to get older
A good one! I need to hear from my sister on this...she's right there as an 'older boomer'. Although I'm six years past qualifying for 'boomerhood', I think I get some benefits from it, as the boomers exercise their political and marketing strengths. No, it's not a lot of strength or benefits. No one in power (or the marketplace) wants to hear from old people, not even 'young' old people.
I always thought that the "marketplace" and those in power would eventually be pandering to the boomers, but they still go after that smaller demographic, 18-30 year olds. Not that I want to be pandered to, but a bit of respect for our numbers as a force would be nice.
ReplyDeleteI do like the moniker "boomer" better than elder, and I'm not sure why. I am still working and do not see an end very soon, because (call me a realist) we did not save enough when we were both working to be able to retire and do all the things we dreamed of. Travel and the financial freedom to pretty much do what ever we wanted is not a realistic vision now. I don't know when I will be able to retire with health care, food and oil prices soaring. Those are the realities of our future now. Oops...speaking of work..I better get back to it!
You're right. But when you are in that 18-30 group, you don't have any idea as to what kind of power you have in the marketplace. If we did, we would have secured a better future for ourselves.
ReplyDeleteWhat's really missing (I think) is education. No one told me how to 'really' prepare for retirement when I was in school. We did the usual things, but we didn't have an aggresive plan. We should have.
Most education plans don't include 'life skills'. I seem to remember one semester where we spent a few days learning how to balance a checkbook. Quickly forgotten. We spent one complete semester preparing for the Constitution Test...wouldn't it have been better spent preparing for the Life Test?
You are so right...Life skills are neglected in school. It should be mandatory that it be taught throughout the school years..or should that be left to the parents to teach? So many parents do not have those skills themselves.
ReplyDeleteYou hit it. The fact is, good people, smart people, average people...don't have those skills. How can they possibly teach their children? Only the rightwing nuts think otherwise. Just think; if we had all been taught about investments and retirement planning, we wouldn't even be talking about Social Security 'problems'.
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