Some preparation for retirement info

Being prepared is the best method to be ready for retirement. Baby Boomers are nearing retirement in a time of unusual economic times, so all the more reason to find as much information as you can and plan.

Here is some good advice from USA Today:

Plan for retirement beyond the numbers

Constant generation gap Boomers vs Gen X

President Obama and his BlackBerry/AP photo

There just always seems to be this ongoing cultural war going on between the Baby Boomers and the Generation X’ers. Well, if you think about it, didn’t we Boomers rebel against our parents, the Greatest Generation? This is really natural. It’s just that we didn’t talk to each other and about each other to the extent that the internet makes this possible. We watched TV or listened and played music until we went to bed. We didn’t like the ways our parents treated us either. That’s just the way of things. It’s what happens as children grow up. If they don’t try to find their own way or do better than their parents, nothing would ever change.

Here is another example of the measuring of data that displays the technological differences and understanding that is occurring between the generations of communication. The article gives good data that measures how Boomers feel about texting during inappropriate times, such as meetings or lectures, whereas the younger generation thinks of such things as the way of life.

There’s no fixing this….just knowing that it exsists. Here is the article by Paul Briand, National Baby Boomer Examiner for Examiner.com

Baby Boomers: Blackberry a distraction

Age discrimination againt Boomers???

(Photo from Adweek.com)

Mainstream media is beginning to shed some light on the possibility that many companies are on the borderline of age discrimination against workers over the age of 45. I have long thought that as the economy worsened and lay offs began in record numbers, that these history making events may be an excellent time for companies to begin phasing out the Baby Boomer generation.

I have been reading for the last five years or so, how companies are struggling to come up with ideas to deal with the fact that the majority of the workforce was made up of the almost 80 million Baby Boomers who were approaching retirement years. It was becoming apparent that the sum of the experienced workforce was going to be leaving at the approximate same time and the workforce that was left would be far less experienced. There would have to be some sort of a transitional period where the older workers could begin bringing the younger ones up to speed on legacy systems that would still be around. The problem was that everyone was more concerned about more immediate problems such as sales growth and share value, that no one was really spending enough time or resources on the experience transition issue.

Then came along ‘the perfect storm’. Indeed, it was a destructive storm of history making proportions but, this could be a way of handling the transition. If ALL companies were more or less in the same boat and everyone was laying off huge numbers of workers, there was no need to worry about the competition gaining ground on experience. It was also fairly obvious that a huge part of the older workers, who were not that far from retirement, would take buy out packages, in many cases, voluntarily.

The end result is that almost all companies are seeing the issue they were worried about, just go away. The Baby Boomers are willing to get through the next few years with temporary or part time jobs and the younger workforce that was left would be part of restructuring of the business. The older workers could also be hired for temporary time periods, to still help with the transition of those older legacy systems.

Now that I am reading more stories about an increase in age discrimination claims, it is all starting to make sense to me. See what you think after reading the following article!

Media finally reporting on difficulties baby boomers face in job market

Some Penny Pinching Advice…

(photo from http://www.babyboomerpennypincher.com/)

We can still travel and watch our spending. I always would say that vacations are the only way to act as if I am rich for a week or so, by not working and spending money on whatever I wanted to. These times may be calling us to be more thrifty and cancel some vacation plans, but even though we may be traveling less, it doesn’t mean we have to quit entirely.

Read how one Boomer Penny Pinches.

Pinching Pennies in Amish Country

Here is some Boomer retirement advice.

I have found that reading as much as I can provides a pool of information from which I can pick and choose. Here is some to keep in your retirement advice folder.

Humana launches Web site for baby boomers

Not only are Boomers aging, but our suburb culture is too!

A section of Bowie developed by Levitt and Sons, builder of Levittowns. The development was built in the early 1960s. (Photo by Ken Feil- The Washington Post)

This will undoubtedly make you feel older, as if Boomer need any reminder. As the Baby Boomer generation approaches retirement, an interesting article from Washington Post makes us aware that the beginnings of our Boomer culture, planned suburb neighborhoods, are about the same age and facing aging issues as well. I never gave this a thought, but these post World War II suburb communities were unique and newly built in methods that were innovative at the time. These builders changed how communities were planned and built based on speed and numbers. Houses in these plans, like Levittown were not built one at a time with detailed craftsmanship, but rather much the same as neighborhoods are still planned and built. Farm land was bought and cleared by developers, then builders brought in teams of craftsmen who would build parts of a house, then move on to the next. This also made each house very similar, using like products for plumbing and roofing, etc. The effect of this building model is that all of these communities are now having the same issues, all needing upgraded and repaired. The good thing that these communities possess is their locations. Many were built near geographical areas that still hold their value and thus offer the reason to be upgraded and still used.

It’s an interesting aspect of the Baby Boomer culture, now moving into it’s later years.

Read the aricle here:

‘Burbs, Boomers And the Effects of Age

Boomers are re-fininacing

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thetruthabout/2877219199/

My wife and myself are indeed one of the many Boomers who are looking into refinancing our home as mortgage rates are hitting all time lows. We have been debating this as we do have a fairly low interest rate on a fixed 15 year, but we keep reading that going for the extended 30 year, even lower rate may be a good idea to get through the years ahead. It doesn’t seem to really make sense to us and it is making us hesitate, but these ARE extremely unique times and most likely, will not improve for a few years yet. As we get closer to retirement years, to lower all of our costs may be the way to go…for now.

Baby boomers rush to take out more mortgages

Sooner or Later….(my motto)

(pic from Biojoblog.com)

Anyone who really knows me has heard me say for years that this is my quote that I want engraved on my tombstone, (although I now plan on spending eternity on the mantel in an urn) “Sooner or later, the world will come around to my way of thinking”. This is not a statement of arrogance, but one of irony in that it means that ideals of mine may come into existence long after I’m gone, so it will not really matter, at least to me:-)

This article is about how corporations are starting to see the value in social media and networking. For the last few years that I worked in the IT area of a major corporation, I was trying to convince managment of the need to explore and better understand new technologies, such as social networking for the business, and I was more or less told to go sit down and get back to what we do here….keep systems running, but I digress. The article has some interesting data on how companies are really beginning to see the value of social media. Ah…yes….now that I’m no longer working there…I guess it’s LATER…

New Research: Marketers are finally moving into social media along with budgets

Some help to understand social networking…

A new book, “Me 2.0″ has a review here and tells of some help to Boomers to understand some options that many may not be aware of in understanding and controlling of options within social networking applications such as Facebook.

‘Me 2.0′ shares personal branding tips for millennials, baby boomers alike