For Boomeryearbook.com
It is being pointed out by many experts and analysts that retirement could be more uncomfortable for baby boomer women as compared to their male counterparts. The primary reason being given for this is that boomer women are working at comparatively lower wages and are supporting themselves and their children.
Other statistical studies indicate that Boomer women tend to have lesser qualifications and fewer skills, therefore they can often be found doing two (sometimes even three) jobs in order to support themselves and their families. Also Boomer women would tend to spend more and more on “having-more-in order-to-be-more” as they get older – that’s one reason why plastic surgeons will never lack for business. Susan Sterne from the Economics Analysis Association says that consumers aged between 45 and 54 tend to spend approximately 30% more than the average consumer. As these boomers become older, it becomes harder and harder for them to maintain their lifestyle and therefore they end up digging deeper and deeper into their savings.
The question for women boomers really boils down to whether they would want another fancy pair of shoes or would they prefer to drop that penny in their piggy bank and use it at a latter stage in life or in case an emergency comes along – surprisingly enough many women boomers choose the former. The women boomers either don’t earn enough to save or either they squander their earnings by “living in the moment” – which leaves them with loads of mortgage payments and credit card debt to paddle through.
Now add to the equation the limping economy and America’s trillion dollar dept, and you will have a recipe for disaster. To gain some perspective on how bad the situation is, consider the fact that the economic condition has not been this bad since the post world War era. The bad news is the government may not be able to fulfill its promises of Social security and heath care when hundreds of thousands of Baby Boomers start to retire in the next few years.
So what do the baby boomers do? The answer is simple, yet difficult to put into practice: understand your finances and try to also gain a deeper understanding of your cash flow patterns. Ideally you would want the money to flow out of your assets column and into some rock solid investments which will then generate further cash. Buy real assets instead of liabilities masquerading as assets. A really big house may not necessarily be an asset as it will take money out of your pocket every month for maintenance. Similarly having an additional car that’s not really needed will also take money out of your pocket, and is therefore a liability masquerading as an asset – real assets will feed your income column and may also, at some point, become a viable source of money generation.
The point here is that Baby boomers (especially women Boomers) will have to sharpen their skills and awareness of how personal finances work. This is surely far better than hoping the government will take care of you once you decide to call it a day.
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This article is Copy right protected by Salman A. Kureishi© 2009
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