A New Beginning for Baby Boomers

A New Beginning for Baby Boomers

The thought of early retirement or just plain retirement is now out of the question for thousands of baby boomers. There is also a large group of seniors who cannot retire completely although they have reached or surpassed the “retirement age”.

A baby boomer is classified as someone born between 1945 and 1964 in the birth boom after World War II.  These are the group that excelled in higher education with the expectation of lifelong prosperity with company pensions, 401K’s and growth orientated investments.  As a group, they are the healthiest and wealthiest generation of the era.

According to Walter Duncan, economist and author of “Live Fast, Die Old”, 76 million American children were born between 1945 and 1964.  In 2004, these baby boomers accounted for 80% of the wealth, bought 80% of the top-of-the-line cars, 80% of the cruises and 50% of skin care products.  They control over 80% of personal financial assets, and more than 50% of discretionary spending power. They are responsible for more than half of all consumer spending and buy 77% of all prescription drugs and 60% of OTC medications.

A theory by economist Harry Dent concludes that the US and European markets would peak between 2008 and 2012.  This is based on his findings that a consumer’s  spending habit peaks by age 50.  Contributing to this theory is the large number of retiring baby boomers, causing a spike in unemployment and decreases in the housing market as the aging baby boomers spend less.  This slowdown occurred right on schedule.  We have seen the casualties of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, auto manufacturers, bank failures, real estate foreclosures and home values. Extraordinary numbers of business failures and the downsizing of surviving businesses contributed to unemployment growth at a rate not witnessed since The Great Depression… so much for lifelong financial prosperity.  The dreams of millions of baby boomers have been awakened by a new reality.

I had enjoyed a very rewarding career in sales, both as a corporate officer and as a self employed representative.  Feeling financially secure with excellent investments and real estate equity, we decided to retire early to enjoy the fruits of our labors.

After a short period of early retirement, I earned my Real Estate broker’s license in North Carolina and quickly gained a great education working with people outside of the corporate arena. Using my former experiences in corporate sales and management, I became quite successful in listing and selling resort properties on and near the ocean. 

After my grandson was born, we decided to relocate to Florida to be close to our extended new family.  Due to the economy, I knew that Florida was not the state to consider continuing my real estate career. Here I was, at age 64, without even a remote chance of finding a job with any financial potential, with savings dwindling. During conversations, the idea of online marketing came up. With the exception of real estate my prior experiences did not include marketing, especially online or internet marketing, so I had a lot of learning to do.  I found that there are approximately 1.6 billion (that’s with a B) people connected to the internet around the world in more than 100 English speaking countries.  These people search not only for merchandise, but information, solutions to problems and to answers for their frustrations. I needed to find a product or service to offer that would not only address their issues but to help solve them as well.   I checked through the internet for potential new careers in online marketing and came across a web site offering extensive free training by community of experienced internet marketing professionals.  These marketers were earning enormous amounts of money and giving back to those willing to learn and take action.

After many hours of coaching through their step by step instruction, I learned the system and discovered my way to earn the income I needed for retirement and to help my family with their financial dilemmas.  I travel 1 minute to my office dressed in pajamas or “work clothes” and sit at the computer for a few hours.  I now spend about 8 hours a week working at something I really enjoy. I play golf, shop with my wife of 42 years, or just hang out.  I only wish that I had discovered the internet and its resources years ago.