they should have kept their money in the market. If they had, today it would be worth twice as much. Unless you are out of time there is nothing wrong with the “hang in there strategy". The market always recovers and goes higher.

Spotty employment? Unemployment is at a 50-year low and the labor participation rate has never been higher. The only people not working are those who don’t want to.

Needy children? We have chronicled at length the destructive nature of eternally-dependent adult children. They are the blowtorch to your retirement’s ice cream sundae. If you missed it, you can catch up here and here and here.

The real reason Boomers are in such a pickle is the demise of the defined-benefit pension plan. Gone are the days of a gold watch and a retirement party. Now you get a sideways “Seeee ya" and a guilt trip for abandoning the team. Except for government jobs and a handful of companies, pensions have gone the way of the… I almost said “dodo bird."

Have you ever seen a dodo bird? Has anyone? If someone put a gun to your head and demanded you describe one, could you do it? If we’ve never seen a dodo bird, why do we talk about them so much?

We use far too many idioms in our everyday language. It is not a stretch to say that sometimes they outweigh the plain English. 

“I don’t know, Bob, it’s six on the one hand and half a dozen on the other. You go off half-cocked like that and you’re cruising for a bruising. These guys aren’t playing with a full deck, if you catch my drift. They can get you six ways from Sunday and that ain’t me just whistling Dixie."

Most of these worn-out expressions need to go the way of… the dodo bird.

“Costs an arm and a leg." Who buys things with body parts?

“Keep me in the loop." What loop? There are no loops!

“Dime a dozen." When’s the last time anything cost a dime?

“Keep in touch." If you are touching someone, you don’t need to say that. If you aren’t touching them, why are you talking about it, perv?

“Think outside the box." Who is thinking in boxes? Where are these thinking boxes?

“Grab a bite" (grab…anything). Who's grabbing? No one should be grabbing.

“Throw me the salt" (throw…anything). Note to self - future article: The Grab and Throw Generation.

“My two cents." Worse than Dime a dozen.

“The cat is out of the bag." Who is putting cats in bags? How is that not animal cruelty? 

“Come to a head." Gross.

“Tit for tat." Say that to the wrong person and you're wanted in HR for a meeting.

“Bite the bullet." Finally, something we can all relate to.

“Let them off the hook." Who is putting people on hooks? Surely that is not legal.

“To be honest with you/Quite honestly." So you’ve been lying this whole time? What is wrong with you?

Retirement by the Numbers

Baby Boomers are retiring at a dizzying pace – 10,000 per day. That’s 3.5 million per year or roughly one percent of the U.S. population. Yet only half have saved anything for retirement. Only 15% have saved $100,000, which gets you a few years at best.

The next decade will be marked by Baby Boomers struggling to cope with the transition from middle class to something less. There will be protests and marches and demands for government intervention: more affordable housing, more social programs for seniors. Where will the money come from? Where it always does, the middle class. Less disposable income begets less retirement savings, so it’s a self-perpetuating cycle.

Two-Minute Warning

What’s the answer? Clark Howard's old adage: "Save more and spend less." If you are not yet retired, there's still time to make changes. Your best chance at a comfortable retirement is to assess your financial situation and react accordingly. Sit down with a financial planner or avail yourself to sophisticated financial modeling software that can analyze your unique situation and devise a savings plan that’s right for you. Do it now before it’s too late. To learn more, check out this article entitled Best Retirement Planning Software.

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