Pre-Boomer Musings

Remember when the baby boomers cried out, “Never trust anyone over 30?”  We pre-boomers were caught in the middle of the fight between the establishment and the young revolutionaries.  The fight brought about many changes, some good and some bad, and drove a stake so deep into the country it remains divided to this day.  Now, these boomers are about to turn 65 and the rhetoric is changing.

This year was the one when all pre-boomers, those born between 1930 and 1945, are all 65 or older.  The 30 million pre-boomers, often considered the forgotten generation, are now dubbed “New Seniors.”  We look forward to welcoming our younger brothers and sisters to our exclusive community.  

There is no initiation ceremony, no organized structure and no dues or fees to be a New Senior.  What makes it exclusive is to be part of it you must have reached your 65^th birthday.  That’s it, once you are 65 you automatically become a New Senior. 

But don’t think that’s the end of it.  Having 65 years of life experience means we must have learned something along the way.  And, we have the responsibility to share our knowledge with those generations who follow.  Just like those before us did for us.  Like it or not we are the new teachers.   

Come January, 2011 the first of the baby boomers start turning 65 at the rate of one every ten seconds.  This generational phenomenon will continue until 2030.  Although the cutting-edge boomers think and act differently from the trailing boomers, they still proudly wear the baby boomer badge.  What they don’t know yet is how to transition to the next phase of life and what it will be like once they get there.

A recent USA TODAY/Gallup Poll found “about two-thirds of the boomers surveyed say they are less optimistic about the future of the USA than when they turned 21, and less optimistic about retirement than they were 10 years ago.”

As the boomers retire, many wonder if they, through their share numbers, will be the personification of the “me” generation or be activists in protecting their children and their children’s children?  More than 4 in 10 survey respondents think the boomer made things worse for future generations, with about the same percentage saying “selfish” best describes the boomers.  Will this change now that they’ve become New Seniors?

With so much shared history, the current New Seniors are please to welcome the cutting-edge boomers to our community.  We hope you will bring the fresh thinking, excitement and thirst to get things done to the important issues that face all of us.  Together, New Seniors can be a force for good in our society.  But we must decide on the priorities, and that’s where those of us who have been walking the road can help.  So let’s start a dialogue as the boomers start turning 65 and demonstrate to the rest of America that those 65+ are the ones to trust to help make this country better for all of us.

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