Saturday, July 24, 2010

How to Age Successfully

There's a saying that what you do in the dark will eventually come to the light. For some baby boomers who survived the drug crazed 60s, that might be a frightening thought.

Now it appears that what you do before the age of 50 will determine how well you age. Who knew?

According to researchers from the New Jersey Institute for Successful Aging, people are more likely to be successful to age successfully if:

1) They are educated,

2) Never been in prison,

3) Married

4) Drink in moderation or not at all

5) Work for pay or do volunteer work.

The lead author of the research study, Dr. Rachel Pruchino, says "Our research shows how aging is a lifelong process. The person you become at a very old age is really a function of how you lived your earlier years."

Funny, there's nothing in the research that talks about exercise or eating healthy.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

The Price of Living Longer

Living longer is going to cost many baby boomers, according to a recent study conducted by The Employee Benefit Research Institute.

A third of middle-income workers will likely run out of money after 20 years of retirement and significantly more lower-income workers will deplete their savings after 10 years, according to the new study.

The nonpartisan research group based in Washington says its retirement readiness study found that living longer, saving too little and inadequate planning for health care costs will leave many retirees short of money to pay basic living expenses.

The study finds that 64 percent of workers earning less than $30,000 a year will run out of money within 10 years of retiring. About a third of workers making between $30,000 and $70,000 will run out of money after 20 years of retirement. One in 10 workers making more than $70,000 won't have enough money.

"Early" baby boomers, meaning people who now aged 56 to 62, have a 47 percent chance of not having enough money to pay basic retirement costs and uninsured medical expenses, the study concluded.

"Late" boomers aged 46 to 55, as well as Generation X workers aged 36 to 45, have about a 45 percent chance of running short on cash.

Jack VanDerhei, research director for EBRI and author of the study, says baby boomers need to stop deceiving themselves into thinking they are going to have enough money for retirement.

Many workers will likely be forced to continue working beyond retirement age.

Wednesday, July 07, 2010

Time Flies in Boomer World

Today is Ringo Starr's birthday. The oldest of The Beatles turns 70. Hard to believe that the drummer of the young English rock group that took America by storm in the 60s is a member of the post boomer generation.

In my mind, The Beatles have never aged. I still see them as four handsome young musicians with the bowl-type haircuts playing for millions of screaming, adoring fans. I was seven years old when I sat glued to my TV set watching them on the Ed Sullivan Show.

Ringo's birthday is a reminder that I, too, am getting older.

They say time flies when you're having fun. I say time flies whether you're having fun or not. Ask Ringo.

By the way, what was your all-time favorite Beatles' song?

To learn more about what Ringo is doing on his birthday, click on the title of this blog post.