I am seeing a pattern develop from my conversations with baby boomers (born 1946-1964) who have retired from their job or career. Most of them do not want to call themselves “retired” or a “retiree” when someone asks what they do for a living. My guess is that they have negative associations with those words. Perhaps they are reminded of retirement residences and retirement villages – the places where old people go. They do not consider themselves “old.”
So, instead of “retired,” they may say they are “not working.” To many boomers, the only positive association with “retired” is linked to someone who retires at age 35 or 40, presumably because they have so much money that they don’t need to work anymore. Or perhaps when someone retires from a successful sports career. But some baby boomers don’t positively link the word “retired” to themselves.
This word choice indicates a larger shift than most people realize. The fact is that many baby boomers are remaking retirement in word choices — and in real life. Baby boomers’ retirement will not be the same as their parents’ retirement.
For example, if we extrapolate this shift out 20 years, when older baby boomers are in their 80s, I see the strong possibility that assisted living residences and skilled nursing facilities, in order to keep up with some older baby boomers’ preferences for healthier foods and natural medicine, will change their menus and be more accepting of other health practices. State-regulated dietary rules and regulations will also have to change in order to keep up with a generation that has accepted alternatives to standard food and traditional medicine since they were young adults.
There are many more areas where baby boomers may remake the nature of their retirement. I will cover some of them in future blogs.
Do you agree that baby boomers are viewing retirement differently from their parents’ generation. If so, how?
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