Retirement Savings and Housing Choices

Wealth Management

When was the last time you saw a magazine article where a financial planner states "Boomers are not saving enough for retirement!" Even if this message is true, it is extremely self-serving of the financial planning community to continue to beat this drum to sell their services? Fear sells, and it is never a bad idea to save more money, so true or not, the boomers should heed this message.

The financial press has bemoaned the fact that America has little to no savings rate compared to other nations, and yet our wealth per-capita is one of the world's highest. How do we continue to become wealthier if we never save? How do we ever expect to retire from the day-to-day drudge of careers and working without any savings?

The wealth management community has an idea and they are focused on it intently, we will become wealthy the old fashioned way - inheritance. The multi-trillion dollar wealth transfer has begun like a gold rush in the last several years and propped up the overspending, under saving Baby Boomer generation like a giant life raft. Will the wealth transfer continue? The wealth management industry clearly believes the answer is "yes!" and they want their share of the pie.

After The Money's Gone

Let's assume that 80% of the boomer generation is successful at reaching the required retirement savings needed to sustain life in a workless retirement by age 70. 20% of this population will run out of money, and this equals over 15 million people. This is equivalent to the entire retiree population of today. So it is as if the entire cohort of retiree population of the U.S. is bankrupt and without any means to survive the next 15-30 years. The challenge of an aging, retired and broke boomer population is massive, and will not be felt by this country for at least 20-25 more years. These are some of the predictions I found in my research.

"Never bet against America, it's a losing bet."

- Bob Waun, as often as possible

From a new book called: 'Besting - Better Nesting' www.betternesting.com

Bob Waun is the author of a new book on this trend called: Besting http://www.betternesting.com . He is CEO of Vacation Finance, America's First Second-Home Lender http://www.vacation-finance.com and a leader in the resort and second home industries.

Modular Homes