3 Reasons Baby Boomers Are the Richest Generation in History

Was it worth it?

As a member of the following generation, I ask boomers was it worth it? Your generations distrust of government and your desire to co-opt it or disable it? Your desire to have just the job you wanted and the destruction of career paths for those who followed? Your desire to channel 'good works' through 'innovative business models' along 'value paths' for 'targeted purposes' to niches... Your ability to have the adult life you wanted- while challenging the social compacts that previous generations labored to build for the child, the youth, the parent and the elder.

It is time now for this generation to accept that elder role. Let's see if fine things can be harvested. Perhaps their legacy as "challengers' will give us great methods, but we will not know until the Boomers pass their 'toys' to the next generations so that we can see how they will run without them.

black cat of CT @ Jan 17, 2009 09:46:05 AM

Reasons Baby Boomers Are the Richest Generation in History

I do not disaggree with the numbers presented, but there are some numbers conspicuiously missing:

ratio of icome to savings

ratio of assests to debt

But money is not the whole story to boomers. Personal relationships are wanting. Divorce rates are terrible.

Now that bomemrs are nearing retirement, perhaps we can focus on righting our ways.

ralph ferrara of NY @ Jan 02, 2009 17:48:54 PM

It's Not Too Late Indeed...

...Not just for Boomers to turn-around their own fortunes, but those of our nation.

We Boomers collectively caused the turmoil the country and therefore the globe now face - we've been and still are in charge (we're in the majority in both the halls of Congress and as senior execs in the halls of commerce), we didn't save AND spent far beyond our means thus creating the "Live for today regardless of the consequences tomorrow" mentality, and, expanding on Hillbilly of TN's eloquent focus on our diligent refusal to take responsibility for our actions, we have an even greater determination to not see the immense power and influence we wield so we can further deflect responsibility for fixing the mess we've made.

That's the bad news. The good news is the flip side of the bad: We Boomers can collectively get our nation's economy back in the black, by reconnecting with and once again living the ideals of our youth. Two examples:

We of all generations understand the importance of being good to the planet (we began the eco-friendly processes/programs seen today), so simplifying our lives and insisting on reusable resources, both great economic revival tactics, are long-lost behaviors that we can reclaim.

We of all generations understand the destructive power of greed, having fought against "the man" e.g. big corporations that cared little for anything but lining their own pockets (watch "Ad Men" on AMC). Yet we became "the man"... We can immediately discontinue that behavior.

Yep, we have the power to fix this nation's primary ills. We did it a few decades ago when the messes were not of our making.

We can, and must do it again, now that they are.

BoomerCoach of FL @ Nov 23, 2008 14:48:53 PM