Happy 2011! Look Out for Senior Boomers!

For years I have been making demographic presentations that incorporated forecasts of the age distribution of populations both national and local.  An important date incorporated in these talks was the year 2011.  This was the year that the first baby boomers would be reaching the age of 65 and once again change the fabric of the country – affecting Social Security and Medicare, driving up the need for health care workers, and affecting service delivery and housing options.  Well, 2011 is here and more than 10,000 Boomers a day, over the next 19 years, will be hearing the ‘retirement jokes’ and all the other wonderful categorizations that accompany that age, from those who reach the hallowed heights many years down the road.

While 2011 isn’t my year, I do feel it coming on very soon.  I ask that you remember, however, that 65 is the new 45.  We are not ready to roll over and go off into the sunset – although I was tempted to head for the southbound lanes of I-75 as I was coming back from a family visit to Cincinnati.  Many of us are not rolling over because we love what we do so much.  Others find they must keep working because, “through a combination of procrastination and bad timing, many Baby Boomers are facing a personal finance disaster just as they’re hoping to retire.”  In 2009, 36 percent of men 65-69 years of age (26 percent of women) were in the labor force.  Better health, combined with economic necessity, will keep these numbers up in the coming years.

Please know that a 10-day holiday break demonstrated quite clearly that I can easily fill my time with reading, dog walking and more intensive exercise, movie watching, internet surfing, household maintenance and travel.  Since I do love what I am doing, and since the lottery elves  failed to provide me with the winning ticket while away, 2011 will be my year to firmly establish Data Driven Detroit as a strong and stable organization.  Once that work is complete, perhaps 2012 will allow me to take more advantage of those senior discounts.  You will find that, unlike being carded to prove you are 21, no one ever asks you to prove you are a senior.  If you are willing to claim it, clerks are more than happy to give it to you.

Happy Aging Boomers!