Will Baby Boomers Really Deplete Social Security or Help It?

Generally, it is being said across the media that the fact that the largest portion of the population, Baby Boomers, is approaching retirement, will deplete Social Security because the younger generations are the ones actually putting money into it. There are several factors that are changing that will likely make this assumption false.

The economic crisis of 2008 has made Boomers rethink retirement. Over the last decade, as Boomers started getting more serious about planning for pending retirement, they were finding that they might have not saved enough to have the retirement life they anticipated. Financial advisers were telling them that they needed to start doing some serious planning and saving to maintain a lifestyle they hoped during their retirement years. The "crash of 2008" completely changed the rules. Boomers' realization was cemented that they were going to have to work for many more years than they had thought. The other factor that many lost their jobs just before they may have retired has forced a rethinking of what their lifestyles had to be. They needed to downsize, spend less and save for rainy days, as rainy days had arrived.

Knowing that retirement needed to be pushed out or even rethought has caused Boomers to re-evaluate their later years. Job loss and not being able to find another job, has also led to many wanting to become entrepreneurs and look for their how they make their passions become their new jobs. There is a surge in entrepreneurism throughout the country. Boomers are learning to re-invent themselves and find a reason to not want to retire. If you begin doing something you love, why would you want to stop doing it? The media is constantly re-enforcing us with information about how keeping active as we age is the key to having the healthiest elder years.

This renewal of soul searching to do something they love and continue doing it past what was once thought of as retirement years is actually something that Baby Boomers have always done. They changed culture in their youth, they changed the industrial age to an information age and they are now changing how our culture ages, as people are living longer.

Yes, there will be many issues to face, such as disease and healthcare issues, but how we all spend our elder years is clearly being changed to knowing that all of us have much to do and give to the world. Our elder years are not years to stop living, they are about living better.

source: http://www.fa-mag.com/fa-news/5422-social-security-may-be-rescued-by-baby-boomers.html