<p>[baby-boomers-secrets-smartmoney:</a> Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance](<a href=“http://finance.yahoo.com/focus-retirement/article/113754/baby-boomers-secrets-smartmoney;_ylt=Alxv_xUHWS1zsgkrxwgTqJ.iuYdG;_ylu=X3oDMTQ1bnU5Y2JvBG1pdANGZWF0dXJlZCBFZGl0b3JpYWwgMwRwa2cDOWE2MmQxMzQtZDYzMy0zMTc5LThmY2QtM2QxYjdjMDgxZjdlBHBvcwMxBHNlYwNNZWRpYVNlY3Rpb25MaXN0BHZlcgNlMjI2YzczZS0wYmM2LTExZTEtYmVkNi03OGU3ZDFmYWEzOGM-;_ylg=X3oDMTFpNzk0NjhtBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANob21lBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25z;_ylv=3?mod=fidelity-managingwealth&cat=fidelity_2010_managing_wealth]baby-boomers-secrets-smartmoney:”>http://finance.yahoo.com/focus-retirement/article/113754/baby-boomers-secrets-smartmoney;_ylt=Alxv_xUHWS1zsgkrxwgTqJ.iuYdG;_ylu=X3oDMTQ1bnU5Y2JvBG1pdANGZWF0dXJlZCBFZGl0b3JpYWwgMwRwa2cDOWE2MmQxMzQtZDYzMy0zMTc5LThmY2QtM2QxYjdjMDgxZjdlBHBvcwMxBHNlYwNNZWRpYVNlY3Rpb25MaXN0BHZlcgNlMjI2YzczZS0wYmM2LTExZTEtYmVkNi03OGU3ZDFmYWEzOGM-;_ylg=X3oDMTFpNzk0NjhtBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANob21lBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25z;_ylv=3?mod=fidelity-managingwealth&cat=fidelity_2010_managing_wealth)</p>
<p>I am very suspicious of this article and the survey it was supposedly based on.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Highly inflammatory subject headings (“Paws off, Junior, this cash is mine.”)</p></li>
<li><p>Survey done by the Journal of Financial Planning.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I believe there are people and groups out there who would love nothing better than to pit younger people and the elderly against each other. This is their handiwork.</p>
<p>I’m a baby boomer and I have none of these attitudes and I don’t know anyone who does.</p>
<p>Baby Boomer here. This article really is offensive…and my guess is on purpose. That’s the type of thing that gets folks to read.</p>
<p>Agreed with Skyhook…we don’t have those attitudes, and our kids agree that we don’t have them. The very LAST place I get my reliable info and reporting is Yahoo. Just my humble (baby boomer) opinion.</p>
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<p>I would like to see so much more of this (let’s call it “healthy sketicism”) instead of madly waving around the results of the latest survey.</p>
<p>Recall a recent thread about a recent survey noting the huge change in wealth distribution by age since 1984. Actually, I think there were 2 threads going simultaneously on that survey. I had some real problems with the numbers and did not want to turn the threads into a political discussion, but it is a good idea to consider possible motives behind stirring up discontent between the generations before one accepts a survey as absolute truth.</p>
<p>Basically, the articles says that don’t expect the next wave of oldsters to be acting like your dear old Granny and Pawpaw.
These boomers, raised by thrifty, hard working Depression era parents, plan to act like teenagers in their senior years.
They will help fill the offices of the plastic surgeons, divorce lawyers, and fancy foreign car dealers.
But, hey, it is their money…</p>
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<p>My kids have electronic and physical access to most of our assets.
One has formal trading access (filled out forms with the broker); the
other has informal trading access. Son is frugal and has a decent
chunk of change in his own account (which he earned). Daughter is a
work in progress.</p>
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<p>Strange article in that you are flipping from millionaires in point
one to boomers with few assets in point two. This is consistent with
criticizing a group by attacking individual weak points in subgroups
trying to get the reader to come to the vague conclusion that the
entire group suffers from all of the problems.</p>
<p>We have cheap housing and could move into cheaper housing if we had
to.</p>
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<p>Some people will have big health-care bills in the future and some
won’t. There are a lot of boomers that put a fair amount of effort
into staying healthy for better quality of life when they are old.</p>
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<p>Well, that’s a single data point. First, it’s only about a quarter.
Second, how do these people feel when they are in their sixties and
are playing with their grandkids? Oh, they didn’t do that research.</p>
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<p>First of all I’m amazed that 61% ARE realistic about their health into
retirement. Second: there are a lot of boomers that are in better
health in their 50s and 60s than they were in their 30s and 40s.</p>
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<p>That’s a delta of eleven percent. So the vast majority of pre-retirees
are realistic in this metric.</p>
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<p>Another 11% delta. Everyone excited about that?</p>
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<p>“Specifically, Bowling Green State University conducted a study of the
divorce rates for people of certain ages, and its focus was primarily
on people who were older. The conclusions were startling to say the
least. In 1990 in the United States, there were 4.67 divorces per
1,000 people in the country. By the time the calendar reached 2008,
those over 50 were getting divorces at a rate of 9.74 per 1,000
people. That means that the divorce rate for those over 50 has more
than doubled in the past 20 years.”</p>
<p>[American</a> Divorce Rate for Those Over 50 Skyrockets - Men’s Legal Family Law Blog](<a href=“http://www.menslegal.com/easyblog/entry/american-divorce-rate-for-those-over-50-skyrockets.html]American”>http://www.menslegal.com/easyblog/entry/american-divorce-rate-for-those-over-50-skyrockets.html)</p>
<p>So the rate goes from under 1/2 percent to under 1 percent.</p>
<p>The divorce rate for those under 20 years: 27.6% for women and 11.7% for men. 20-24 years: 36.6% and 38.8%. 25 to 29 years: 16.4% and 22.3%. 30 to 34 years: 8.5% and 11.6%. 35 to 39 years: 5.1% and 6.5%.</p>
<p>Source: [Google</a> Answers: Granular statistics on US divorce rate.](<a href=“Google Answers: Granular statistics on US divorce rate.”>Google Answers: Granular statistics on US divorce rate.)</p>
<p>So the author is making a huge deal about a 1 percent divorce rate for
those over 50 while the divorce rates are multiples and magnitudes
higher for younger couples.</p>
<p>BTW, one of the things blamed for higher divorce rates is the use of
social media.</p>
<p>Really, really, really crappy journalism. It’s almost offensive in
the misuse of statistics to inflame readers.</p>
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<p>I’d guess that they were trying to get more customers, either in the
form of boomers or their kids.</p>
<p>How about these questions asked by the youngsters…answered by the baby boomer parents:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Can I come live with you and dad between jobs? (answer: SURE…our home is always your home…for a while).</p></li>
<li><p>Can I borrow some money to pay my (student loans, rent…whatever) bills? (answer: yes)</p></li>
<li><p>When are you coming to visit me? I want to take you out to my favorite restaurant? (answer: this week…but let me treat).</p></li>
<li><p>What can I do to help you and dad? (answer…could you help us with the yard work…and kids always say yes).</p></li>
<li><p>Can I borrow one of your car when I visit? (answer…absolutely)</p></li>
</ol>
<p>You know…there are many families that have positive relationships between generations…guess those who frequent Yahoo don’t.</p>
<p>I guess some people will be happy that those selfish boomers won’t be hoarding their millions in an off-shore account for the benefit of their heirs who never worked hard for it.</p>
<p>thumber- can you send them my way in about two weeks-4. What can I do to help you and dad? (answer…could you help us with the yard work…and kids always say yes).</p>
<p>It is not like we have not already given to our kids more than any other generation and yet we are the bad guys. I guess those little brats are never happy. lol</p>
<p>I don’t feel this way at all but the article was sure kind of twisted.</p>
<p>I actually felt there was a lot of truth in the article. My wife’s parents will leave her an inheritance, but they didn’t pay anything for college for any of their kids. We paid for our kids college educations but I feel no incentive to leave them an inheritance. We also prioritized paying for their educations over increasing our retirement savings, in defiance of the financial advisor’s exhortations to do the opposite. All of those statements ring true to me.</p>
<p>I do feel that I will have done better by my kids by providing them with tools to improve their own lives than by leaving them a pile of cash when I die. It may just be a different set of values.</p>
<p>[Listen</a> Up, Boomers: The Backlash Has Begun | Via Meadia](<a href=“http://blogs.the-american-interest.com/wrm/2011/11/13/listen-up-boomers-the-backlash-has-begun/]Listen”>Listen Up, Boomers: The Backlash Has Begun - The American Interest)</p>
<p>this is probably a more meaningful analysis</p>
<p>This article is not what I or my friends feel. Whats ours is our kids and we do plan on leaving them an inheritance…God willing we will not need it for health care costs.</p>
<p>Wow, what a sad thread. Best thing to remember is you have to have some sort of retirement plan in place when you are young if you can do it. Don’t extend yourselves. Live within your means and the family unit needs to work together. That helps a lot. It has never been and never will be easy. :)</p>
<p>My sis is a war baby and I am on the cusp of boomerhood; I change my career this year and take on another hat. I cared for my parents until they left this place; my son is graduated and working and married. I am a cancer survivor and love my life…thumbs up!</p>
<p>Sounds to me like a drum beat starting to limit Social Security. “Those greedy boomers. We youngsters don’t want to pay for their extravagant retirement.” If certain media say it enough folks might just start to believe it.</p>
<p>Ha Ha Ha…sigh…we need to work together, old and young. That is how it works and paying taxes, well, we all have to do that.</p>
<p>Inheritance? Why wait until you die to see your children enjoy the fruits of your labor? I plan to leave little for them , but plan on helping them financially if or when theynneed some help…they can move back after college to save money for their own place,we will not move into a home they own…</p>
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<p>Those goals are not mutually exclusive. Do most children know, when they are starting out, whether they will be inheriting money and how much? For that matter, do most people know they will have any money left to leave when they die and how much? I doubt it, for both questions.</p>
<p>It’s a matter of priorities. If I leave an inheritance to my kids, fine. If not, fine. I certainly don’t want them to plan on it and I’m not doing anything to ensure it. (I’ve canceled most of my life insurance, for example.) But the money we’ve spent on our kids’ college educations will not be available for them to inherit on our deaths, that’s for sure - and it’s a considerable sum, as all CC parents know only too well.</p>
<p>I did not inherit anything from my parents, but I’ve known many people who did. Those who anticipated and received substantial inheritances fell into two categories, from my observation: those to whom the inheritance made no noticeable difference; that is, their lives were just fine before they inherited and did not noticeably change afterwards; and those who put their lives on hold and failed to become productive in their own right, anticipating and then living off of the manna from heaven. I can’t honestly say I’ve ever known anyone for whom an inheritance made a significant positive impact.</p>