Why Boomers Need Bigger Nest Eggs Than Their Parents

Hmmm..As a Generation X person and I had to choose between a Boomer or the generations before them (i.e. WW2, silents, and Traditionalist etc) to run the United States of America, I'd choose anyone past 66. Boomers are a failure...Atleast as leaders of this country. They make good actors, music, athletes, and some actually served in Vietnam when they weren't on heroin and pot that is.

Boomers. Go have China, India and Mexico fund your retirements. You guys sent your kids, grand kids, and great grand kids jobs to China and India. You let 9 million illegals come here sucking up our tax money and take jobs that teeny boppers should be doing...You know, before these kids end up as CEOs of Apple, Google, and silicon valley.

I guess I was a foolish Baby Boomer. I worked almost 30 yrs for the same company and was going to get a great pension and retiree healthcare along with SS and my savings. Things would have been nice but the company moved to Thailand, the pension went with it, the social security was spent by gov't, my savings kept food on the table and paid the mortgage until I finally found a job and now in my late 50's I'm making half what I made 10 years ago.
I'd like to save for retirement but my wife insists that we eat everyday. Her job went to China along with her pension, as well.
So we'll never be able to retire and we're going to enjoy what savings we have while we're still young enough, then we're going to work until we can't work anymore.

Many people that comment say that the baby boomers have been financially irresponsible. As a retired boomer, I can say that I have always been careful with money. I did not overspend and I always saved. Same for my circle of friends and family. Pretty much all of them are doing fine. Not great wealth, but doing OK. Don't really know the over spenders.
That said, we do have more financial demand on us than our parents did. Some may be wants and not needs, but it would be difficult to live in our world without computers, cell phones, and cable. And the out of pocket costs of medical is higher than our parents had. A more modern world simply has more expenses than in the past.

You need more money because congress stole your SS money, cant pay it back without printing more money, which lowers the value of any money you saved.

We have had 3 different financial planners try to sell us products that are basically for the ultimate benefit of beneficiaries. Tie it up now so they are guaranteed a big payout.

We focus on income streams for life and hope our actual lifetime is longer than actuarial tables. We have worked for over 45 years and paid into social security that whole time. The benefit will not be an entitlement for us.

We never took a single extended vacation (only 2-3 days at a time), use discounts, clip coupons, put our kids through college, paid for their weddings, give them money frequently that are supposed to be loans, buy formula and clothes for the grandkids.

We bought long term care insurance over 15 years ago, have saved what we could and planned as best as we can all with the intention of never being a financial burden on our children.

We will retire in a couple years but it has taken hard work, planning, and living within our means. Get a grip America...the party is over and if you better plan on being accountable for your own retirement needs.

Balony, our parents didn't make mexico the 51st state or borrow money from china to buy votes from unions and banks. They got actual pensions from factories that are now in china. This is the first generation to see the width of the standard toilet paper roll cut by 10% forever. You're seeing government so mixed up with everything from health care to a dog house permit. It's Greece with tacos instead of gyros.

i feel as if i was lucky to be poor when i was young. being poor early prepares you for a lot.

Look, i see malls packed, restaurants packed and morons on smart phones every where i go. The problem is obvious, you folks need to understand the difference between a need and a want if you wish to retire. My bet is that most could cut at least $100 out from silly items to help fund retirement each month. Most will not and just cry about having to work till they die or cry that the other guy needs to pay more in taxes.

So many boomers (my generation) have been so irresponsible with money and credit. I watch in amazement as so many of them are possession oriented. They need THINGS! Always assuming things will be better in the future, they squander rather than save. Well guess what, the government can't and won't help you, and no one owes you anything so just get accept the poverty you will experience in old age. What's worse is your children and grandchildren are even more reckless with money and credit than you have been.

The real reason that the "greatest generation" was better off was because they learned at an early age the simple value of spending less than they earned. Let's examine this closer..

For a man born in 1920, the stock market crash would have put his family into the great depression at the age of 10. For his formative teenage years, he and his family would know the hardships of not having money. At the age of 22, he would have most likely joined one of the branches of the US military and then known the horrors of war - as his friends and former classmates would be killed or maimed on the battle fields.

At the age of 26 he would come home from the war, possibly get married by age 30 and then start having children. But, the results of 10 years of a depression and 4 years of war would still be in the back of his mind.

Chances are that "pappy" that was born in 1920 bought a house at age 30 and lived in it till the day he died (or had to go to a nursing home). He probably bought a new TV set once every 7 years. A new car once every 5 years. And BOTH of these purchases would have consumed a great deal of his thinking energy - trying to get the best product for the best price.

Not to geeze too badly here, but look at the following generations? Can they in any way measure-up? Is it really the result of a less than stellar economy, or is some sort of twisted sense of entitlement at play here? You tell me.

Simply put, the parents of boomers wisely purchased a modest home and owned it outright before they retired. Consequently, their retirement expenses are 25% to 35% less than the boomers who will likely have to pay rent until the day they die.

Even recognizing that, most boomers and their offspring have been living beyond their means for most of their adult lives and therefore have little or no substantial savings … yet they continue to live irresponsibly and often ridicule the wiser among us.

Of course, the solution would be to reward savers and investors while holding the idiot spendthrifts accountable for being unwise (i.e. stupid). But that can't happen because we now live in a "democracy" where the majority can forcibly take what the prudent and responsible worked hard and sacrificed to attain. Sadly, the ending is inevitable, however, it would be nice to see the takers admit the reality and stop calling it "equitable" … taking what another has honestly earned is simply theft.

Boomers can't depend on help from their children, who moved back in, work at McDonald's and live in the basement.

This is kinda obvious, the with the reduction in pensions and inflation several retirees find themselves wishing they had saved more for retirement. I have never seen an article that talks about having saved TOO MUCH.

If you aren't putting back 15 - 20% (including co. match) then you'll have some sacrifices to make when you retire... IF you can retire... and you had better have started back in your 20's - 30th birthday at the latest!

I am an early "boomer" that fortunately learned a lot from my parents who grew up during the Depression. Save for a rainy day, fix what you have instead of buying something "new", buy out of need, not want, and spend your money wisely. The "gimmie, gimmie,..." generation behind me is so into instant gratification that they have to keep up with all the latest fads, gadgets and gizmos no matter what the cost, even if it means going into debt to get it. That is the REAL reason that most in that generation will need more $$$ than their parents to retire -- they need it to keep up their materialistic lifestyle that they've grown accustomed to. The author of the article missed (or avoided?) this point completely.

Just live within your means!!!!!!!

we are different today because we have been conditioned to be different. We buy the latest gadget because it is new, not because we need it. We replace our TV because a flat screen just came out, not because we need a new one. We move often just because the new house has 4000 sq ft and we NEED that for our 4 person family. We buy clothes with other peoples names on them because we want to show off. We eat a lot, but not well because we can. And we do not save enough for retirement because we still have plenty of time. (WRONG!) This is what our world has become, we we must change it for the better and instruct our children NOT to do it the dame way we did. Finally, we must get our elected officials to stop fighting each other and start solving our nations problems.

Yes, the world changes and some people adapt, the others complain.

Im a boomer,but i hate the thought of this new life expectanct increase you hear about. I see it all the time, some old person straped to a wheelchair, with a oxygen tube in their nose.Thanks to all of these new wonder pills that cost the tax payers billions of dollars each year. I sure hope im gone before i reach that stage of my life.

Of course Boomers need bigger nest eggs than their parents. Look at the depreciation of the dollar in the last 40 years. It's beyond the 3-4% average CPI inflation rate we're given. If a Boomer became a physician and completed his/her education in the early 80's they owed $18-$40k.If the Boomers want to help their children out that same education is $200-$300k. The cost of living and essentials have dramatically increased, such as, food, utilities, healthcare, gas, etc. beyond a 3% inflation rate. You also throw on top of it that the pension systems are broke and most boomers may have had 4% average returns over the last 20 years in their investment portfolios, rather than the 10% "Historical" averages they were hoping for. Many Boomers are helping their adult children and grandchildren these days because their kids can't find jobs with decent wages.

Were Boomers financially irresponsible? I believe that without their spending habits we wouldn't have experienced the dramatic economic growth over the last 40 years. However, the growth was fueled predominately on debt, which we are beginning to see the consequences. Boomers are having an extremely difficult time trying to protect their nest egg from market volatility or getting some kind of return on their money to at least keep pace with inflation due to the low interest rate environment.

Boomers are living longer and healthier lives and had less children, which raises the issues with Social Security because as the Boomers leave the work force we're relying on the younger generation to support the system.

In other words it's a complete mess and none of us will escape the financial mess we're in. Nest eggs will be erroded by inflation, low interest rates, and extreme volatility in the markets.