Boomer Talk Doesn’T Jibe With Actions

If one word can sum up the mental and emotional state of the baby boomer generation as older members approach retirement age that word is “ambivalence.”

They talk one way. And they act another.

They speak of retiring early. But most are saving far too little even to come close.

Incredibly, eight of 10 also say they plan to keep working, at least part time - indefinitely.

More heavily invested in the stock market than any generation since the great crash of 1929, boomers are betting they can ride a rampaging bull all the way to affluent old age.

And while they themselves expect to work in later years, they still countenance and contribute to discriminatory workplace practices that discourage and disparage older workers.

Ambivalence.

That word repeatedly came up in a nationwide telephone press conference Tuesday conducted by the American Association of Retired Persons to discuss results of the senior lobby’s latest poll.

Roper Starch Worldwide Inc. conducted half-hour telephone interviews with 2,001 baby boomers across the nation. Then, connected by a national teleconferencing hookup, 20 of us in the media had the chance to quiz pollsters and AARP officials on the survey results.

Paul Ferrell of CBS Market Watch prefaced his queries with the observation that, “It appears this super-bull market has tainted boomers’ thinking.”

By their own account, he pointed out, “The average age of boomers is 42, but they think they’re 35. They have $45,000 in assets and they will need $1 million to retire. Two-thirds are satisfied with what they are putting away. But they are putting away only one-third of what they need.

“Again and again, the survey seems to show they are not realistic - they think they are 35 when they are 42!”

Others, too, including yours truly, zeroed in on the warped perspectives exhibited by respondents.

AARP’s Bob Prisuta, associate director of research, attempted to dispel the notion that boomers are just deluding themselves. “The data aren’t as inconsistent as they would seem at first blush,” he said.

Boomers still have some years to accumulate assets, he pointed out. Also, he argued, you can express optimism without necessarily doing what’s actually needed to warrant being optimistic. It’s better, he said, to be optimistic than pessimistic.

And the million-dollar retirement nest egg that experts keep harping on may be overstated. Boomers may not need that much, suggested Prisuta, if they’d be more realistic about spending in retirement.

Unfortunately, there again, the dichotomy persists: boomers have no intention of living down. Instead, they expect to live it up. They left no doubt in the survey that they are more “self-indulgent” than their parents, and they don’t intend to change. Overwhelmingly they say they will need more money in retirement to continue indulging themselves.

Even the president of Roper Starch Worldwide Inc., which conducted the study, questioned whether the stated expectations of boomers are real or wishful thinking. However, said Edward Keller, “Boomer expressions of optimism do not necessarily equate with a lack of realism.”

After years of self-absorption and denial, said the pollster, boomers have awakened to the reality that they are getting older and two-thirds now put at least something into retirement plans.

Pollsters and AARP officials alike expressed alarm at an ever-widening gap between rich and poor in the boomer survey. At upper income levels, boomers talk about working part time in retirement for fun and fulfillment. At lower income levels, nearly half expect to keep working just to survive - and never retire at all.

As to jobs and age discrimination, John Rother, director of legislation and public policy for AARP, said, “We have a clash between boomer expectations and current practices.

“I think that will be a major focus for us in the future, as we try to change corporate behavior in the workplace.”