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Credit Card Debt: Who Owes The Most? Baby Boomers Or Gen X / Gen Y?

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It might make sense to think that the younger generation uses their credit cards more than most and are sitting on some serious credit card debt but, they are not the leaders. Baby Boomers, according to the report The Plastic Safety Net from the public policy outfit Demos, are winning here.

The group with the highest credit card debt is the 65+ crowd who owe on average $9,283.

Those Gen X and Gen Y  folks? They owe $2,982 for 18-24 yer olds and $5,156 for 24-34 year olds.

A key implication? Many Baby Boomers are heading into their retirement years broke and out of work. Is this alarmist? Yes. Is it true? Yes. Want more? The average total retirement savings for Baby Boomers is $78,000  — try stretching that over 10, 20 or 30 years.

eBook, E-Book, Whatever You Call Them, Sales Are Exploding

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I am close to publishing my Boomercide eBook (and paperback.) So, thought that I’d hunt down some eBook / E-Book sales numbers to pump me up.

Here is an industry defining (as in look at the eBook trend) chart from E-book comments HUGE grow. And huge growth in the number of new authors. Traditional publishers are being bypassed. I am going to do a mini series of posts on how I went from idea to publish in 3 months.

Bill Clinton, Tom Brokaw, Baby Boomers — Who Is The Greatest Generation?

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So, tonight, regardless of your political persuasion, you will probably watch some, if not all, of Bill Clinton’s speech. I don’t do politics here. But I do do Boomer stuff.

Bill is the quintessential Baby Boomer – based on my definition. As I write below, “We, on the other hand, have been an action generation that challenged the status quo, believes deeply in personal choice, the idea that change is good and delivered on the dream of the American Century.”

I have been rereading Tom Brokaw’s book, The Greatest Generation. Rereading it because I see an idea in it that might be my next book. Here is a bit from my take on The Greatest Generation from Boomercide: from Woodstock To Suicide…

“I have always been somewhat disheartened that this pampered Baby Boomer image has dogged us for years despite the fact that we have dutifully trudged off to our jobs, reinvented industries, raised super Gen-X and Y kids and are now caring for our aging parents. In fact, I bristle when I see Tom Brokaw’s book The Greatest Generation.”While the book is kind to our parents, it makes me ask what isn’t to love about Baby Boomers? It is my sense that the “Greatest” are the enduring generation having lived through the depression and two wars. Our folks had to deal with tough times and successfully played the hand they were dealt. We, on the other hand, have been an action generation that challenged the status quo, believes deeply in personal choice, the idea that change is good and delivered on the dream of the American Century. And, as they say in New Jersey, not f’nuthin, but we also had major things to endure like Lawrence Welk and Swanson TV dinners.”

The idea? Who is telling our story?

[Also thinking that Bill will do a better old-white-guy pitch than Clint.]

Postponing Retirement … For The Long Haul

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A new study from  the Society of Actuaries says that a third of adults do not expect to retire. Not so surprising. But, what is is that this number is up 29% from two yeas ago and, yes,  this increase is significant.

Many people, more than 4 in 10 say that they cannot retire because they need the bucks and, in many cases, the employer benefits.

Uncertainty – about life-expectancy and the money required to cover long-term living expenses –  also plays a major role in per-retirement planning.

“Current trends in retirement indicate that people may need to work longer than they originally planned,” said actuary and retirement expert Carol Bogosian, ASA. “Individuals often have a difficult time estimating how long they can expect to live, how much they will earn on their investments and how much they can spend each year to avoid running out of money. In fact, many people are just guessing about how much money they will need in retirement.”

There is, of course, another reason. We might not want to stop working.