The generation known as the Baby Boomers, especially in the United States, was born and grew up during the late 40's, 50's and early 60's. They are called boomers because they know a time of plenty, both financially and materially. It was also a time of protest and desire for change from tradition. They tend to think of themselves as a special generation in which things were going well, even during the Vietnam War. After all, the war was not at home.

Back to the present day, Baby Boomers are now retiring or about to retire. This means they will have less income and must live on savings, investments or pension plans. This huge segment of the population in every country will be depending on the younger people still working if they haven't saved enough. Are they ready for retirement?

The authors in Wikipedia point out some characteristics of the Baby Boomers.

As a group, they were the wealthiest, most active, and most physically fit generation up to that time, and amongst the first to grow up genuinely expecting the world to improve with time. They were also the generation that received peak levels of income; therefore they could reap the benefits of abundant levels of food, apparel, retirement programs, and sometimes even "midlife crisis" products. The increased consumerism for this generation has been regularly criticized as excessive.

This seems to suggest that this generation will not be as prepared as even their parents were. They have not saved much and they assume that things will get better so that the pensions and automatic benefits will always be there. With the US piling up huge debts and the strength of the dollar in doubt, it seems that the future might  not be as rosy as the aging population seems to assume.

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