The Baby Boomer generation has an unusual relationship with technology. Due to the huge strides made with digital technology, computers, smart phones, A.I., and all other associated telecommunications and information processing they entail, there is a somewhat unfair stereotype that a majority of seniors are Luddites and still living exclusively in the analog realm. Besides the fact that most of the people who built the current architecture,
To be honest, I'm not at all surprised this question is coming up, although it's likely to have come up dozens of times in the same subreddit, as it's been a hot topic for as long as most of us can remember. There is no question that the baby boomer generation, which ranges from those born in 1946, immediately after World War II ended, all the way to those born in 1964.
The CEO of Meredith Whitney Advisory Group, whose prediction of the Great Financial Crisis earned her the moniker "Oracle of Wall Street," pointed out in a Financial Times op-ed that more than 54% of homes are owned by seniors, up from 44% in 2008. She added that 79% of seniors own their homes, and three-fourths of them don't have a mortgage, meaning they have an enormous amount of equity that can help cover rising homeownership costs, such as insurance.
The most infamous example of middle-income baby boomers seeking retribution for the loss of their accumulated wealth occurred in Germany in 2009, when a retired builder and his pensioner accomplice took their financial adviser hostage after more than 2m of stock market investments had crashed.
At the moment the chancellor gives away more than 50bn in tax relief for pension saving, most of which goes to wealthier boomers and better-paid gen Xers who do not need the money and would save anyway if state support was more limited. A remodelling of pension subsidies cutting the 40p higher rate to a flat rate of 25p for all savers could claw back 10bn to 20bn in extra income tax and national insurance payments, depending on how the new regime is constructed.
The majority of design discussions about this generation focus primarily on accessibility, including clear instructions, closed captions, and larger text. Even though those things are important, they are just the tip of the iceberg. Boomers, who are now in their 60s and 70s, do not consider themselves "old." They do not consider aging to be a gradual decline. Rather, they anticipate continuing to live fully, which includes traveling, interacting with others, learning, and prospering.
The generational transfer of nearly $124 trillion in assets over 25 years will profoundly impact families, advisers, businesses, and every segment of the financial industry.