Baby Boomers and Empty Nests: In an Economy Anything but Booming

Many of the baby boomer crowd have entered, or are in the process of attaining, empty nester status. What is an empty nest? It is your house, after all of the children are grown, and moved into their own homes. Some baby boomers have looked forward to this time with longing, thinking of vacations or maybe house renovations. Others may experience feelings of trepidation, and sadness. Some of you may even be overwhelmed by thoughts of, what to do now?

You will know when you have really reached empty nester status, when your kids are doing well in their careers, and you no longer receive those random calls for financial help. Parents currently going through the initial ' jump' from the nest phase, and those who have been there done that, know all too well first efforts are not always successful. Sometimes, sending our children off on their own, can cost more than the hospital bill to bring them into the world, every diaper they ever dirtied, and the first eighteen years of their lives that went before the move.

Unfortunately for baby boomers entering this transitional time in their lives now, many must nervously watch the economy. Boomers with substantial savings, invested in stocks, are going through days filled with ups and downs. Some feeling as though their financial world is close to crashing down around them completely, at any moment. With home values dropping as rapidly as the costs of food prices are skyrocketing, many baby boomer couples with empty nests are rethinking their plans. Those dreams of vacations, and expensive home improvement plans, in the face of current financial concerns, are not as fun and exciting to talk about with each other now. Not like the shared talks ten years ago, when your teens and tweens were driving you bonkers, and you were saving towards retirement, and still looking forward to your future freedom to do things.

When the kids do get settled into their own homes, most parents notice a lot of the more obvious benefits. The peace and quiet, when you are finally able to adjust to it, is just one of many. You may also appreciate the reduction in the electricity bill of course. Who is not grateful for the lower rates your auto insurance company gives you. Isn't the grocery bill lower, with less mouths to feed? Isn't it also great, that when you go searching for that late night stack, in the cupboard or the fridge? You actually find it is there for you!

With money as tight as it is getting to be today, you notice the little things more and more. We see the changes in some of our grocery shopping habits. When the kids were home, the cheapest toilet paper would do. It did not matter what the brand was, or how many sheets were on that roll, it all spun equally fast in the hands of kids. Now instead of buying a supersize package of rolls every week, a six pack of scott tissues will last a month, or more. Just you and your husband will stretch that $4.60 gallon of milk a full week, instead of buying a gallon every two days. A loaf of bread will most likely mold, unless refrigerated, before the two of you use it all.

Of course you refrigerated it though, because today you are trying to make each food dollar count for its fullest. Experience has taught us at our age, the faster the prices rise, the slower they are bound to to come down. We see this reflected as we watch oil quietly dropping, to less than $74.00 dollars a barrel, while we remember not to hold our breath, waiting for a corresponding fall in consumer store prices we see on the shelves. So what can a baby boomer couple do in their empty nest with today's economy?

Stay home. Ride it out a little bit, and see how things go before committing to big investments and traveling abroad. Find some new interest, preferably free, to share with your spouse, while you are getting used to the empty house. Instead of making plans to go out on the weekends, if you both have laptops or your own personal computers, sign up for a social utility network, like myspace or facebook. There are all kinds of fun and challenging games, or applications, as they are called. Between the card games, word games, and the many action games there is something for everyone. The two of you can play together as a team, or against each other across the table. Lively entertainment, interacting with people from all over the world, without ever leaving your empty nest. Or spending a dime.