the Baby Boom
Generation evolution continues....
Aging baby boomers will face both financial and physical challenges as part of their entry into the senior and retirement years. While having the problems of very high rates of obesity in addition to other health problems of aging, the do have the advantage of numbers in fighting for their needs. Aging baby boomers now constitute 29% of the total U.S. Population and the first of them are fast approaching the retirement age of 65. Beginning in 2011, about ten thousand of them each day will turn 65 and this will impact the economy, health care needs and other aspects of general life.
Even the youngest of the baby boomers are now in their mid forties and beginning to experience some of the consequences of aging.
Baby boomers between 50 and 64 at present are saddled with one of the common curses of the 21st century as about 39% of them are clinically obese. Obesity carries the increased risk of many health conditions including diabetes, heart disease, osteoarthritis, increased risk of certain cancers and reduces the ability and will to exercise as well.
Over the next nineteen years, the number of senior citizens in this country will more than double from 2010 levels. At the same time, the next generation is much smaller and may feel strain from meeting the needs of so many “golden boomers.” One thing that may help somewhat is that so many aging boomers, about 80% of them, plan to work beyond the age of 65.
Increasing health care costs and demands also pose problems for aging baby boomers. Health care costs are already at record highs and no end to this inflation is in sight. In addition, the medical personnel needed to meet the specialized needs of an aging population simply do not exist. Geriatrician or gerontologists, the physicians who specialize in the care of the elderly, are actually decreasing in number as the number of the elderly increases.
Advanced medical care and treatments can mean healthier and longer lives for aging baby boomers, but many have grave concerns about be able to access this care. Not only are there not enough specialists to meet their need, but even the deductibles and copays for those with Medicare and other insurance may be prohibitive on decreased and often fixed incomes.
The aging baby boomers have a long history of activism for social causes and political causes. It may become necessary for them to call on this activism to meet their financial and medical needs in their senior years. It is in their favor that the large numbers of aging boomers will be a force to be dealt with in anything they choose to tackle.