Even though we didn’t go flying over the “fiscal cliff” and the “debt ceiling” hasn’t caved in, as 10,000 baby boomers per day slam into the life-stage we mistakenly call “retirement” …the anxiety level is palpable. Experts have been skeptical of the baby boomers ability to prepare for retirement since birth. Coming of age in the prosperous decades of the 50′s and 60′s, the consensus opinion was that unlike their “save, save, save,” oriented parents, the boomers were profligate spenders, with little or no appetite to plan or save for a future that seemed a long way off.

The experts were right!
The long-awaited phenomena of the mass retirement of the baby boom has begun – in earnest. They have chosen an auspicious time to begin this process having just completed the most economically tumultuous four years since the Great Depression.

There is reason to be concerned!
Workers 55+ report that in their retirement savings: 
* 60% have <$100k
* 40% have <$25k
* 31% have <$10k
(*As Reported by the Employee Benefits Research Council’s 2012 survey.)

Twenty-five percent of this age group have no retirement savings at all. Astonishing as it may sound, a recent survey established that of the 58% of boomers who thought they had a “pension,” only 37% did. While many public sector retirees will benefit from a traditional pension, the private sector is another story. Between 1993 and 2010, the number of workers covered by traditional pensions has dropped nearly 50%, from 35% in 1993 to 18% in 2010, according to the Government Accountability Office. And as these same boomers worry about the future of Medicare and the cost of health insurance, suffice it to say that “fear” has replaced “faith” in healthcare.

I guess you could say, clearly, the future looks cloudy.
Equally astonishing is how little preparation has been made to navigate the second half of life issues that go beyond financial planning.   Are we prepared for the life-stages that will dominate life’s second act…caregiving, empty nest, grandparenthood, career interruption, 2nd and 3rd careers, new family formation, divorce, remarriage, working in later life, long term care, widowhood, and perhaps a dozen others?

And what will likely follow retirement for many? More work. Whether they retire early or late, with or without suitable assets, it is important to recognize that baby boomers are likely to stagger their retirement over a much more protracted period of time than did earlier generations.

The question is “How can we help them prepare?”
Dr. Bruce Clark, formerly cofounder of the nationally acclaimed market research firms Age Wave and IPG offers a unique program for organizations seeking to better prepare their clients, or future clients, for the second half of life and retirement.

Somebody pushed the “reset” button on life as we know it. The economic events that began unfolding in 2008-09 have permanently changed the consumer and business landscape…and the dust has not settled yet. Unlike previous one-dimensional revolutions, this economic, demographic, social and technologic revolution, will impact each of us personally and professionally. All aspects of our lives will be affected as we prepare for retirement and the “second half of life.” The KEY to successfully navigating the life-stages of maturity will largely be the result of good life-planning. Invite Dr. Clark to discuss the “life-stages” that will most dramatically impact us in the second have of life and how “Life Planning” is replacing traditional financial planning and that it needs to begin earlier in life. He will discuss how your generation defines your approach to money, planning and retirement and new ways to work in a redefined retirement life-stage.

Preview Dr. Clark’s videos:

The End of Retirement? Options for the Second Half of Life, Work, Career

Our Clients Define Themselves by Their Lifestage

Preparing for Long Life is a Recent Phenomena

For more information on Dr. Bruce Clark, click here.